Listening to stories of study: identity and the awarding gap experienced by Ethnic Minority students in the context of distance education

ABSTRACT

The disproportionately low degrees awarded to Ethnic Minority students are stark, representing an enduring challenge across the entire higher education sector including distance education. This paper reports on a study conducted in a distance learning university in the UK which employed a mixed-methods approach to explore the experiences of Ethnic Minority students. The paper draws on the concept of ‘over-efforting’ and research undertaken by Stevenson into personal educational histories. The methodology included quantitative analysis to provide a broad context with additional qualitative analysis of three case studies to provide rich, deep data. In combination, these data enable the authors to explore the significance of personal educational histories to understand the individual experiences of three students within the context of broader quantitative patterns. The paper offers some insights into these experiences in order to raise important questions about the impact of identities and personal educational histories on participating in tuition within the context of distance education.

KEYWORDS:

• Black
• Asian and Ethnic Minority
• personal educational histories
• attainment
• awarding gap
• identity
• tuition

Acknowledgments

With thanks to the students who contributed their valuable time and personal reflections for this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We are using the term minority ethic due to concerns about the use of the term ‘BAME’ found elsewhere in the literature, see for example, Stevenson (2012a, 2012b): We recognise that students from ethnic minority backgrounds are highly diverse … and any term risks implying a homogeneity which does not reflect reality of individual experiences. We also recognise that language and its meanings change over time and respect the rights of individuals to self-ascribe their identity.

2. Physician’s Associates are healthcare practitioners who work alongside qualified doctors in hospitals and in GP surgeries assisting in the diagnosis and management of patients.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lucy Rai

Lucy Rai is a senior lecturer at The Open University (UK) in the faculty of Wellbeing, Language Studies and Education. Lucy has extensive experience in leadership in higher education, including acting as Associate Dean Teaching and Learning and she holds a principal fellowship of the HEA. Lucy is an editor for Open Learning Journal and has also been the editor in chief for the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. With a background as a qualified social worker, Lucy has been teaching health and social care since 1995 and has over 20 years’ experience of teaching at The Open University. She has published widely on academic and professional writing in social work and has a particular interest in emotion, reflection and identity as they impact on non-traditional students.

Jennifer Simpson

Jenny Simpson is a senior lecturer in social work at Nottingham Trent University. Her responsibilities include teaching on a number of social work programmes and developing a programme of continuous professional development for qualified social work practitioners. Jennifer’s research interests include fostering and adoption, specifically how children and young people stay in touch with members of their birth family using mobile communication devices and the Internet. Jennifer is also interested in how technology is being used to deliver social work services. Additionally, Jennifer’s interests extend to the experiences of students in Higher Education, specifically how those students from minority ethnic backgrounds can be supported and enabled.