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It’s been a few years of learning for me. Firstly, learning about UK higher Education, then learning about the oppression it creates, but at the same time learning about some of the amazing, intelligent, motivated, determined people that go through the system. So, I've written a book based on this learning to help students of cololur navigate Higher Education learning.
The book is different and unique in so many ways that I am proud of. I'll list a few below.
I have learned (and ranted) about the ethnicity awarding gap. In looking at data, sitting in committee rooms and policy making spaces, I have usually been told about initiatives and programmes that work to "fix" the problem of students of colour who do not seem to understand how Higher Education works. This never sat well with me, as I know that affirming them, being honest with them, and really loving them changes their perspective but also their approach to their learning.
Trust has been lost between people of colour and institutions,and even person to person. This book is to provide students of colour a renewed but directed sense of their right to access, participate, and succeed in their higher education experience.
Knowledge is power is not just a cliché, so many students have found out about the support and services discussed in the book too late into their higher education journey. Even in the course of writing this book, so many students found the information valuable and said that it would have made so much of a difference if they had it from their first year.
So, with this, and so many other components in mind, I have written a short (circa 6000 words), simple, and hopefully helpful book with practical steps for aspiring students, current students, parents, and those who teach and support students of colour. The book is interwoven with affirmations and reminders that who are is just as (if not more important than) what we will learn. It shares truths from my experience but also from research about the ways that students of colour have been affected by the racial inequalities and colonial influences that are still very much present in both structures and people’s hearts and minds.
The foreword, written by the powerful Larissa Kennedy shares this understanding of barriers, but with a stronger focus on the message of hope.
I wish to thank all the colleagues, students, and friends who have given me support and feedback on both the book contents and its cover design. You make my success matter.
The book is going to be released next month, so please subscribe if you would like to keep recieveing updates!
Pre-order now to recieve the book 1 week before anyone else at https://www.haywoodandassociates.com/shop
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