Supporting BAME Students throughout Higher Education

Before proceedings get underway, this short explainer session will explore how you can get the most out of our new next generation Conference platform.

The IG Higher Education Team will run through how to make virtual connections, creating networking meet ups, accessing content on demand and how to use our new Q&A, chat functions and virtual polling tools.

This address will explore the key challenges to be discussed throughout the day, including supporting the wellbeing of BAME students, implementing an inclusive organisational culture and supporting BAME students during Covid-19.

These challenges will be reflected on throughout the event, culminating in a conclusion as to how delegates can look to solve these challenges.

• Sharing experiences from BAME students within higher education on the barriers and challenges faced
• Emphasizing the importance of HEIs listening to their students and incorporating student feedback into policy
• Discussing the importance of considering mental health and wellbeing issues that BAME students may experience and how student support should be tailored around this

Danecia’s session will be followed by a 10 minutes of questions and answers

• Highlighting the key priorities of the OfS in supporting BAME students, including tackling the attainment gap, improving recruitment and retention and the overall experience
• Discussing the impact of Covid-19 on BAME students including the impact on teaching and learning for BAME students specifically and how universities can tailor support accordingly 
• Providing updates on the OfS’ work to eliminate the gap in degree outcomes between white and black students and identifying the knowledge gaps where HEIs need to do more 
• Considering the next steps to be taken by HEI’s to increase support for BAME students in light of recent developments, including the BLM protests and Covid-19 

This session will be followed by 10 minutes of questions and answers

This session will provide unique practical guidance around the work Keele University have done within this space and look to provide attendees with solutions to common challenges the sector has been been facing.

Aim: To create a more inclusive, anti-racist organisational culture across the university 

Learning Outcomes: 

• Evaluating the work Keele University had to do in order to become one of only 30 universities to hold a Bronze Race Equality Charter Award and picking up key tips to be implemented within your own organisation 
• Understand how Keele University raised awareness throughout the university about anti-racism through the provision of educational and cultural resources such as the development of a film focused on microagressions experience by BAME students 
• Learning from Keele University’s Race Equality Lecture Series that looks to explore the struggle against racism and discussing how to encourage voluntary participation across the university 

This session will be followed by 10 minutes of questions and answers

• Understanding the urgent, critical nature of this issue and carrying out a comprehensive examination of racial harassment across the university
• Creating a new online reporting system for students and staff to report harassment and sharing insights into its impact
• Taking a community approach to tackling racial harassment through building key partnerships to deliver training to staff
• Sharing the framework developed by the university to work towards becoming a more equitable institution, including clear actions and accountability, and targets for addressing racial equity

This session will be followed by 10 minutes of questions and answers

Your opportunity to make the most of the virtual Conference, meet up with fellow delegates, make connections and tour our real-time resources and content.

Don’t forget if you’ve missed a session, you can use our replay functions, so you can watch all the content on demand at a time that suits you.

This session is designed to provide attendees with the opportunity to learn from the University of Birmingham’s approach to increasing staff engagement around the issue of racism in an attempt to better understand and tackle racism and racial harassment on campus. 

• Launching a campus wide consultation to engage staff and students in conversations about racism
• Sharing insights into the Talking Confidently About Race Workshops to increase the capacity of managers to respond to race related grievances
• Sharing guidance for HEIs on how to initiate conversations about race and overcoming common barriers to participation
• Dissecting the use of the term ‘BAME’ and the importance of recognising that all experiences are not homogeneous

This session will be followed by 10 minutes of questions and answers

This session will provide an opportunity for delegates to discuss the latest initiatives in the sector and what can be learnt from these.

Delegates will have the choice of breaking out into two rooms to share experiences, assess findings and discuss what more can be done to tackle these issues.

Each room will be led by an expert speaker and will be focused on one of the following themes: 

Breakout Room A: Tackling the Attainment Gap and Developing Inclusive Teaching and Learning Practices – This session will be led by Joanna MacDonnell, Director of Education and Students, University of Brighton

Breakout Room B: Developing and Implementing an Inclusive Curriculum – This session will be led by Dr Devinder Rana-Rai, Director of Teaching Excellence, University of Wolverhampton

Day 1 of the conference will finish at 1:15pm.

Throughout the Conference you will be able to make use of:

• Match making networking and live delegate meet ups
• Replay functions so you never miss a session
• Live chat, questioning and polling tools
• Real time resources and presentations
• A next generation conference engagement platform

Before proceedings get underway, this short explainer session will explore how you can get the most out of our new next generation Conference platform.

Our IG Higher Education Team will run through how to make virtual connections, creating networking meet ups, accessing content on demand and how to use our new Q&A, chat functions and virtual polling tools.

• Outlining the importance of having dedicated counsellors from BAME backgrounds and giving students the option to signify a preference 
• Understanding the wellbeing issues that BAME students, specifically, experience and ensuring support is effectively tailored to their needs 
• Sharing guidance on effectively training staff to understand the mental health implications of discrimination 
• Discussing how universities can ensure that they are offering culturally competent support services, including creating safe spaces, increasing students’ sense of belonging and promoting diversity and inclusion ambassadors 
• Highlighting how the university is supporting BAME students during Covid-19 

Use our Conference platform to pose your live questions to speakers, share your ideas with fellow delegates via our chat function and participate in our new session polling.

The session will begin with a 15 minute activity wherein delegates will have the opportunity to identify ways in which university processes, culture and ways of teaching can enforce imposter syndrome among BAME students. The rest of the session will then look at ways in which this syndrome can be tackled 

• What is imposter syndrome and why is it more prevalent among students from BAME backgrounds? 
• How does imposter syndrome have a negative impact on recruitment, retention and attainment for BAME students? 
• What should universities be doing to support students to overcome imposter syndrome? 

Your opportunity to make the most of the virtual Conference, meet up with fellow delegates, make connections and tour our real-time resources and content.

Don’t forget if you’ve missed a session, you can use our replay functions, so you can watch all the content on demand at a time that suits you.

• Understanding how Covid-19 has negatively impacted BAME students, including financial impact, increased vulnerability to the virus and barriers to online learning 
• Discussing how HEIs should be supporting BAME students to overcome these challenges through flexible and understanding solutions 
• Evaluating how Covid-19 is having a disproportionate educational impact on BAME students and how learning and teaching practices should be adapted to tackle this in the short and long term

• Understand the process of applying for a Race Equality Charter Mark and how to map this against an action plan 
• Identify key priorities for promoting anti-racism across your institution and the key steps required to achieve this 
• Ensure you have incorporated student and staff feedback and that your action plan takes into account the diverse needs of your student body 

This session will summarise key takeaways from the day and how delegates can implement these learnings in their own organisations.

*This Programme is subject to change