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NEWS AND CURRENT AF FAIRS | DIARY | 05 For more industry opinion click here SOCIAL IMMOBILITY
The UK continues to have a bad case of social immobility, and higher education, which should be one of the solutions, is part of the problem says Debi Hayes from GSM London
A string of research reports in recent months have highlighted diff erent challenges. The NUS and Universities Alliance have both highlighted how, once they've gained a place to study for a degree, many 'non-traditional' students are alienated by the culture and experience of university life. Work by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) suggests people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to receive university off ers than comparable white British applicants. The fundamental problem is one
of at itude, a mindset that sets the tone, language and approach to non- traditional students, and the use of what might be described as a 'defi cit model'. The students from disadvantaged backgrounds – ethnic minorities, women returners, those who don't fi t the norm – are treated as a burden, a source of additional costs. And while they're in the system, the unspoken role of the institution is to 'clone' non-traditional students into the middle-class learners that are supposedly the fuel for university achievement. HE institutions aren't always adapting
forms of teaching and learning or student engagement to meet their needs, nothing is tailored and the traditional, mono- cultural environment is preserved. Even the brightest of non-traditional students who bat le their way to an elite university can fi nd themselves without study support or interest in the diff erences in their background, faced only with an expectation they will catch-up and conform. What's needed is an 'asset-based' rather than the defi cit approach – something that we are beginning to take forward as a model for GSM London, where
the majority of our 5,000 students come from non- traditional backgrounds. As a fi rst principle, that means thinking about students in terms of their individual strengths, experiences
and talents and not how they don't match up with the conventional expectations of an HE student. It's a method that is increasingly being used by employers, as they come to realise that rigid, box- ticking criteria for recruits is screening out talented, creative people who can bring something diff erent, an edge, innovation, to their organisation. All students should be screened and their top strengths identifi ed. This is then used as the basis for their academic career. Their experience and the options available to them can be tailored to strengths, rather than students from non-traditional backgrounds being forced through a standard obstacle course that can lead to doubt, fear and disillusion. HE institutions should be creating
a culture that doesn't just tolerate diversity, but celebrates it. Non- traditional students benefi t from being brought in earlier, before the fi xed start of term, to form social bonds with other students, to have the chance to meet staff , look around facilities and have more time to feel comfortable on campus before the pressures of at endance and deadlines kick in. Physical environment can have a
powerful infl uence over at itudes. Organisers of open days are often keen to showcase their historic, prestige buildings – but for non-traditional students they can create the kind of impression that just makes them think "this can't be the place for me – the entry requirements will be sky high!" It's important, again, to try and demystify the 'aura' that universities can have, imposing, threatening, symbolic of some kind of great mystery that divides the few from the many. A key part of this aura is the language used by HE, the world of Deans and Rectors (derived from a distant past of university provision as part of a religious education). A fresh perspective is needed on job titles and in general the wording of HE communications to students that acknowledges diversity of backgrounds. The British system of HE has traditionally been used as a social fi lter, to
Debi Hayes
"HE institutions aren't always adapting forms of teaching and learning or student engagement to meet their needs"
determine our place in the hierarchy. It's a system that is looking increasingly outdated in terms of meeting the needs of employers – who aren't necessarily impressed by the legions of 2.1 graduates – or the need for new ideas and innovation for the economy as a whole. Social mobility won't be achieved through the factory approach, the single quality stamp; HE needs to open itself up to change, fl exibility, diversity – and that means a major shift in at itudes and approach to the university environment. UB
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