British Asian chemistry students often suppress their cultural identity, find it difficult to report racism and note a lack of diversity within UK chemistry departments and curricula, according to a recent study.1 The researchers who conducted the work note that these factors could help explain why these students often achieve lower degree results compared to their white peers. The study, which was funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s inclusion and diversity fund, also offers practical advice for chemistry departments to better support these students and make chemistry courses more inclusive.
Black, Asian and ethnic minority (Bame) students consistently achieve lower degree results compared to their white peers, even when accounting for attainment prior to university. A 2019 report from Universities UK and the National Union of Students found that 68% of Bame students received a first or upper-second-class degree in 2017. This is around 13% lower compared to white students (81%).
While this trend is already known, studies often combine ethnic groups and degree subjects together, making it difficult for departments to know how best to support their particular student population. To explore the issue in greater depth, a team of researchers in the UK examined the experiences of British Asian chemistry students in higher education. This builds on a previous, smaller-scale study looking at the experiences of Black chemistry students at the undergraduate level.2
In the new study, researchers conducted around 60 face-to-face interviews with British Asian chemistry students from four UK universities – Leeds, Durham, Warwick and Bradford – who shared their experiences of studying chemistry. The researchers define ‘British Asian’ as any second-, third- or later generation student from an Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or other subcontinental Asian background. The students interviewed previously studied at a mix of state, grammar and independent schools across the UK.
‘There was no outright racism in any of the students’ experiences – we didn’t see any reports of that,’ says Nimesh Mistry at the University of Leeds, UK, who was involved in the study. ‘A lot of the things that we have [seen] are more subtle [and] more hidden amongst the students.’
Many students described how there was a lack of representation among the chemistry staff and curriculum at their universities. One student felt that this made chemistry ‘inaccessible to brown people.’ ‘It’s white people teaching us about white people’, they noted.
At university, some students said that they felt excluded from sports societies or certain social events that involved drinking, which did not fit with religious beliefs. Students also noted hiding their background by putting ‘on a posh accent at university’ or altering their appearance or clothes to fit in.
Others felt embarrassed about telling their peers that they were living at home, which was a decision that they often felt pressured into by their family. Namrah Shahid, who conducted interviews with students when she was at Durham University, notes that managing long-lab hours or placements that are away from home can make it difficult for some of these students. She highlights how this can then impact students once they leave university: ‘Without those industrial placements you might not get that job opportunity.’
Tippu Sheriff at Queen Mary University of London, UK, who was not involved in the study, says that he relates to some of the experiences of those interviewed, as he attended university in the UK in the 1980s as a student of Indian heritage. ‘I experienced all my university life living at home, and I felt I missed out a lot,’ he says.
‘I think the nice thing about this particular contribution is that they’ve actually… eked out the students and actually spoken to them,’ says Sheriff. ‘You [then] get the first-hand experience of the students.’
The report also highlights ways that chemistry departments can better support students. This includes creating specific sports and social societies for British Asian students, amending timetables to make it easier for those commuting from home and creating better pathways to report racism or concerns.
Sherriff points out that having more multi-faith quiet rooms within chemistry departments would also help. This would mean students can pray without having to miss time in the lab to use designated spaces elsewhere on university campuses. ‘Obviously space is sometimes a premium, but I’m sure that would go a long way to help this feeling of belonging that I think is currently lacking,’ he says.
Shahid says that ‘being a British Asian [student] is a compounding thing’. ‘It’s gender, it’s commuting, it’s race, it’s class, it’s religion, it’s family background, it’s being first gen to university.’ ‘There are so many things that feed into how these students are and I think the universities acknowledging that would definitely be a step forward,’ she says.
