Representations of Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boater Communities in higher education widening participation discourse: A critical review and agenda for future research: Final report

Natalie Forster*, Martin Gallagher, Christina Cooper

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Book/ReportCommissioned reportpeer-review

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Abstract

Available evidence points to considerable under-representation of Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boater (GTRSB) communities1 in higher education. After being historically overlooked, growing research, policy and practice attention is being devoted to improving access and participation in higher education for GTRSB students in the UK, and pockets of innovation in this area are emerging. However, confusion surrounding appropriate definition and targeting of these groups within widening participation initiatives forms a key barrier to inclusion.This scoping project aimed to provide conceptual clarity around how GTRSB communities are currently defined and represented in widening participation discourse,and arrive at some common recommendations for future work in this field. This aim was addressed through four project strands: a systematic literature review; a documentary analysis of Access and Participation Plans for the period 2020-21 to 2024-25; an expert interview with an Office for Students (OfS) staff member (n=1); and a Delphi study with GTRSB students, widening participation specialists, and academics (n= 17). A critical interpretive synthesis of the literature highlighted the dominance of an individual hero type discourse, which represents GTRSB students as ‘trailblazers’ and positions GTRSB participation in higher education as an atypical event, requiring personal triumph over adversity. This narrative recognises the determination of GTRSB students in overcoming barriers to higher education access and participation. However, it also serves to reinforce a falsity that that GTRSB culture is incompatible with academic success, and downplay the need for structural change; instead placing the onus on GTRSB students to act as ‘role models’ who ‘give back’ to the broader community. Narratives of GTRSB participation in higher education as an unusual event are reflected in, and potentially reproduced through the lack of priority given to these groups in access and= participation plans, with only 35% of plans making any reference to GTRSB communities. While a lack of data and small numbers of GTRSB students are identified as key barriers to progressing this work, without systemic action, barriers to self-identification and the low numbers of GTRSB students in higher education are likely only to be reproduced. Including GTRSB communities among the groups that higher education providers must assess their progress for in their Access and Participation Plans was a key recommendation emerging from consultation with experts in the interview and Delphi study. Overall, the report highlights important and potentially troubling absences of GTRSB experiences in widening participation research, policy and practice, and sets out important avenues to address them.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLondon
Publisher Society for Research into Higher Education
Number of pages48
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2022

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