Enhancing the experiences of Black, Asian, mixed heritage and minoritised ethnic students in higher education

In recent years, many Higher Education Providers (HEPs) have made a formal commitment to addressing the ethnicity awarding gap. In doing so, they have adopted a whole-institutional approach that encompasses working with both academic and professional service departments within their institution. However, racial inequalities within practice learning are rarely addressed as part of the whole-institutional approach. This is particularly important as subjects allied to medicine (e.g. nursing, allied health professionals and midwifery) account for 12.3% of the student population in the United Kingdom (HESA, 2022). As such, if we are to make transformational and long-lasting changes in relation to the ethnicity awarding gap, we must acknowledge that for many students the university experience transcends beyond the walls of the institution and into practice learning.

Students studying professional courses such as those within the health and social care sectors spend up to 50% of their time within practice placements. Practice learning (sometimes referred to as practice education and/or placements) is critical in enabling students to integrate academic learning and professional practice. It is within these real-life settings that students have the opportunity to take what they have learned in the classroom and put it into practice, preparing for employment and developing their own unique professional identity. Black, Asian, Mixed Heritage and Minoritised Ethnic students face significant and unique challenges within the practice learning environment; they encounter psychological, societal and cultural challenges because of their identity (Calvin et al,2011).