Abstract
BackgroundBlack, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) medical students and professionals frequently underachieve when compared with their White counterparts not only in the United Kingdom, but across the globe. There is no consensus for the definitive causes of this attainment gap, but suggestions contributing towards it include: increased feelings of isolation as a member of a minority culture or religion; a poorer higher education (HE) experience compared with White counterparts; and stereotype threat, whereby students underperform in exams from the stresses of fearing confirming to a negative-stereotype.MethodsThe aim of this study was to gather qualitative data on HE experiences of medical and biomedical science students to explore factors contributing to the attainment gap. Audio-recorded, semi-structured interviews and a novel approach for this research area of ethnically-homogenous student-led focus groups, were held with students and staff at a healthcare-based university in London, where lower attainment, slower rates of degree completion and lower levels of satisfaction with HE experience were identified in BAME students compared with White students. Thematic analysis was used to manage, summarize and analyse the data.ResultsForty-one students and eight staff members were interviewed or took part in focus groups. The student data were best explained by two main themes: social factors and stereotyping, whilst staff data were also best explained by two main themes: social factors and student and staff behaviour. Social factors suggested ethnically-defined social networks and the informal transfer of knowledge impacted academic performance, isolating minority groups from useful academic information. BAME students may also be at a further disadvantage, being unable to attend social and academic functions for cultural or family reasons. Black students also mentioned changing their behaviour to combat negative stereotypes in a variety of contexts.ConclusionsThis study suggests that forms of discrimination, whether conscious or unconscious, may be negatively impacting the abilities of BAME students both in examinations and in coursework choice. It highlights the importance of social networks for the transfer of academic knowledge and the impact ethnicity may have on their formation, with issues around segregation and the sharing of information outside defined groups.
Highlights
Black, Asian British (Asian) and Minority Ethnic (BAME) medical students and professionals frequently underachieve when compared with their Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British (White) counterparts in the United Kingdom, but across the globe
There is no consensus as to the definitive causes of the BAME attainment gap, but some suggestions as to what may contribute to it include: increased feelings of isolation due to being a member of a minority culture or religion [9, 10]; being less satisfied with their higher education (HE) experience than their White counterparts [11]; stereotype threat, where those from negatively-stereotyped groups can feel so anxious at the possibility of conforming to a stereotype that they underachieve in examinations [12, 13]
Interviews were conducted with 24 students (12 female, 12 male, nine biomedical sciences, 15 medicine), with the following from each ethnicity: Asian: Bangladeshi (1), Chinese (1), Indian (5) Pakistani (3) and Other (2); Black: African (2) and Caribbean (1); White: (8) and Irish (1) and recordings lasted for a mean (SD; range) of 33:06 min (11:25; 11:41 to 51:32)
Summary
Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) medical students and professionals frequently underachieve when compared with their White counterparts in the United Kingdom, but across the globe. There is no consensus as to the definitive causes of the BAME attainment gap, but some suggestions as to what may contribute to it include: increased feelings of isolation due to being a member of a minority culture or religion [9, 10]; being less satisfied with their higher education (HE) experience than their White counterparts [11]; stereotype threat, where those from negatively-stereotyped groups can feel so anxious at the possibility of conforming to a stereotype that they underachieve in examinations [12, 13]. There is consensus that direct discrimination and examiner bias are unlikely to be sole causes, as anonymously-marked multiple choice examination results have shown similar disparities between White and BAME students [1, 14] Research into this area increasingly focusses on understanding the students’ experiences and opportunities [2]. The design of the study replicates previous peer-reviewed research into this issue and extends this research with a novel approach, by including ethnically-homogenous student-led student focus groups
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