Culture Wars and Higher Education in the UK

Why are we still in culture wars?

I surmise that legitimately, there is still very limited understanding of what it means to effectively deliver students with diverse needs and backgrounds an educational experience that meets them where they are; helps them understand how their journey needs to shape up;

and then facilitates them along the way. Most Universities in the UK have plans, strategies, and all manner of documentation to show that they are committed to improving on what has historically been a system that marginalises students from cultures that are not white and middle/upper class. While the UK has managed to bring Universities into account for their access issues, and create a system that has arguable improved access to HE for many students. Why is there still such an issue around success, retention, progression, and overall attainment?

If you have been paying attention to anything in the University sector in the past 2 years, you will have seen the endless statistics, reports, and findings that show how students of colour, and predominantly black Caribbean students, are consistently marginalised and underperform in Uni in the UK. Coupled with the fact that they are the least represented among faculty and staff in their university experiences. As a black Caribbean woman myself, this pisses me off.

Still in 2021, with all the commitments, accreditations, plans, and strategies, students and staff of colour are referred to as ‘BAME’, ‘from deprived backgrounds’, ‘IMD quartile 1’, and a slew of other terms that are ignorant to say the least. We are still marginalised in the curriculum, how its taught, and the systems outside of the curriculum that contribute to the educational or work experience in university. I was reminded today that oftentimes, senior leadership in HE still have no real concept of what decolonising the curriculum is, and why it needs to be done.