A new open access book edited by Kent’s Dr Alexander Hensby and Dr Barbara Adewumi from the School of Social Sciences examines the structural and cultural factors that explain the persistence of an attainment gap between white and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students in UK universities.
Published by Palgrave Macmillan and launched at a special Canterbury campus event on Tuesday 26 November, the book – titled Race, Capital, and Equity in Higher Education – Challenging Differential Academic Attainment in UK Universities – aims to provide ‘a breadth and depth of analyses which help explain the roots of the attainment gap, while offering reflections and commentaries on the necessary steps that universities must take in order to ensure equity for students from all backgrounds.’
While their book focuses on the University of Kent, Dr Adewumi and Dr Hensby believe that the Kent case adds value to the literature for representing in many respects the ‘median’ higher education institution in the UK. They also believe the book will be of value to readers seeking to understand some of the key causal factors behind the white-BAME awarding gap, as well as providing pointers for action that can be applied across the sector.
Among those attending the launch were Kent colleagues and book contributors Jan Moriarty (Head of Student Success), Dr Lavinia Milton, Dr Bridget N’gandu, Dr Ellen Dowie, Tiz Buzwell and Emeritus Fellow Louise Naylor. Professor Iain Wilkinson, who provided the opening remarks, described the launch as ‘a great event celebrating the publication of a very impressive and important book that needs to be read by everyone committed to widening participation in HE, the closure of attainment gaps and student success’.
Professor Wilkinson also described the book as one that ‘records the history and progress of student success initiatives at the University of Kent … bearing testimony to the ways in which a community of academic and professional services colleagues have combined their skills, commitments and passions to demonstrate the potential for higher educational institutions to be geared by the policies and practices to deliver emancipatory forms of education’.
The event ended with a performance by the University’s award-winning Gospel Choir.
Note: the eBook or printed copies are available with a 20% discount until 18 December using the checkout code zP7jV4NzZEmOqJ.
Dr Barbara Adewumi and Dr Alex Hensby