Category: Higher and Further Education

Science Travels

Marie Bowers, co-chair of ACERT, is Technician in Charge of the Physiology Teaching Lab at the University of Glasgow and a member of the Physiology Society. In a blog post, as part of the 150 voices of Physiology Series, Marie talks about how her colleagues in the Society have supported her in developing projects like “Science Travels”.

I now find myself identifying as a Romany woman, a teaching technician and a Doctoral candidate 

For the majority of my working life, I have been the only Romany in the lab, or at the conference, or at the outreach event. However, that can and should change to include members from our diverse communities of Romany and Travellers in physiology research and teaching.

The project aims to engage Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showman and Boater students in physiology and STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) more widely and educate our undergraduates and institutions about the communities and the health, education and societal inequalities they face.

Marie pays tribute to the members of the Physiological Society who have helped her develop the project and take it from a pub audience of Glasgow Skeptics, to Westminster, the Scottish Parliament and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. In her opinion, the Society is: “people willing to identify opportunities, to share information and to support the efforts of colleagues even when their ideas sound a little ‘out there'”.

The Physiological Society provides the space and the motivation to attempt this work. The Society helped me find my voice; my hope now is that it helps others to find theirs.

While expressing gratitude to her colleagues, Marie is realistic about the challenges that lie ahead.

There is work to be done; decolonisation of research and teaching, co-creation of research with underrepresented groups, and true recognition of the diversity of the physiology workforce.

Read the Post

Most excluded minorities

GRT Access to Education HEPI Report 151Download

The Think Tank Higher Education Policy Institute, has published a new report on access to education among Gypsies, Roma and Travellers (Gypsy, Roma and Traveller) authored by Policy Manager Dr.Laura Bressington.

Laura will join our next Education Support Network meeting on Wednesday, 30th November at 2pm online.

Gypsies, Roma and Travellers: The ethnic minorities most excluded from UK education is an informative report that looks carefully at definitions and draws attention to the dangers of homogenisation – focussing sharply on the need for careful data collection and handling. In her own use of data she demonstrates that these communities are hugely underrepresented in Higher Education.

Evidence
  • Gypsy, Roma and Travellers of Irish heritage have the widest attainment gap in measures of pupils achieving a good level of development in early years education;
  • Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils have some of the lowest rates of attendance and the highest rates of permanent exclusion from schools;
  • in 2020/21, 9.1% of Gypsy / Roma pupils and 21.1% of Irish Traveller pupils achieved a grade 5 or above in GCSE English and Mathematics, compared to a national average in England of 51.9%;
  • young people from Gypsy / Roma and Irish Traveller communities are the least likely ethnic groupings to enter higher education by the age of 19 – just 6.3% of Gypsy / Roma and 3.8% of Irish Travellers access higher education by the age of 19 compared to around 40% of all young people;
  • Gypsy and Irish Travellers are the UK’s ‘least liked’ group, with 44.6% of people holding negative views against them – 18.7 percentage points higher than Muslims; and
  • Irish Travellers face a ‘mental health crisis’, with one-in-10 deaths caused by suicide.
Recommendations
For Government
  1. Improved Data Collection.  The current lack of information means that the full scale of the problem remains invisible.
  2. Funding.  The small scale project local project  funding available at the time of writing is inadequate to the scale of the problem which is a national one.
For Higher Education
  1. Access and Participation Plans such as the Higher Education Pledge which create a welcoming environment are to be welcomed
  2. There is a need to include the history and culture of the various Travelling groups in the curriculum. Including works by members of the communities and including relevant data can improve understanding of the different Gypsy Roma and Traveller communities

King’s College London are prioritising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students on their flagship K+ scheme

Once again, King’s College London are prioritising Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students on their flagship K+ scheme for year 12 students in London and South Essex. This has been so successful in the last few years, and each year we see more Gypsies, Roma and Travellers head to university from K+.

As well as all of the amazing experiences and application support students get through K+, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller students will also receive extra support, provided by the global leading law firm Linklaters. This includes:

  • Free online tutoring to support with A-levels 
  • Careers advice, experience and tips from top professionals
  • Access to funds to go to events and take part in activities you are interested in

Applications are open from now until 29 October – to apply visit https://kplus.london

Pledge raises awareness in HE

Bronte Sheldon and Wendy Price

Wendy Price, Head of Widening Access and Participation at the University of Sunderland shared this video interview with Bronte Sheldon, a second year Media, Culture and Communications student.

Bronte got in touch after learning that we had recently signed the GTRSB into HE Pledge and wanted to share her perspectives on Romani inclusion and identity. Bronte has also agreed to work with Wendy’s Department to develop their priorities and key actions relating to the Pledge.