Report | Approaches to addressing the ethnicity degree awarding gap

_{9 June 2023}

Summary

The ethnicity degree awarding gap refers to the notable difference in the proportion of students from marginalised ethnicity backgrounds who are awarded a first or upper-second class undergraduate degree when compared to white students.

The Office for Students and the broader higher education sector have committed to tackling the persistent ethnicity degree awarding gap. However, there is relatively little evidence on what works in reducing this gap. 

TASO commissioned an evaluation of two curriculum reform projects to investigate whether, and how, diversified curricula address the ethnicity degree awarding gap. The work also aimed to understand whether reforming the curriculum improves the experience of students from marginalised ethnicity backgrounds, in terms of their engagement with module content and overall satisfaction, as well as degree outcomes. The findings from this work indicated that these approaches had limited success, but also that they were implemented inconsistently. 

Based on these findings, TASO commissioned this research to map and better understand the different approaches being undertaken by the higher education sector.

Staffordshire University were commissioned to carry out the project, which involved three distinct phases:

• A review of Access and Participation Plans to produce the initial typology of approaches.
• Interviews with a range of sector stakeholders to gain further understanding of institutional infrastructure, attitudes, barriers, and enablers around these approaches.
• Recruitment of an Expert Reference Group to support the development of the final outputs.

This report outlines the findings from the review of Access and Participation Plans, which found 16 different types of approaches to addressing the ethnicity degree awarding gap; key themes that emerged from the stakeholder interviews; and recommendations based on evidence of current practice in developing approaches and evaluations, framed particularly within the context of Theory of Change and evaluation design.

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