Religious and Cultural Diversity

This page aims to explore some aspects of cultural and religious diversity among higher education students in the biosciences and any ways in which this may impact on the curriculum, learning and teaching and involvement in student life.

A few quick definitions:

• Culture: the symbolic and expressive aspects of human behaviour
• Cultural traditions: Norms about how and what we do, often passed down through families and communities
• Faith: A person’s beliefs and values
• Religion: A set of observances connected to faith and often shared by a community
• Race: Social divisions based on skin colour and physical features
• Ethnicity: Membership of a social group, often related to geographical region or place of origin, with a distinctive language, customs, attitudes and values
  

Why could religious and cultural diversity impact on teaching and learning?

Students from different cultures and backgrounds may have different expectations, different experiences of teaching and learning and may feel they are unable to take part in some activities, all of which may impact on their participation in learning and university or college life. Your own institution will have guidelines relating to religious and cultural diversity – you could find out more from your Equality and Diversity unit.

Some examples of areas you may want to consider:

Please note: These are are intended as a starting point, rather than a comprehensive list.

• Departmental activities
• Lab work
• Fieldwork
• Tutorial sessions
• Festivals and Holy Days
• Bioethics
• Work placements and work based learning
• How else might I support my students?

Departmental activities:

• For discussion groups and informal get-together's why not meet in the Union coffee shop rather than the bar? Some students may be uncomfortable meeting in places where alcohol is served
• At departmental events make sure that vegetarian dishes are served, vegetarian, dairy, meat and fish is labeled accordingly, and served on separate plates where possible
• If you are organising team building or icebreaker activities try to avoid activities that involve physical contact between people

Lab work:

• Headscarves, Turbans and any loose clothing, for health and safety reasons, should be pinned or held back securely and, when possible, tucked into a lab coat (recommended under NHS guidelines for lab workers)
• Some students may be uncomfortable working in mixed sex groups or pairs, you may have to be flexible if students wish to move groups or work with a different lab partner
• Some students may have cutural or religious reasons not to handle alcohol or animal products in a practical class, in cases where there is no alternative that could be used in the lab, perhaps simulations could be used
• Make sure students are aware if animal or human dissection is part of a module or lab session. Where dissection is not an essential part perhaps a simulation could be used

Fieldwork:

• Ensure that single sex accommodation is available for male and female students, assure students that accommodation will be single sex
• Try not to base all social activities taking place during the course on alcohol or in, for example, the pub
• Ask about students dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, and halal) in registration forms, ensure that the field centre (or whoever is catering) knows about these requirements, can cater for them, and reassure students their requirements will be catered for.
• Students may need a prayer room, or quiet area in which to pray, ask if students have “any other requirements” at the end of a registration form and again, reassure students that that their requirements will be catered for
  

Tutorial sessions

• Again, some students may be uncomfortable working closely with members of the opposite sex
• Some students may be unwilling to challenge or question tutors, it may be necessary to encourage all students to contribute, ask questions and challenge, perhaps online discussion groups could be used to encourage participation

Festivals and Holy days

Students may wish to attend festivals or observe a holy day during teaching or exam time, for example:

• For Muslim men, prayers for an hour on a Friday afternoon are compulsory
• During Ramadan Muslim students may be fasting, causing tiredness, and at the festival of Eid ul-Fitr at the end of Ramadan which celebrates the breaking of the fast, students may wish to spend time with their family.
• Jewish students may be unable to attend teaching sessions or exams if they are scheduled around the five festivals of New Year (Day of Atonement, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles) as they are days on which Jews are forbidden to work. Friday afternoon / evening and Saturday exams or lectures could be an issue due to observance of the Sabbath (from sunset on Friday afternoon to Saturday evening).

Encourage students to let you know what their needs are. It may be that an alternative assessment could be given if students give notice that they would be unable to attend an exam and have a legitimate reason. In the case of missing lectures, something as simple as making lecture slides or notes available on a VLE and letting students know they can contact a lecturer to ask questions could help students to catch up with anything they have missed.

A calendar of religious festivals is available from the BBC

Bioethics

Some students may have very personal views on topics such as the production and use of stem cells and xenotransplantation due to their background and personal experience

• Encourage debate, acknowledge that that students may have personal views on topics and to discuss them if they feel able
• Try to get students to look at both sides of a topic, even if they don't agree with it, perhaps organise a debate and assign students randomly to a 'pro' or 'anti' side
• Don't expect students from a similar background to have similar views, one Christian student cannot speak for all Christian students on a topic

Teaching bioethics? Resources and information are available from the Teaching Ethics to Bioscience Students page

Work placements and work based learning

The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 outlaws discrimination on grounds of religion or belief in employment and vocational training. This will have implications for students engaged in work-based learning and on placements (for any period of time). Further information about this legislation is available from AGCAS and the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) Guidance on Employing people in Higher Education: Religion and Belief, also contains some useful information in regards to employment and religion and belief.

How else might I support my students?

Provide students with information about university chaplains or societies for example the Christian or Sikh society. The Equality and Diversity unit within your university may have a list of local places of worship, local societies and religious groups that may interest your students.

Where can I find out more about religious and cultural diversity?

Faith Guides - The Philosophical and Religious Studies Subject Centre has produced a series of Faith Guides which aim to give information about the issues relating to teaching people of faith in a higher education environment. Five Guides are currently available: Sikhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Judaism.

Supporting Religious and Cultural Diversity - from the Philosophy and Religious Studies Subject Centre these webpages bring together resources and information on cultural and religious diversity and Teaching and Learning in HE. The FAQ page and Web resources page bring together a wide range of information and useful resources.

BBC Religion and Ethics pages – the section on religions provides a brief introduction to the major (in terms of numbers) world religions and also has a multifaith calendar with the religious festivals listed

Yorkshire and Humber; Religious literacy – Practical guide to the regions faith communities