Student–staff partnerships in narrowing the Black degree-awarding gap

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The Inclusive Newcastle Knowledge Centre recruited and collaborated with a School of Engineering Student Advisory Board (SAB) in a cyclical process of dialogic interactions, learning and research to better understand the degree-award gap affecting Black students. Participatory action research strategies and community organising principles were deployed to empower russia email list marginalised, silenced voices (Freire, 1972; Wood, 2021). Twenty-two Black home students shared their university experiences, revealing factors impacting their learning, including: unbelonging, sparse interpersonal relationships, unsatisfactory pedagogical experiences, microaggressions/racism, and pressures of cultural/familial expectations. Drawing on those findings and the SAB’s reflections, a Black Engineering Network was established to support students in response to concerns. This study illustrates how co-creation enables universities to positively engage with the gap and take effective steps towards social justice.