Centre for Bioscience, The Higher Education Academy

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Widening Participation

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Widening Participation

Specific issues for widening participation in biosciences:

Is bioscience a familiar topic to prospective students entering through widening participation routes?
While prospective students from communities where few of their fiends and family take part in higher education may be familiar with pharmacists, nurses, social workers, teachers and a variety of financial, business and administrative jobs, there may be few bioscientists or bioscience based jobs in, for example deprived inner-city areas. Neither are there extensive farms or horticultural activities. There is, therefore, a significant hearts and minds issue about what bioscientists do, what jobs are available and what advantages there are to becoming a bioscientist.

 

Do students entering through widening participation routes have role models in their community of successful bioscientists?
Since there is often little bioscience activity in communities targeted for widening participation role models can be thin on the ground. Possible career paths are, therefore, unknown and there are no readily available champions. School teachers who have studied biosciences and undergraduate students who take part in school tutoring or mentoring programmes are possible conduits for information on bioscience careers.

 

Is bioscience interesting/relevant to prospective students entering through widening participation routes?
Because of their lack of contact with bioscience prospective students are often unaware of the possibilities of where a bioscience degree could lead. In addition students entering through widening participation routes can be focused on the necessity on financial reward from employment, perhaps working with local employers to raise awareness and present the benefits a graduate with a bioscience degree could bring to their organisation.

 

Is bioscience deliverable by methods that might facilitate participation by students entering through widening participation? How do we cope with the requirement for laboratory work and the student's need for flexibility because of their other commitments? Can we deliver bioscience courses part-time and how will this mesh with traditional full-time student modules? Can some of the work be community based? Is it possible to do some of the modules by distance learning? What about work placements - can these be arranged locally for a student who is unwilling or unable to spend significant periods of time away from their home?

 

Is there clear personal financial benefit from a career in bioscience? Do you have hard data on starting salaries in the different areas of bioscience and on the likely progression? It is this sort of information which may be required. Prospects.ac.uk have a variety of graduate careers destinations, including some details of average earnings in different graduate positions.

 

If you have experienced any particular widening participation issues, not mentioned here, that you would like to share please contact us.

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