Aspiration and Resilience - Challenging Deficit Theories of Black Students in Higher Education
Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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04/07/2018
Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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Deficit theory can still haunt the academy, and nowhere is this more prolific than in rhetoric used to explain the position and overall experience, of Black students in HigherEducationRatherthan a deficit model, the argument is that Black students demonstrate forms of resilience, which the academy needs to learn, in theory and practice, and in promoting a more inclusive environment.
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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AIM OF SESSION
AIM OF SESSION
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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The Student experience
(Broecke and Nicholls, 2007).They are less likely to be satisfied with their student experienceMore likely to leave early (Singh 2009)National Student Survey (2006-2010) lower overall satisfaction with their HE experience than white studentsMcNamara andCoomber(2012) Black students reported feeling isolated, with an increased awareness of their ‘race’.Black students dissatisfaction with what they perceived as insufficient relevant course content pertaining to Black perspectives and CRT (McNamaraandCoomber2012)Andall-Stanberry (2017) – Black students do not like to be perceived as having deficits
The Students’ Experience
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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DEFICIT THEORIES
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McNamara andCoomber(2012)– employed deficiencytheories in explaining Black students’ lower attainment; high drop-out rate and overall dissatisfaction
Using York et al (1997) andOzgaandSukhanandan(1998)…. “Black students have difficulties integrating into the university culture
They are not prepared for university life due to ‘unrealistic expectations and compatibility of choice” (OzgaandSukhnandan(1998. p. 321).
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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THEORETICAL BACKGROUND - DEFICIT THEORIES
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COMMONSENSE APPEAL TO DEFICIT THINKING
strengthens stereotypes in the minds and thought of educators, policy makers and students themselves.In essence, deficit thinking allows generalisations about student ability to be made, and supports a laziness to grapple with the complex issues around student difficulties.In the process people who are already disenfranchised are labelled and further stigmatised.
One of the most serious effects of deficit thinking
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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DEFICIT THEORIES - IGNORING STRUCTURAL ISSUES
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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Beingat university is connected with “intellectual ability - perceived or actualized” (Smith 2013, p. 7).Views of ‘experts’ - polarise notions of intelligence and race aligned to deficit theories.Steele (1997) deficit theories have the appearance in part, of absolving universities from their responsibilities.
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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CRITICAL RACE THEORY (CRT) PREMISECRT challenges biological and cultural deficit stories through its concept of “community cultural wealth” and exposes inherent underlying racism.It also reveals the need to incorporate and restructure UK social institutions around those knowledge, skills, abilities and networks—the community cultural wealth—possessed and utilized by Black people.One of the key messages is that universities should be concerned by the continued experience of Black students’cultural alienation, physical isolation, heightened awareness of their race and remaining silenced.
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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GAIL, ZARA, MARY
GAIL – I have experienced more racism here in three months, than I have ineighteen years living in LondonZara – The university say it is diverse, yet in my three years here, I have not see a book by a Black author in any of my modulesMary – students marked work given to colleagues to be look at, to ensure lecturer’s had marked correctly
CRT
Basic premise - racism must be challenged - it is pervasive and permanent; not just an individual pathology.Systemically represents itself in the very structures of our institutions (McPherson 1999).However:complex to address - engrained within society- frequent occurrence in the day to day existence of Black peoples’ lives(Chakrabartyaet al 2012;RollockandGillborn2011,Hylton2012, Wright et al 2013).
Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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CRT: CRITICALASSESSMENT OF DEFICITTHEORY
Discriminatory behaviours and marginalisation often concealed by lack of transparency
Academic structures and policies that are notinclusiveand tend to stigmatise
Lack of role models and BAME friendly imagery
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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BOURDIEU WASNOTTALKING ABOUT BME STUDENTS.’.
Bourdieu (1997)… working class students were less successful not because they were of inferior intelligence or not gifted, but because the curriculum was`biased infavour of those things with which middle-class students were already extra-curricularlyfamiliar’
Stevenson and Clegg (2011) ….existingstructures of universitiesdisable, rather than enable Black students to function to the best of their ability
Andall-Stanberry (2017)A number of potential causes are cited such as: ‘racism, lack of role models, segregation, discriminatory practice, and student and staff’s attitudes and expectations of Black students
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Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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Back (2004)HE sectorlagging behind in addressing the question of differentiation for Black student in relation to grade, retention and experiences
Patton (2004) universities run therisk of being seen as “complicitousin domination and oppression (p.190) because of their reluctance to explore and embrace diversity.
