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Spark: UAL Creative Teaching and Learning Journal

Home > Vol 2, No 1 (2017) > Panesar

Academic support and the BAME attainment gap: Using data to challenge assumptions

Lucy Panesar

Abstract


Within higher education, multiple factors are said to be causing a gap between Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) and White students. Whilst there is the will to close it, some underlying assumptions amongst university staff maintain the idea of a BAME student skills deficit that tends to point towards academic support as a form of salvation. This article explains how a data driven approach effectively challenged assumptions about BAME student engagement with academic support by discussing a quantitative study of students at London College of Fashion (UAL), and highlights issues connected with using institutional data to research ethnic inequalities.


Keywords


Academic Support; BAME; Attainment; Institutional Data; Monitoring Engagement; Ethnic Categorisation

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References


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University of the Arts London (2016) Student Attainment Report Undergraduate 2014/15. Internal UAL Report. Unpublished.


Copyright (c) 2017 Lucy Panesar

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