NEWS – New research article on the ethnicity degree awarding gap by Dr. Billy Wong (Associate Professor in Widening Participation, University of Reading)

As part of his Student Experiences in STEM project (SESTEM), Dr. Billy Wong’s (Associate Professor in Widening Participation, University of Reading) latest paper explores what students think about the ethnicity degree awarding gap. Dr. Wong’s paper is co-authored with Reham ElMorally (a PhD student in Political Science, University of Reading) and Meggie Copsey-Blake (a recent MA Education graduate, University of Reading). The research is published in the Journal of Further and Higher Education.

In 2019, the proportion of white students who graduated with a first or upper second-class degree was 81.4%, but this proportion fell to 58% amongst black African graduates, which equates to a 23.4%-point gap (AdvanceHE, 2020). This paper presents an empirical account of what students think about the ethnicity degree awarding gap, including a focus on why they think there are differences in degree outcomes as well as their suggestions to reduce this awarding gap.

His article can be found here. For more information on Dr. Wong’s research, visit his staff profile page here. You can also follow him on Twitter here.

 

Article

Wong, B., ElMorally, R., & Copsey-Blake, M. (2021). ‘Fair and square’: What do students think about the ethnicity degree awarding gap? Journal of Further and Higher Education. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1932773