Closing the awarding gap: Listening to the experiences of Black Science students

Louise MacBrayne and Jennie Bellamy, The Open University

Email: louise.macbrayne@open.ac.uk

Poster

Click to download the poster Closing the Awarding Gap: Listening to our Black Students (.pptx)

Abstract

Data for the Open University level one science module S112, Science Concepts and Practice indicated that pass rates for Black students are much lower in comparison to white students and students from other ethnicities, despite completion rates closer to the rest of the cohort, leading to an awarding gap.

The poster will disseminate thematic outputs from focus group discussions involving S112 Black students. The poster will present findings from an intersectionality study performed to consider any relationships between ethnicity and other HEA descriptors such as gender, socio-economic status (Index of Multiple Deprivation, IMD), and being first in family to Higher Education with respect to module pass rate.

Recommendations will include changes to module content and assessment to increase Black student success and engagement. Examples will include increased representation of Black scientists in module content and more inclusive tuition practice, including an awareness of financial challenges associated with additional module costs.

Louise MacBrayne

Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor, The Open University

Louise MacBrayne is a Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor in Chemistry in the Open University’s School of Life, Health and Chemical Sciences, and achieved Senior Fellowship of the HEA in 2018.

She has a long-standing interest in supporting student success and engagement during the first year of an Undergraduate degree programme, having taught as an Associate Lecturer on first year interdisciplinary science modules for over 12 years, as module team co-chair of the interdisciplinary module S112 Science Concepts and Practice and as Qualification Director for the BSc Natural Sciences degree pathways. Louise has an academic background in Chemistry, Biology and Health Sciences and lives on the West Coast of Scotland, although is a frequent visitor to the main OU campus in Milton Keynes.

Jennie Bellamy

Staff Tutor, The Open University

Jennie Bellamy is a Staff Tutor in the Open University’s school of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences and an Associate Lecturer on one of the School’s stage three modules Environment: responding to change.

She has a long-standing interest in Equity, Inclusivity, Diversity, and Accessibility issues having worked for the OU for over 20 years in a variety of curriculum-related roles. She achieved Senior Fellowship of HEA in 2018.  Jennie regards herself academically as ‘something of a generalist’ holding qualifications in Geology, Environmental Change and Science Communication and lives near the OU’s headquarters in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.