It’s here! Our highly anticipated Student Voice Report focusing on the issues faced by BAME students at Royal Holloway. We've set out a series of recommendations in the hope that we can better support all students from all backgrounds.
It’s here! Our highly anticipated first-ever Student Voice Report based on a policy inquiry!
After nearly two years of work, we've published an extensive report that collates all of our research into the experience of BAME students at Royal Holloway. It addresses Royal Holloway’s current BAME attainment gap and the University’s plans to reduce it, the various ways we engaged with the BAME student community about the project, and 25 recommendations which we hope will have a substantial and long-lasting positive impact on the current and prospective student experience at Royal Holloway.
Read the report
Last week I gave you an update on the journey this work has taken to arrive here as our first Student Voice Report. Originally forming part of a national piece of work coordinated by The Student Engagement Project (TSEP), this has morphed into our first policy inquiry, an in-depth, research-informed process that generates a high-quality Student Voice report on a particular topic, introduced through our Democracy Review last year.
Inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do at the Students’ Union, however, we are aware that in the past we may not have supported students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds as much as we could. It is clear through the national and local context that there are still gaps and injustices in how different students experience University education. This report focuses on the issues faced by BAME students at Royal Holloway and sets out a series of recommendations in the hope that we can better support all students from all backgrounds.
As an Officer it has been a fantastic project to be a part of; ensuring that education is inclusive to all students is a key priority in the work I do, and I hope this report will be the first step in a journey of work going forward that creates a more inclusive university experience for all students. These recommendations are founded from the in-depth first-hand experience of BAME students at Royal Holloway; student voice has always been at the heart of this project and I hope it will continue to be at the heart of initiatives taken forward from the recommendations presented here.
The report details 25 individual recommendations within 10 different themes, ranging from data and diversifying the curriculum, to employability and the staff population. A summary of these recommendations can be found within the Executive Summary of the report but are best understood through the lens of the context and findings sections of the report, so I recommend looking over as much as you can to get a real perspective of the experience of BAME students and how this has fed into producing the recommendations you see here.
Whilst this is a big step towards improving the experience of BAME students at Royal Holloway, and a big step in the democracy of the Students’ Union, this project is far from over. We will now be working to ensure the recommendations are implemented, within the Students’ Union itself and through lobbying the University.
As this report now moves into the implementation phase, we’ll keep you posted on the next steps and timeframes.
Kate Roberts // Vice President Education