The Experience of Black ethnically minoritised students in higher education

“Is there a link between the Black ethnically Minoritised (BEM) student experience in higher education in the UK and degree attainment, retention and progression?” Aims of this study: • to investigate the experiences of BEM students on the youth and community development (YCD) course at Riverside University(RU) • to provide a conduit that would enable BEM students to tell their stories • to analyse the BEM students’ narratives and discuss implications for key stake-holders. Methodology: The overall aim of this study was to explore and gain insights into the experience of BEM students in higher education in the UK, using qualitative research methodology. It sought to provide descriptive and interpretive accounts from BEM students at De Montfort University, in Leicester. Student dialogue groups and facilitation were the primary methods used. The process was underpinned by a commitment to group processes as well as working towards a tangible outcome that could be presented to the three stake-holders: BEM students, BEM communities and the university. The research methodology was based on a process of attempting to research with, rather than into, or about. The overall concern in this study was with processes, rather than content or outcome. The research approach adopted to capture BEM students’ experiences was a post-positivist (subjectivist) methodology. Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Participatory Action Research (PAR) were also used. Outcomes: Overall, the BEM students regarded their experience in HE as “a struggle that exposed vulnerabilities and presented opportunities for change.” This study demonstrated the necessity to create space to facilitate the articulation of the BEM “student voice”. Their experience in HE was mirrored by their experiences in wider society and underscored by “discrimination”. The BEM students’ experiences heightened their appreciation of “positionality”. This is reflected in terms of how they were situated, or how they situated themselves, based on perception and experiences. Their encounters with “discrimination” and “positionality” in HE and the opportunity to dialogue and reflect led to an emerging “consciousisation”, where BEM students were “more determined to succeed and to challenge for positive change”. BEM participants wanted HE institutions to be “accountable” and to “acknowledge their role and responsibility in addressing the negative impact of policy and practice”. BEM students “desired safe spaces” and they were prepared to use various methods (“self-determination”) to achieve their objectives. The BEM students identified strategies they believed would contribute to making a significant difference to their HE experiences, specifically “learning contracts”, “Peer Support & Mentoring System (PSMS)” and “radical curriculum

Black Sickle Cell Patients’ Lives Matter: Healthcare, long- term shielding and psychological distress during a racialized pandemic in England – a mixed-methods study

Open accessObjective: To understand the psychological and social impact of shielding on people with sickle cell disorders and their carers in the Midlands region of England. This region was badly affected during the pandemic, with the city of Birmingham having some of the highest rates of COVID-19 deaths. Design: A mixed methods project with a quantitative survey on shielding and adapted SF36 v 2 questionnaire which was supplemented by qualitative semi-structured interviews analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological analysis (IPA). Participants: Fifty-one participants who were predominantly of Black Caribbean or Black African heritage anonymously took part in the online survey. We supplemented this with eight in-depth semi-structured interviews with adults with sickle cell disorders using IPA. Results: The adapted SF36 v2 survey indicated worse quality of life and mental health. The open-ended questions from the adapted survey also identified shielding concerns about hospital care, pain management and knowledge of sickle cell by healthcare professionals. From the interviews it emerged that the racialized element of the pandemic caused significant psychological distress for a population group that had to regularly access hospitals. It was noted that psychological health needs both during a pandemic and outside of it were poorly understood and became invisible in services. The psychological impact of experiences of hospital care as well as growing up with an invisible chronic condition were important to understand psychologically

Ask me if I am okay: COVID-19 and the psychological and social impact of long-term shielding experiences of people with sickle cell disorders and their care givers

This pilot mixed methods study wanted to understand the psychological impact, as well as the social needs, of people with sickle cell disorders (SCD) who had been identified as ‘extremely clinically vulnerable’ by the government and had been asked to ‘shield’ at home from the 23rd of March 2020, to when shielding was officially lifted, on the 31st of March 2021. We were also interested in how parents who had SCD and parents of children with the condition were coping. We found that throughout the pandemic, while people’s very basic social needs were being met, their psychological health needs were not

Europe’s established and emerging immigrant communities: Assimilation, multiculturalism or integration?

Europe is not what it used to be, and not yet what it will be. The assassination of Theo van Gogh in November 2004, the 2001 riots in the Northern cities of England, the riots in France in November 2005 and the incident of the Danish Cartoons in 2005 are all manifestations of mainstream Europe’s struggle to reconfigure itself. The rapidly changing demographics, especially after post World War Two immigration, have led to what Tariq Ramadan calls a ‘European identity crisis’. This has raised significant social, political, economic, security and cultural questions over how emerging and more established immigrant communities are managed. This book brings together some of the leading writers in their fields to explore a range of issues concerning Europe’s established and emerging immigrant communities: religion, health, housing, refugees and asylum seekers, working in post conflict ethnic zones, community cohesion in rural areas, security, Gypsies and Travellers. The first part of the book looks at such topics across Europe whilst the second uses the UK as a microcosm through which to explore specific issues. Readers will find a wide range of perspectives based on empirical research and grounded in critical analyses, as well as responses to the new challenges confronting Europe. The book is timely and has wide appeal: it will be essential reading for social science courses including community development, sociology, politics, social policy, diversity, health, education and international development at both undergraduate and post graduate level. And policy makers and practitioners will treasure the book’s historical and contemporary insights into how the geography of Europe has been shaped and how policies continue to be largely focused on the racialisation of people

Working with young black people.

This is an important collection, integrating research with messages for practitioners in an area where there has as yet been insufficient material published. This book also formed the focal point for a major international conference in the Summer of 2006. As well as jointly editing the publication, the author contributed a chapter to it.Bringing together this work's different dimensions and perspectives, this book seeks to challenge both the accepted status quo of Black young people s negative overrepresentation in most aspects of life - including education, criminal justice, housing and health - and their under-representation in empiric literature. It seeks to help find ways forward. Herman Ouseley, writing in this book, sets the tone. What is most heartwarming today, is how many Black young people survive and thrive, in spite of the struggles and obstacles... There are many people, working at a local level with young people from all backgrounds with a view to helping them realise their aspirations, hopes and dreams. Offering insights into issues that confront Black young people and presenting strategies for change the chapters in this book chart the shifts in British social policy - recruitment, restriction, repatriation, multiculturalism, and mainly now integration. It shows how, before meaningful work around integration and cohesion can begin, there must be greater understanding of the realities Black young people face, and of the various contexts for work with them