The Realities of Racism Through Student Narratives: Learning from a Higher Education Co-creation Project

Abstract

Racism is prevalent within higher education, be it the attainment/degree awarding gap, lack of staff progression or the hostile environment which excludes Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students and staff. This article focuses on a student-led co-creation project which developed a video resource and interactive talking workshop to raise a call to action against racism in higher education. Undergraduate and alumni students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds contributed by sharing personal experiences and re-enacting stories of other students and staff. The resource was used as a student-led teaching tool as a way of empowering them to become anti-racist and challenge racism. This article outlines this co-created project and the empirical evaluation for the scheme. The authors conclude that higher education institutions need to recognise the importance of safe, co-created spaces to facilitate student voices and to encourage ways in which shared stories can facilitate a call to action in anti-racist work.