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Belonging and overcoming adversity – supporting BAME students in the transition to university and throughout their courses
Tara Keck and Charmian Dawson, Faculty of Life Sciences
Project dates: March 2021 - December 2024
Summary
In September 2020, the project co-applicants developed and piloted a series of lectures on topics previously shown to reduce the BAME awarding gap. These lectures were presented during induction week for students in the Division of Biosciences. The project aims to build off this pilot work to create a programme for students addressing the topics of belonging, overcoming adversity, and caring for their mental health.
The programme will engage students before they arrive at UCL and will continue to engage them through the personal tutorial programme in the division over the following three years. The project extends the topics covered in the pilot programme and creates professional lecture and interview videos so that the materials can eventually be shared more widely across UCL and embedded as a part of the student experience.
The lectures and videos in this project focus on areas that 1) have been identified as issues in the Life Sciences Student Satisfaction Survey, including questions to identify potential issues contributing to the BAME Awarding Gap, and 2) have scientific evidence to support their ability to reduce the BAME Awarding Gap and increase student well-being.