Factors Affecting Access to Postgraduate STEM Education: Perspectives of British Minority Ethnic Students

• In Event: 72.057 - Critical Academic and Public Policy Issues Affecting Minorities in STEM

Abstract

The field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is often seen as key to national wealth and international competitiveness (Gayles and Ampaw, 2011; Riegle-Crumb and King, 2010). It is argued that countries like the United States and the United Kingdom need to utilise their full human resources’ potential (Leggon, 2010), through, for example, raising higher education participation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields. Widening Participation (WP) literature has explored a variety of factors affecting access to and success at higher education for underrepresented groups, including Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students. Such factors include student finance, preparedness, and the concept of fitting in (Callender, 2004; Chowdry et al, 2009; Fuller and Paton, 2007), or belonging (Reay et al, 2010; Thomas, 2012). However, the majority of research focuses on undergraduate studies. To address this paucity, a multi-year National Science Foundation (NSF) project was awarded that examines STEM postgraduate (PG) programmes in the US and England, comparing select minorities.

The research is based on two key frameworks: first, the intersectionality of race, class, and gender (Crenshaw, 1991; Gillborn, 2008; Bhopal and Preston, 2012); second, the frontstage (official) versus backstage (unofficial) (Goffman, 1959) policies of universities. These frameworks are used to assess how the interplay between official admissions policies, professing transparency and fairness (Burke, 2012), and unofficial discussions and policies work intentionally or unintentionally to disadvantage certain students. For example, the minimum PG entry requirement of having a sound first degree disadvantages British-Caribbean students who tend to achieve lower class UG degrees (HEFCE, 2014).

Ethical clearance was received and qualitative data were obtained through individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews, which were audio-recorded and transcribed. The interviewees were students from British-Caribbean, British-African, British-Pakistani and British-Bangladeshi backgrounds, as well as university executives/administrators. 18 students and 35 university staff (academic and professional) were interviewed. Student interviews concentrated on their classed/raced/gendered lived experiences of education from primary school through to PG. Their perspectives are the focus of this paper.

The research explores the influence of heritage and cultures (national, family, individual) on furthering the social justice agenda in higher education. Student testimonies reveal the importance of having supportive parents and family role models within STEM areas, as well as access to comprehensive career advice in early educational stages, as the key factors enhancing progression to PG STEM programmes. Inhibiting factors include parental ambitions for choosing a more traditional and (presumed) lucrative/prestigious career, e.g. a doctor or lawyer, as well as the absence of BME role models among academic staff. With a few exceptions, race relations seem to operate in subtle ways for the interviewed students, who often mentioned social class and gender as stronger factors determining their experiences.

The study has the potential to influence university- and national-level policy makers in terms of reviewing their admissions policies and course design and practices, in order to increase access to and success at PG STEM programmes for ethnic minority students, and thus promote social justice.

Authors

• Dominik Jackson-Cole, University of East London

• Michael Jonathan Reiss, Institute of Education - London

• Tamjid Mujtaba, Institute of Education