[Open-education] How can more students from economically poor families also get opportunity to study in UK Geography departments?

Mon Jan 6 23:22:34 UTC 2020

Dear colleagues,

Came across an article on "Against all odds: how going to university changed my life" at https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zjtkbdm

In this article, Annaleigh Wynn says “You hear so many times that ‘education’s not for everyone’, but it actually is. Education is a right, not a privilege. Everyone has the right to be in the college, in that uni.” [1]

Though the article is not about UK Geography degree, it highlights an important message on the urgent need for providing more higher education opportunities also to students from economically poor families in the UK.

I would like to learn more on university policies  and scholarship schemes to enable more Geography degree study opportunities  to students from economically poor families in the UK.  Are there any policies in place currently  to reduce Nepotism and Racism in Universities ?  It is important that all UK Geography departments ensure fully merit based appointments for all admissions for both students and faculty. For example, what quality standards are there to reduce applicants without the required qualification (for example PhD) getting appointed to Geography Faculty posts?  Are there any university policies regarding Family members working as Faculty in the same university or department?

Especially for departments like Geography where the number of students from economically poor families are very low, are there any  university policies to provide full fees scholarships (with funding to cover living costs) for academically bright students from economically poor families in the UK for both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Geography?

Access to Higher Education opportunities for all is key to enable broadly shared prosperity for all.

Best wishes,

Suchith

[1]  https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zjtkbdm

________________________________
From: Suchith Anand <ezasa7 at exmail.nottingham.ac.uk>
Sent: 08 December 2019 20:10
To: Open Educaton @ OKFN <open-education at lists.okfn.org>
Subject: How can more students from economically poor families also get opportunity to study in UK Geography departments?

Dear colleagues,

I would like to learn more on the admissions and procedures in UK geography departments[1],[2]

  1.  Why are students from economically poor families in the UK not getting more opportunity to study Geography in Geography departments in the UK ?
  2.  How can we ensure more students from economically poor families can also get opportunity to study in UK Geography departments?
  3.  How can UK geography departments help in reducing UK’s extreme wealth inequality?
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/dec/03/uk-six-richest-people-control-as-much-wealth-as-poorest-13m-study

Best wishes,

Suchith

[1] https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/geography-degrees-soft-option-for-posh-but-dim-says-professor-danny-dorling-b853xl9fd

[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755458619301252

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