Report | The impact of curriculum reform on the ethnicity degree awarding gap

_{23 November 2022}

Summary

Among the inequalities in British higher education, the degree awarding gap between Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students and their white peers is one of the most persistent and longstanding. 

Although addressing the ethnicity degree awarding gap has become an increasing commitment within the higher education sector, the pace of change is slow. To build the evidence on what works to narrow the gap, TASO partnered with two higher education providers to analyse whether their existing interventions designed to address the degree awarding gap were effectively doing so. 

The first intervention evaluated was the University of Kent’s ‘Diversity Mark’ initiative, which focused on creating a more inclusive and culturally sensitive curriculum, such as through detailing plans to diversify reading lists. The second intervention was the University of Leicester’s ‘Decolonising the Curriculum Toolkit’, a two-page resource for staff that provides guidelines on how to make module content, assessment and practice more inclusive and relatable for all students. 

The aim of the evaluation was to test whether these interventions had an impact on the attainment of BAME and white students, and addressed the ethnicity degree awarding gap.

Across the two interventions, there was limited evidence found of an impact on the ethnicity degree awarding gap. However, the findings are complex and do not offer decisive conclusions. The evaluation reveals important findings on implementation, which are relevant for both curriculum and non-curriculum initiatives aimed at tackling the ethnicity degree awarding gap.

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