Student Voices

Film & Video Workshop

A four day film workshop was organised, structured and run by Dr Ruqiyabi ‘Naz’ Awan (RAFA2 Lead at Queen Mary University of London – QMUL), Dr Jessica Jacobs and Mr Vitor Hugo Costa of Film Geographies.

Students from both QMUL and the University of Roehampton participated in this workshop. It had initially been anticipated that students would work collaboratively, however as the process of considering the medium of film and what can be conveyed in the short period of designated workshop time, it became clear that each student had very clear ideas on conveying their own theorised and emotive understanding of, and reflection on, the reality of race in Higher Education. The students that participated in this workshop had differing levels of film production ability and given both the time constraints – and the workshop brief – a variety of short films were produced.

Post workshop, students commented on the cathartic nature of film as a means to illustrate and convey their frustrations at the disjunct between what is officially said by the HEI and the reality of their lived experiences as students and researchers on this project. Various recommendations on how the BAME attainment gap might be addressed have been articulated by QMUL students throughout the RAFA2 etoolkit.

The use of video as a means to explore academic content proved a successful tool for providing the creators with greater autonomy in the visualisation and telling of the evidence and data on the attainment gap.

Below are photographs featuring QMUL student consultants during the film project.

RAFA2 Presentation: Asmara Clark & Savannah Blake

This is a student exploration into the subject of institutionalised racism in Higher Education. The focus of this presentation is the importance of decolonising the curriculum in our increasingly diverse British society. This presentation was inspired by research produced by the Royal Historical Society’s Race, Ethnicity, and Equality in UK History Report (2018) and a year-long Critical Race reading group. At the root of this presentation is our deep concern about the existence of a BAME attainment gap in Higher Education. We outline the core problems which have potentially produced this disparity, and we provide solutions.

RAFA2 Presentation: Safiyah Raja

This film contains the student perspective on data collected during the RAFA pilot study, conducted at Queen Mary University of London. The presentation outlines the findings from the pilot RAFA study and the future of research into the student disparity as a result of these findings. The results of the study highlight issues identified by BAME students as reasons for the attainment gap in their departments and School. Findings from the questionnaires and focus groups conducted during the pilot study are presented alongside empirical research that supports the trends and patterns identified within the data. They also provide an essential insight into BAME student wellbeing and their experience in Higher Education.