Northumbria University has joined four other North East
Universities to support more Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students
and staff to widen access and participation in postgraduate research.
Lead by Durham University and in partnership with
Northumbria University, Newcastle University, University of Sunderland and
Teeside University, the project aims to tackle inequalities in higher education
by building community and inclusion through mutually hosted events, training
and workshops.
The project will provide
opportunities, activities and events including training, e-conferences, peer
mentoring and PhD studentships for staff and students of colour over a period
of four years.
The project has received over £2.5
million in funding, from the Office for Students (£798,972) and partner
universities, to strengthen the pathway for prospective and current students of
colour across North East England into academic employment. The project will
focus on four key areas: mental health, development, mentoring and admissions.
A specialist mental health pathway
was established for students of colour in collaboration with Newcastle
Psychological Therapies Clinic. For the first time, postgraduate research
students of colour in North East England will be able to access independently
governed and culturally competent mental health services as a priority.
Each year one institution will host
an online postgraduate research conference for students of colour, providing
networking and development opportunities whilst sharing learning and best
practice.
The reciprocal mentoring programme
will bring together students of colour with academic staff, providing mutually
beneficial learning and development whilst building relationships and
community. Early career researchers of colour will be paired with senior
leaders to support mutual learning, which will complement peer mentoring across
the North East England network.
The project is also ambitious in
relation to admissions and will build on the findings of prior research on
name-blinding, unconscious bias prevention and contextualised admissions to
pilot innovative approaches to admissions, alongside policy and practice
reviews.
Dr Pushkar Jha, Faculty Director of
Post Graduate Research in the Faculty of Business and Law will lead Northumbria
University’s contribution to the project, along with Dr Rick Hayman and Dr
Benjamin Ajibade, Senior Lecturers in Health and Life Sciences and supported by
Jenna Tudor, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager.
Professor Louise Bracken, Pro
Vice-Chancellor (Research), Northumbria University, said: “Pro:NE is an
extremely important project that will provide the necessary springboard to
transform support for students and staff of colour.
“We’re delighted to be working
collaboratively with the other North East universities to share ideas,
expertise and best practice to achieve the shared aim of strengthening
opportunity in the North East.”
All five universities have a strong
track record and experience in delivering inclusion interventions that support,
drive and sustain greater equality for all, including traditionally underrepresented
groups.
Project lead Professor Jason Arday,
Durham University, said: “Pro:NE has emerged as a means of dismantling racism
and creating more opportunities for academics of colour to enter the Academy
particularly in the North East of England. This project will create a legacy
within the region which will nurture, support and develop academic pathways and
communities of practice for students and staff of colour, in addition to
creating spaces of belonging.”
Pro:NE will facilitate in breaking down
elitism and building local community, making each university a more welcoming
place to be for students and staff of colour.