Prendergast (1998), “race remains under-theorized, un-problematized, and under- investigatedin composition research leaving us with no means to confront the racialized atmosphere of the university and no way to account for the impact of the persistence of prejudice on writers and texts (pp. 36)
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RACE/DIVERSITY AND HIGHER EDUCATION
Embedding inclusiveness in mission and value statementsCurriculum designCommitment to seriously address marginalisation of particular students in the curriculum contents, or the hidden curriculum where certain ideological assumptions advantage white [anglo-saxon] middle-class student.Championing modules/courses that explore other cultures, and provide opportunities to explore ‘racism and the Black/Black students experience’ – historical, psychological and sociological perspective.Assessing cultural competence of students and of staff as part of academic professional development.Disperse multi-cultural and multi-racial images across the curriculumIncluding in curriculum and assessment moderation processesStudent and Staff support for overcoming barriersPersonal Development PlanningPersonal Academic Tutoring, Mentoring and CoachingEquality and Diversity Training for staff both in overcoming barriers and developing inclusive practice right from the induction and orientation stage.Creation of safe spaces for discussion of exclusion and flaws in processes that might undermine inclusiveness.Staff recruitment and visibilitycommensurate with the racial diversity developing knowledge, and identifying specific strategies which could reduce Black students’ attainment gap.Staff and student mobility
MANAGEMENT COMMITMENT TO CHALLENGING DEFICIT THEORY- The inclusive academy model for institutional vitality
Dr Mary Andall-Stanberry
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The conversations are age-oldBut continue to be rifeTime to stop talking– time for culture shiftBuilding BlocksEducation for SustainableFuturesespwellbeing, ethics;Inclusive[ness] [curriculum];Learning and TeachingEnvironment;Planning for inclusivenessInternationalisationTransparencySelf-scrutinyCommitment to clear KPIs &Research informed strategiesIndustry links to influencestudent destinationopps
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BibliographyAndall-Stanberry (2017)Aspirationand Resilience - Challenging Deficit Theories of Black Students in HigherEducation. UnpublishedDoctorate ThesisBack, L. (2004) ‘Ivory Towers? The Academy and racism’ in I Law, D Phillips and L.Turney(eds) Institutional Racism in Higher Education, Stoke on Trent, Trentham Books.Bensimon, E. M. and Malcolm, L. (2012) Confronting Equity Issues on Campus: Implementing the Equity Scorecard in Theory and Practice. US: Stylus Press Publications.Bhopal, K. and Jackson, J. (2013) The Experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic Academics: Multiple Identities and Career Progression. Southampton: University of SouthamptonBourdieu, P. (1997) The Forms of Capital in Halsey, A.H., Lauder, H. Brown, P., Wells, A.S. (eds.) Education: Culture, Economy, and Society. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.Gillborn, D. (2010) The Colour of Numbers - Surveys, Statistics and Deficit Thinking about Race and Class. http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/1638/1/Gillborn2010Colour253.pdf.Gilyard, K. (1996) “Higher Learning: Composition’s Racialized Reflection.” Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, Louisville, KY, Oct. 1996.McNamara., C. andCoomber, N. (2012) BME Student Experiences at Central School of Speech and Drama: The Higher Education Academy. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/disciplines/ddm/HEADDM-McNamaraCoomber(2012)BMEStudentExperience.pdfNSS - National Student Survey: Findings and trends 2006 to 2010. HEFCE.Patton, T. O. (2004) In the Guise of Civility: TheComplicitousMaintenance of Inferential Forms of Sexism and Racism in Higher Education. Women's Studies in Communication. Volume 27, 2004 - Issue 1.Prendergast, C. (1998) Race: The Absent Presence in Composition Studies. Pub: The National Council for Teachers of English CCC 50.Robbins, D. (1993) The Practical Importance of Bourdieu’s Analyses of Higher Education. Studies in Higher Education: 18(2), pp. 151–163.Singh, G. and Cousin, G. (2009) Challenging Assumptions about BME students and differential degree attainment. Presentation at start-up meeting of HEA/ECU summit programme, 11 March 2009. Available from: www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/ourwork/inclusion/EthnicitySummitSingh, G. (2010) Social Research and ‘Race’: Developing a critical paradigm, in J.Schostakand J.Schostak, Researching Violence, Democracy and the Rights of People. London: Routledge.Stevenson, J. and Clegg, S. (2011) Possible Selves: Students Orientating Themselves towards the Future Through Extracurricular Activity. British Educational Research Journal: 37(2), PP. 231-246.Thomas, L. (2002) Student Retention in Higher Education: the Role of Institutional Habitus. Journal of Education Policy: 17 (4), pp. 423–442.Valencia, R. R. (ed.) (1997). The Evolution of Deficit Thinking: Educational Thought and Practice. Washington, DC:FalmerPress.
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