During Universities UK's Improving equality in higher education event, Chair, Professor Charles Egbu, Vice-Chancellor, Leeds Trinity University communicated that there is currently an awarding gap of ~13%. He stressed that in finding solutions, they must work for everyone, and they must be consistent and avoid the ‘yo yo’ effect from year to year. Strategies must be culturally embedded from programme to module, from senior leadership through to students and the Student Union. Plainly, without action we are impacting the life chances of some of our students.
During the 2.30pm session delivered by colleagues from the University of Greenwich - Sharon Perera, Head of Academic and Digital Skills, and Dr Nathaniel Pickering, Associate Director of Evaluation Centre, we learned about how, as an intervention strategy, Studiosity has been embedded into the University's curriculum, assessment policy and Access and Participation Plan.
Sharon shared how previous independent research by Professor Liz Thomas on the experience and impact of Studiosity, showed surprising results for their students. For every student category and characteristic that make up their incredibly diverse student cohort, they found across the board, Studiosity users outperformed non-Studiosity users. Specifically they found that there were no failures or low attainment results amongst Black students that used Studiosity - 100% of Studiosity users achieved high attainment. The study also showed that the awarding gap between Black, Asian and ethnic minority groups and White students was also completely eliminated for those students that used Studiosity (the gap remained at 13 percentage points for non-Studiosity users). 
However, they also found that a far lower proportion of Black and Asian students used the service compared with White students. These results prompted their recent ‘Write with Confidence’ project which specifically targets students from minoritised backgrounds and marginalised groups to engage with and use Studiosity as a formative feedback support tool.
As highlighted by speaker Sharon Lloyd, Deputy Director for the Centre for Equity and Inclusion, London Metropolitan University - the sector needs to do something, and do something quickly. In response to this, and in response Professor Egbu’s message that we all have a role and we must have a cohesive approach, Nathaniel stressed that embedding Studiosity into the processes and learning cycles that students are already part of is crucial. Their module leader, along with Sharon’s Academic and Digital Skills team also run sessions around how students can respond to their Studioisty feedback, offering additional collaborative support to students.
Nathan went on to share that the data showed Studiosity users were more likely to get a 1st - 2:1, reinforcing what they knew from the previous data. The caveat and the next piece of research will be to understand other influences, but what has been a key learning is that for students that are on the attainment borderline, Studiosity’s instant formative feedback helps them to move up into the higher category.
In the spirit of Professor Karen Salt, Professor of Culture, Place and Communities at Manchester Metropolitan University who delivered a powerful session on how to build a supportive future in research and academia, “let us not talk about barriers and challenges, let’s change the narrative so it not couched in deficit and build a supportive and inclusive future for all”.
Watch the full video [12:20 mins] >> >>
Further reading:
-
University of Greenwich case study including a video from Vice-Chancellor, Professor Jane Harrington
- 2023 Professor Liz Thomas Experience and Impact of Studiosity - full report; summary report
