The student success staff seminar on ‘Reframing the gap: Bridging ‘deficit’ readings and critical race theory to understand everyday racial inequities in UK universities’ has been rescheduled for May 2018.

Originally scheduled for March, it will now take place on:

Wednesday 16 May 2018, Canterbury Campus, Woolf College, Seminar Room 5, 13.00-14.00

Friday 18 May 2018, Medway Campus, Pilkington Building, Room 104, 13.00-14.00

The seminar will give an overview of Critical Race Theory and the important questions. Delivered by Dr Alex Hensby, the seminar will be challenging and thought-provoking and the team highly recommends that staff with student-facing roles attend and engage in the debate around race and university.

The past two decades have seen UK universities increase access for students from non-traditional backgrounds, as well as enhance their provision of academic and welfare support, yet across the sector the white-BME attainment gap shows no sign of significantly narrowing. This raises important questions about how racial inequities continue to be reproduced in higher education. Proponents of critical race theory (CRT) offer a direct challenge to longstanding analyses and intervention strategies on the grounds that they take a ‘deficit’ reading of the white-BME attainment gap. Instead, they advocate shifting the onus onto how universities unwittingly reproduce racism and racial inequities structurally and in everyday life.

To book a place on any staff seminar simply email studentsuccessproject@kent.ac.uk

More information on this and all the staff seminars can be found on the Student Success website.

A recording of the BTEC seminar and Prof Karen Cox’s Inspirational Speaker Talk can be found on the staff only section of the SSP website.