How can we address implicit bias around social class in Higher Education (HE) institutions in Scotland?

This PhD project will scope the nature of explicit and implicit bias in one home HE institution and its impact on lived experiences of students from working-class and poorer backgrounds.

Academic Capital will be drawn upon and the 'Equity Mindedness' model and Strathclyde 3 Domain's Tool adopted to help participants recognise and organise the impact of different kinds of bias on their learning. Insights gained will be useful to policy makers, HE and secondary school staff and students from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Equity is a problem for HE. To be meaningful and enabling, admissions targets need to be set alongside an understanding of the kinds of advice and support that working class and poorer students need in: subject selection; extra-curricular activities; university selection; course selection; workplace engagement. We also need clear ideas about how to support students on courses by making the formal and informal HE structures and procedures more inclusive.

This engenders three sub-questions:
1: Are there variations in how implicit bias is manifest across an HE institution?
2: How does it impact the experiences of individuals from working-class and poorer backgrounds in Scotland?
3: What can HE institutions do to recognise and address implicit bias to create more inclusive and equitable experiences for working-class and poorer individuals?

1.Theoretical perspectives and systematic literature review: published work on equity within HE
2.Explore one home HE institution's data on student applications; admissions; rejections; retention; use of central services; post-qualification destinations; participation in extracurricular activities. Explore variation across courses; faculties; departments
3.Understand explicit and implicit bias through students' and other academic and support system players' experiences and perspectives
a.Interviews, Questionnaire, Case Studies: to illuminate current practices
b.Place-based interactive student maps and map-overlays, interviews, photo journals to explore student networks, support and experiences

This topic is institutionally sensitive so the study will focus on the widening access data and student experiences of one supportive home institution, building on: strong existing relationships; trust; secure access to confidential data; support/training in the data system and institutional buy-in to understand the use, usefulness, limitations and potential of data systems, student and system actor experiences.

PhD will adopt a Mixed Methods approach conducted in 3 phases:
Phase1: Theoretical framing and literature review: published work and policy on equity in HE utilising the critical theory, qualitative approach of Critical Discourse Analysis.
Phase2: Data exploration, admissions & processes of one HE institution exploring variability across and within courses/ departments/ faculties in applications, admissions, rejections, retention; central service use; participation in extracurricular activities. This will scope sources of bias and enable the purposeful selection of Phase3 participants.
Phase3: Students' and university system actors' experiences and perspectives:
-Illuminate current practices, values, networks, awareness and priorities using Key Informant Interviews (3-6: senior responsibility at faculty/ strategic level) which will inform an anonymous purposefully selected quantitative staff Questionnaire and qualitative Case Studies (2: individual faculties and 2: departments; recruitment, admissions, processes and experiences) to understand areas of difficulty or tension, utilising Qualtrics/NVivo/SPSS.
-Understand student networks, supports and experiences with place-based interactive student maps/map-overlays, interviews, photo journals (20 student participants: 10 each from high and low tariff courses) to identify explicit and implicit bias, its impact on attainment and engagement and how it might be addressed.