Increased participation and student diversity have led universities in the UK to enhance their academic support mechanisms to promote social and learning inclusion (Hallett, 2012). While institutions have acknowledged the potential remedial impact of student support, less attention has been given to how students experience such support, in particular, minoritised students who often feel less supported than their White peers. In this post, I argue that universities should reconsider aspects of what type of academic support they provide, where such support is provided, and by whom.

In a recently published study funded by the British Educational Research Association (BERA), we explored Black students’ ways of experiencing academic support by interviewing a cohort of undergraduates in an English university (Mimirinis et al., 2023). Black students’ experiences are often misrepresented by the problematic labelling of ‘British Asian minority ethnic’ (BAME) which arbitrarily erases ethnic, cultural and religious characteristics (Mimirinis & Wright, 2024). The ‘BAME’ categorisation also conceals an awarding gap within the awarding gap: not only Black students are under-awarded ‘good’ degrees^[1] in relation to their White peers, but also in relation to other minoritised groups of students (Mimirinis et al., 2023). Additionally, the prevalence and intensity of anti-Black barriers and racism on campuses warrants attention on how to tackle these challenges, including how to identify appropriate means of support (Bhopal, 2015).

Academic support was experienced by our study participants in four qualitatively different ways (Mimirinis et al., 2023):

1. vague expectations of ‘help’
2. ensuring understanding of the object of learning
3. organising measures to improve understanding and personal development
4. promoting wellbeing, equality and inclusion in the academic community

Dimensions along which students’ experiences of academic support varied were the object of academic support, the role of the lecturer, and students’ agency within the context of academic support. These results have implications for what type of academic support is provided, where and by whom.

What type: with a recommendation for more informal academic support that is not just available but also accessible to all students. New types of support should also embed clear procedures to address racist incidents, by expanding existing work across the sector (Universities UK, 2023). It will signal to students the willingness of their institutions to honour a commitment to unobstructed academic support and successful learning for all.

Where: with academic support more closely integrated to teaching, learning and assessment – not remote, standalone, independent, specialist ‘services’, with little or no connection to what is taught and how students’ work is assessed.

By whom: with a clear focus on the role of the academic teacher. Minoritised students often demonstrate increased levels of achievement when supported by teachers of similar racial, cultural and linguistic backgrounds to themselves (Harper, 2012). The well-known under-representation of minoritised academic staff in British universities (Bhopal, 2022) remains a matter that requires attention and action.

‘The findings highlight the importance of providing academic support that enables students to evaluate their social context and to collaborate with others to bring about transformation in their disciplines, their universities and their own lives. Academic support is not a ‘service’. It is a relational matter, intertwined with issues of equality, wellbeing, and respect for every student as part of the university community.’

The findings highlight the importance of providing academic support that enables students to evaluate their social context and to collaborate with others to bring about transformation in their disciplines, their universities and their own lives. Academic support is not a ‘service’. It is a relational matter, intertwined with issues of equality, wellbeing, and respect for every student as part of the university community. Awareness of students’ own agency in relation to learning and social contexts is important for universities to support and empower them to act as social agents, and agents in their own learning and personal development.

[1] A ‘good’ degree defined as a first (70%+) and upper second (60–70%) degree classification, typically associated with favourable employment prospects.

References

Bhopal, K. (2015). Race, identity and support in initial teacher training. British Journal of Educational Studies,63(2), 197–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2015.1005045

Bhopal, K. (2022). Academics of colour in elite universities in the UK and the USA: The ‘unspoken system of exclusion’. Studies in Higher Education, 47(11), 2127–2137. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2021.2020746

Hallett, F. (2012). Study support and the development of academic literacy in higher education: A phenomenographic analysis. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(5), 518–530. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2012.752725

Harper, S.R. (2012). Race without racism: How higher education researchers minimize racist institutional norms. The Review of Higher Education, 36(1), 9–29. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2012.0047

Mimirinis, M., Ventouris, A., & Wright, E. (2023). Variation in Black students’ conceptions of academic support. British Educational Research Journal, 50(1), 241–259. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3921

Mimirinis, M., & Wright, E. (2024). Meaning and structure in Black students’ ways of experiencing academic achievement. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2024.2323005

Universities UK (2020). Tackling racial harassment in higher education: Progress since 2020. Universities UK. https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/Reports/tacking-racial-harassment-progress-since-2020.pdf