Hi Dominik



I am so glad you have raised this issue here, I raised this with Claire at the recent REC launch too and as ECU are moving towards an award gap terminology perhaps we can follow that lead. 



My personal view is that we should stop calling it just the attainment gap and that we should move either to the award/attainment gap (in recognition of the fact that we do not actually know what is causing the gap) or just the award gap (because even though we don't know, so far the focus has been on attainment and this needs rebalancing). Whichever way we look at the data there is as far as I am aware no definitive answer about what causes such huge disparities in outcomes for BME students when compared to white but what we do know is that even when they enter with higher or equivalent grades BME students still fare worse (in my view this does not suggest it is completely about attainment). We don't know what is happening in universities to result in this outcome but we do know that as a sector we have been working on this issue for over a decade with very little change.



When we label it as an attainment gap of any kind then it tends to focus attention to students and what they could/should do to improve their aspirations/attainment rates etc. This takes the focus away from academics and what they could/should do to improve their expectations/award rates etc.



The one thing we can say categorically is that BME students are less likely to be awarded "good" degrees. Because of the position we are in we don't know why that is but there are lots of possibilities. It is possible that some BME students for whatever reason are just not performing as well, have lower aspirations etc. (the usual things we have been discussing and working on for years now with little success)  but it is also possible that issues of bias are at work in relation to curriculum content (why is my curriculum white?), tutor expectations, uneven use of discretion and comfortableness or lack of it in working with students from different cultures (which in my view receives much less attention and is often more difficult to raise or discuss within institutions). 



Currently the terminology of the attainment gap sends us more in one direction as well as opening the door to stereotype threat for students. If we move towards terminology that includes an "award gap" then it raises more questions and changes the focus which may well result in more accountability especially now that fees are so high. 



I do think something needs to change and fast so thanks once again for raising this Dominik it would be great to hear more views.



Regards

Chijioke



-----Original Message-----

From: Higher Education Race Action Group alerts and communications [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dominik Jackson-Cole

Sent: 22 February 2016 10:51

To: [log in to unmask]

Subject: BME vs ethnicity attainment gap



Dear all,



I don't know if this issue has been raised before (I did a quick search on here and couldn't find anything though) but I was just wondering if it was worth looking into the names we give to the attainment gaps, and consider the possible shift in the name we use and potential implications? 



So we use the words 'Gender attainment gap' - as opposed to boy's/men's attainment gap. This seems more neutral and doesn't implicitly suggest that there's something wrong with boys/men... the same applies to social class attainment gap - not 'working class' attainment gap. 



Whereas we usually (not all the time, and I know my own institution is also guilty of it) say 'BME attainment gap' - which is not neutral and one might argue locates the issue within the BME students. Wouldn't it be more neutral/ better to start using the phrase 'Ethnicity attainment gap'? After all we all have/ can have an ethnicity that we identify as... or that people racialise us as, just as we have a gender identity (not necessarily in a binary sense of course!). 



What would be the implications of this? Do you think it's a better name? (of course by this name I do not wish to distract anyone from working on the actual issues - which is the gap and which needs to be addressed)  



Kind Regards,

Dominik Jackson-Cole

EDI Senior Advisor 

Kingston University