Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse student experience in therapeutic radiography undergraduate education – student collaboration in research design (oral proffered paper at Conference)

Louise Codd, Aarthi Ramlaul, Daksha Trivedi Background: There is a disparity in Higher education (HE) awards between students from Black, Asian and ethnically diverse backgrounds in comparison to students from white backgrounds, with a lower proportion of 'good degrees' (2.1 or above) awarded (Advance HE 2020b). This occurs when entry qualifications, social or economic factors (Broeke & Nicholls 2007) are controlled, impacting employment and progression to postgraduate study (Cramer 2021). Method: A student-led workshop explored experiences, generating themes and questions for inclusion in a larger-scale future questionnaire. A 90-minute workshop was conducted with five student volunteers who self-identified as having a Black, Asian, or ethnically diverse background. Three themes i.e. academic learning, placement and perceived barriers to attainment functioned as a starting point for student-led discussion. Audio data was recorded, thematically transcribed, and analysed using NVivo software. Method: Students recounted experiences of racism and microaggressions, assumptions made about them and a feeling of having to work harder than their white counterparts in the placement setting. Feelings that commitments at home were not understood by academic staff alongside difficulties in mental health because of pressures to succeed were key themes emerging around attainment. Conclusion: Further collaboration with students as co-creators in research is invaluable. Not only to develop reliable and valid methods but to highlight student voices, embedding their narratives within the research which impacts them from the outset. Further research into the experiences of student therapeutic radiographers from Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse backgrounds is vital to create an equitable learning environment to reduce the awarding gap. file:///C:/Users/rpcqdt1/OneDrive%20-%20University%20of%20Hertfordshire/Desktop/Abstracts-Book-2023.pdf