Exploring the experiences of students originally from the EU newer member states in Eastern Europe in UK Higher Education

This webinar will report on a Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) funded project which explored the higher education experiences of first-generation migrants to the UK, who are originally from newer European Union (EU) member states in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania) but have received some or all of their schooling in the UK. This group has long been invisible to universities, as they are recorded as domiciled in the UK and counted together with UK students. The study found that they experience exclusion and essentialisation in HE: exclusion from the curriculum, cultural exclusion, exclusion from both categories of ‘home’ and ‘international’ student, and individual ‘othering’

We will discuss the findings of the project, including:

• How this group experiences HE
• How we can ensure a more inclusive experience for this group
• Recommendations for teaching, student services and EDI colleagues and policy-makers

This presentation and workshop will be of interest to academics, students, senior leaders in HE, and those working in the areas of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Student Experience and Learning and Teaching.

The webinar will be led by Professor Charlotte Chadderton (PI), Professor Agnieszka Bates (Co-PI) and Dr Dom Jackson-Cole (Research Assistant).

Speakers

Professor Charlotte Chadderton

Is Professor of Education and Head of Research in the Institute of Education and Skills, University of Derby. She oversees research and doctoral provision at the Institute, and leads on REF. Her research is in the field of social justice in education with a particular focus on race (in)equality and on the way in which different kinds of inequalities are produced and reproduced in educational spaces and by educational processes, policies, practices and discourses.

Professor Agnieszka Bates

Is Head of the School of Education at Bath Spa University. Agnieszka places the excellence of the student experience at the heart of her strategic vision. Her key role is to lead the School, ensuring that its strategic goals are underpinned by high-quality provision and operational effectiveness. Agnieszka also has extensive experience in the areas of curriculum innovation, partnership development and education research in both the UK and international contexts.

Dr Dom Jackson-Cole

Is Lecturer in Education at the Institute of Education and Skills, University of Derby. He has worked extensively in the sector on closing racialised degree awarding gaps and tackling racial harassment. His research interests include questions of race, racism, whiteness, antiracism and decoloniality in higher education.