Here, we offer a synthesis of recent evidence and new developments in relation to three broad aspects of Black and minority ethnic (BAME) students’ participation in UK higher education (HE). First, we examine recent trends in ethnic group differences in rates of access to, success within, and positive destinations beyond HE. Secondly, we examine the nature of UK universities as exclusionary spaces which marginalise BAME students in a myriad of ways, not least through curricula that centre Whiteness. Finally, we consider the impact of the marginalisation of BAME students on mental health. We argue that progress towards race equality in each domain has been hampered by white-centric discourses which continue to identify BAME students and staff as ‘other’. We highlight the important roles that academic communities and HE policy-makers have to play in advancing ethnic equality in UK universities.
The commentary provides contextual information about the seminar which Bourdieu and Passeron gave in the École Normale Supérieure on 6 December 1963. It appears that the intended series of seminars was curtailed, perhaps because the initial seminar of 6 December exposed the extent to which Althusser was formally managing the intentions of his guest speakers and resisting the implications of their ongoing research on students and their studies. The commentary argues that the conflict between Althusser and Bourdieu/Passeron was inter-generational in that Althusser’s attitudes had been shaped by his experience as a victim of Nazi oppression whereas those of Bourdieu/Passeron were defined, instead, by their unwilling participation in the French colonial oppression of indigenous Algerians. Althusser was intent on examining philosophically the validity of various contemporary versions of social science whereas Bourdieu and Passeron were engaged in educational research which was scrutinizing sociologically the validity of precisely this supposedly detached philosophical perspective. In short, the commentary is aligned with the Bourdieu/Passeron position in that it seeks to offer an historical sociology of the encounter of December 1963.
In a French context where universities are thought of and analysed as “weak institutions” that leave learners to themselves, the effects of the pandemic present great risks to students who already face structural obstacles to their education. This qualitative paper is based on the experience of 19 students in a typical non-selective university in France, who have disengaged or have thought of dropping out during the pandemic. We examine how lockdowns and distance learning have impacted French students’ learning and living conditions unequally, unpacking ideas of student engagement and disengagement through a sociological lens looks at students within their social context and places importance on the role of institutions in “holding” students. By unpacking our participants’ narratives, we address the implications of online learning for educational justice and the long-term opportunities of students. Our analysis shows that students’ well-being and learning are entangled with an attachment to the institution, with seeing the worth, purpose, and recognition for what they do and the importance of emplaced learning to do so. We therefore highlight the importance of recognition and regulation in the learning process itself. Our findings allow us to also offer nuance to existing research and discourse about the French university system being a “weak” institution that forces individuals to be autonomous. The article also points to the strategies employed by students and teachers with a view to maintain engagement that contribute to considering solutions to help student retention for the sector as a whole and in our pedagogical practice.
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