Cohort 1 Report (ASPIRE)
Evaluation report on cohort 1 of the Accomplished Study Programme in Research Excellence (ASPIRE) project, one of the 13 Research England-funded projects focused on racial equity and widening access to postgraduate education.
This evaluation uses a difference-in-difference design and focuses on evaluating both process and impact, with a theory of change model developed with the client to better target the evaluation. In addition, this mixed methods approach also includes interviews, listening rooms (a specialised informal paired interview aimed at removing interviewer bias), diaries and coursework, with a matched control sample.
Summary of the process evaluation findings
What worked well in the mentoring programme:
having a shared lived experience (meaning a shared Black or Black heritage background) led to strong mentor relationships
mentor relationships that thrived and are still ongoing where both the scholar and mentor were able to easily identify their shared background. Therefore, we recommend placing more emphasis on the mentor-mentee matching process to align scholars’ goals with mentors’ background and experiences
in addition, invested mentors (those who had a personal reason for taking part) offered wider wellbeing support to the scholars, which the scholars believed gave them the support they needed to continue with the ASPIRE programme when they felt overwhelmed.
This is a resource produced by a Research-England-funded EDI project. UKCGE has not been involved in the production of the content and the materials themselves have been uploaded with the permission of Research England and the project leaders. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders; if we have made omissions or you feel certain materials should not be included here, please get in touch via ukcge@ukcge.ac.uk.