La responsabilidad civil del magistrado y el Estado Jurisprudencia

At first glance, the literature concerning people of colour in education seems extensive. However, on further investigations, there remain under-researched areas, and as I argue in this section, the literature on ‘home’ BME students in postgraduate education is extremely limited and thus so is the understanding of the lived experiences of these students. Therefore, the aim of this section is to provide a critical review of the literature on BME students in PG education in England, while at the same time to outline what is known about their situation and experiences. I argue further that there are three main ways in which, i.e. to what extent, the literature has engaged with issues of ‘race’ in PG education, and that there is a need for research with an explicit focus on ‘race’ in order to provide a thorough understanding of lived experiences of BME students. However, it has to be remembered that this focus on ‘race’ does not negate intersectionality of experiences, for which I argue in the theoretical framework chapter.

Some research has looked at the experiences of PG students in general, using their ‘race’ only as one of the multiple characteristics (Advance HE, 2018b; HEA, 2017; Muijs and Bokhove, 2017). For example, Hopwood and Paulson (2012) found that “the perceptions and assumptions of others based upon their bodily appearance, were an important part of the daily negotiation of doctoral study.” (p. 671). Hopwood and Paulson’s research concentrated on the bodily experiences in which ‘race’ was just one of the aspects, along with gender, body size, or age. As their theoretical framework did not concentrate explicitly on ‘race’ but on the body, this may raise questions as to what extent the research understood ‘race’ beyond the physical/biological aspect. Another example in which ‘race’ was only one of the factors are the Postgraduate Taught and Postgraduate Research Experience Surveys (run by the Higher Education Academy, now Advance HE, since 2009 and 2007 respectively) which have been gaining popularity and increasing their reach among HEIs and thus helping understand the whole PG population. However, it was not until recently that they started providing analysis by ethnicity, despite collecting these

data, indicating a slowly growing interest in this area. The findings from the surveys suggested that BME students, in both postgraduate taught (PGT) and postgraduate research (PGR) education seemed to have higher levels than White students of satisfaction overall and in areas like supervision, teaching or assessment (Advance HE, 2018b; HEA, 2017). However, the research

methodology applied in them did not fully disaggregate home and overseas students of colour, therefore, these results remain tentative (Advance HE, 2018b). And while BME students in these reports may be more satisfied with teaching and research aspects of university, research such as this gives very little information about their experiences of inclusion and belonging. I, therefore, argue that the research which does not use theoretical lenses with explicit and in-depth focus on ‘race’, even if within intersectional frameworks, risks under- theorising and therefore under-analysing the impact of ‘race’ on lived

experiences of students.

Other researchers, while concentrating explicitly on BME students, investigated PG experiences alongside UG. For example, Arday (2018) looked at the mental health of both UG and PG students of colour in the UK and found that instances of both direct and systemic racism were impacting their mental health and that they often lacked culturally appropriate support, which would recognise racism as one of the factors impacting mental health. Rhamie and Hallam (2002) investigated factors contributing to academic success of African-Caribbean people who have been successful in undergraduate and/or postgraduate education, arguing for the key impact of family, school and community, which fostered a sense of belonging. However, as the studies were aggregate in nature it is difficult to distil from them features pertaining exclusively to PG education. Nonetheless, they may be useful in shining some light on certain issues of BME students, suggesting that the issues observable at UG level may potentially continue onto PG education.

Very little research, with the exception which I discuss below, has concentrated explicitly both on BME students and exclusively on PG education. Arday (2017) interviewed 20 BME doctoral students and found that they had high levels of aspirations for an academic career, however, they often lacked the appropriate support, e.g. mentors they could rely on. Students further reported micro-

aggressions, i.e. repeated subtle ways of othering (Kohli and Solórzano, 2012; Matias, 2012; Sue et al., 2008) and a general sense of isolation and exclusion, as often they were the only person of colour in their faculty. Respondents also feared being typecast, through their research, as only specialising in ‘race’ (Arday, 2017). Perhaps an exception to the paucity of literature on ‘home’ BME students in PG education is in the area of Initial Teacher Training (ITT). Here, the research has looked into motivations of BME learners for taking on ITT courses, arguing a strong influence of family and cultural expectations to find a respectable job (Butt et al., 2010; Thompson and Tomlin, 2013). BME student- teachers also reported being aware of structural barriers to applying (such as perceived lack of role models and non-inclusive curricula), financial burdens (linked to BME students being older and having familial responsibilities) and experiences of overt racism (Basit et al., 2007; Carrington et al., 2001;

Hoodless, 2007; Thompson and Tomlin, 2013). Research also pointed to the underperformance of BME students in PG teacher training and lower

completion rates, often linked to experiences of racism (Basit et al., 2007; Hoodless, 2007). BME student-teachers were found feeling being othered and experiencing racism from both pupils and other teachers (Bhopal and Rhamie, 2014). BME student-teachers were also found to fear that their contributions to school and teaching may be tokenised and only seen through the prism of ‘race’ (Wilkins and Lall, 2011). On the other hand, building strong relationships with tutors and supervisors has been shown to contribute to positive experiences of BME trainee teacher students (Butt et al., 2010).

The above research begins to highlight commonalities in experiences of BME students as marked by ‘race’. However, it is very limited and patchy at PG level. Therefore, to help better understand BME students in PG education I turn to literature on BME students in pre-PG education – such as UG and school education, to look for themes and debates impacting their experiences.