Race, Capital, and Equity in Higher Education

“This book presents a groundbreaking contribution to closing the degree awarding gap in higher education. A wholistic and insightful approach is offered that demystifies one of the most important and persistent problems in education and provides the reader with effective and actionable anti-racist initiatives to address it.” —Marcia Wilson, Professor, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience, London Metropolitan University, UK “A compelling book that provides a much-needed challenge to disturbing racial differences in academic attainment in UK universities. Richly theorised, it presents insightful analysis of the current disquieting state of play in higher education. A must-read for all those concerned about inequalities of race in British higher education.” —Diane Reay, Professor of Education, University of Cambridge, UK This book examines the structural and cultural factors that explain the persistence of an attainment gap between white and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students in UK universities. So-called ‘deficit’ approaches have long represented the orthodoxy in higher education strategy-making, yet they overlook the structural and institutional factors that reproduce attainment gaps. Whereas students already in possession of the right ‘academic capital’ are made to feel validated and empowered in their learning, BAME students – particularly those from working class backgrounds – may feel marginalised by dominant hierarchical cultures on campus. This book provides an important and unique contribution to the study of racial equity in higher education. Its chapters provide a breadth and depth of analyses which help explain the roots of the attainment gap, while offering reflections and commentaries on the necessary steps that universities must take in order to ensure equity for students from all backgrounds. Alexander Hensby is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Kent, UK. Barbara Adewumi is Senior Research Fellow in Student Success at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Kent, UK.