Towards a More Inclusive Learning Experience for Minority Ethnic Students in Brunel Design School

Degree award gaps have been reported for every university in the UK, and they are often unexplained. Reducing the award gaps between white and minority ethnic students in the UK is an effort to achieve equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), an increasingly important agenda for higher education institutions. This paper reports a study at Brunel Design School, focusing on the award gaps and the learning experience of the minority ethnic students. Focus group and individual interviews were conducted with 25 student volunteer participants in Spring 2022, in addition to student EDI group discussions. It was found that English language skills play an important role in their learning experience and assessment outcomes. Despite the lack of training in English academic writing, the majority of the participants preferred reports rather than video/audio assessment. The students' suggestions and the relevant strategies proposed by published studies will be used to address degree gaps, and improve minority ethnic students' learning experience at Brunel Design School, as part of the action research.