We need to talk about access to postgraduate education

This article was kindly authored for HEPI by Louise Banahene, Director of Educational Engagement and Student Success at the University of Leeds.

We’re all familiar with the importance of widening access to undergraduate study. We have regulation to ensure there is due attention and, where there are gaps, higher education institutions have clear plans in place with evidence of progress.

More recently, the sector-leading work by organisations like Leading Routes has prompted welcome investment from UKRI and OfS to address inequitable progression to PhD.

This builds on work over the last few years to develop a pipeline into Master’s study – including financial support. There’s no doubt it has resulted in a significant step change. But is this enough?

Differential participation in subjects and higher education institutions still limit progression to postgraduate study. Postgraduate taught tuition fees now exceed student loan limits, ethnicity remains a barrier to participation and the sector is yet to implement a consistent approach to collecting and analysing social class data.

As Chair of the NEON Widening Participation in postgraduate study group, our recent conference was a highlight. We have collectively benefited from a multi-disciplinary group of colleagues and students coming together to consider what needs to change in order to enhance progression across postgraduate study both at Master’s and PhD level.  

Our keynote speakers, Dr Chantelle Jessica Lewis and Professor Jason Arday, reinforced the importance of the small wins and the need to consider the work as fighting for future generations. They also highlighted the importance of continuing to consider the pipeline and that’s a theme we returned to time and time again.

If we’re to make meaningful change to bring the diversity of perspectives, the cultural competencies and the innovation that society needs and wants in order to tackle the next big challenges we need to collaborate more and move faster. It is this pipeline from undergraduate through postgraduate study that will ensure future cohorts of students are taught by an academic community that is reflective of our wider society.

We must ensure that we are addressing barriers to progression including access to postgraduate study. This includes whether a student has studied at a non-research-intensive university at undergraduate level, the impact of undergraduate awarding gaps and understanding the impact of socio-economic background to take action.

We can learn from innovations in contextual admissions and on-programme engagement to scale up by proactively building strategies to ensure Masters and PhD students are retained, succeed and can progress to the next stage in their careers.

Extending our thinking and commitment to build the next generation of PhD supervisors and primary investigators with the leadership and shared commitment at the centre will be crucial. Higher education has a social responsibility to reflect the diversity of our society in all that we do.

There are many pockets of outstanding work and the next step is to build a new normal where access to postgraduate study is not predicated by background or lived experience:

• More focus and support for existing and new inter-disciplinary groups to shape understanding of the systems driving inequity and to advance work and enhance access and outcomes for marginalised groups in postgraduate Masters and PhD education at institutional and sector level. Projects such as YCEDE, EDEPI and Generation Delta are just three great examples of this with important learning and outputs to ensure a successful transition into postgraduate study. This will amplify understanding, support the consistency of approach and outline the collective and individual change required.
• We can’t underestimate the individual change we can all make to foster an inclusive culture, build belonging and address structural barriers within our spheres of responsibility at postgraduate level. This can be through institutional work or involvement in organisations such as The Martingale Foundation working towards building a new generation of STEM leaders. There are some parallels here with climate emergency work where our role in communicating the changes we are making to our practice as well as outlining the points at which wider, systemic policy change is required amplifies the discussion and adjusts the expectation on what we can do.
• Collective agreement on the inclusive culture is required through structural change, building on the work of organisations such as UKCGE, and interventions that cut across all aspects of higher education. To support this, we need an evidence base of data and qualitative evidence-building across the sector. Delivered at scale, it will enable us to take a holistic view and evaluate the impact of the culture change on our student communities.

When we list the areas for change, it can feel overwhelming and this is reflective of a complex system. However, at the heart of it is the need for a collective strategy agnostic of funding routes, institutional structures and role descriptors to cut through this complexity.

There is an equally important role for individuals, policymakers and funders. It places students at the centre and values their lived experiences and perspectives. It focuses on the principles required to bring about change that cannot be ignored.