Postgraduate Researcher Admissions Report
Doctoral education sits at the point of connection between work to drive equality of opportunity in access and success in undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes, and efforts to create a fairer, more open and inclusive research culture and community which is more representative of wider UK society.
Whilst a national admissions system as well as data-sharing and policy development have enabled progress in access and inclusive participation at undergraduate level, attainment and retention of individuals from some racialised backgrounds continues to be a challenge. As degree classification is currently a key criterion for postgraduate researcher (PGR) admissions and degree-awarding institution is a significant differentiator between PGR applicants in many universities, it follows that under-representation of people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds in the doctoral population persists.
Although there is some work currently underway to address this – including the Office for Students and Research England (OfS/RE) funded projects on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic PGR participation – there remains a great deal that we do not know about current approaches and practices in PGR admissions.
This report presents a summary of the findings from a survey on PGR admissions practices in UK HEIs that was carried out as part of the Equity in Doctoral Education through Partnership and Innovation (EDEPI) programme.
The survey was developed in partnership with the UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) and was carried out by Shift Learning. It aimed to:
- target staff involved in PGR admissions to understand better the practices which may have led to the existing admissions gap;
- find examples of practice that support and enable inclusion at doctoral level;
- and highlight priority areas for improvement.
The following report sets out recommendations for groundwork and practical action to address under-representation of people from racially-minoritised groups in the doctoral population.
This work has informed the development of a competency-based recruitment and admissions framework which is currently being piloted at Nottingham Trent, Liverpool John Moores and Sheffield Hallam Universities in 2023/24 as a key output of the EDEPI programme.
The survey was carried out online in June and July 2022. In total, 253 responses were received from across a wide variety of staff involved in PGR admissions. 46 universities were represented in the responses.