The registration deadline for the OED symposium "Decolonising and Diversifying Biosciences Education" has been extended

Dr. Nick Freestone

School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Kingston University, London

Nick Freestone is an Associate Professor in Physiology and Pharmacology and Course Leader for a suite of undergraduate degrees in Pharmaceutical Science at Kingston University in south west London.  He is co-Chair of the Royal Society of Biology’s “Bridging Awarding Gaps in the Biosciences” Network and a member of the British Pharmacological Society’s Inclusive Pharmacology Education Steering Group. He was also, until recently, an Education Theme Lead for The Physiological Society. In 2014 he was the UK’s Higher Education Bioscience Teacher of the Year as awarded by Oxford University Press and the Higher Education Academy and is now Chair of the panel of judges for this award for the Royal Society of Biology. In 2021 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for his work in addressing awarding gaps both in his local teaching environment and also nationally.

 

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Prachi Stafford

BSc, MREs, PhD, FHEA. Senior Lecturer in Biological Sciences

Title:   Addressing the degree awarding gap through decolonisation of the curriculum

Description:   A degree awarding gap has persisted in Higher Education since it was first documented in 2005. This gap is prevalent even when adjusted for prior attainment. Although awareness has increased within universities, at the current rate, it will take over 65 years to close the gap for Black students. Interestingly, the largest decrease in awarding gap was recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic and is thought to be the combined outcome of changes in both teaching delivery and assessment practices. However, whether this decrease will be retained with a return to face-to-face teaching remains to be seen. At Sheffield Hallam University and in line with other institutions, we have a statistically significant discrepancy in the rate of good degree awarded to Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups compared to white students (-15% in Biosciences & Sports). At the institutional level, over 74% of our undergraduate home student population identify as being from under-represented groups and experiencing barriers to learning (Office for Student, 2019). To address this, within the Bioscience and Chemistry department, we are currently adopting approaches to decolonise the curriculum to better reflect the student population, to reduce the awarding and enable all students to achieve their full potentials. This talk will take an evidence-based approach in identifying some of the challenges faced and how these can be addressed by decolonising the curriculum. We will also explore how these approaches can be delivered within the curriculum.

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Carol Ibe

Founder & President of JR Biotek Foundation , (previously a postdoctoral scientist at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK)

Title:   Democratising plant science research to accelerate food and nutrition security in low resourced countries

Carol Ibe is founder and president of the JR Biotek Foundation, an organization dedicated to upskilling and empowering Africa’s next generation of agricultural scientists. Carol completed her PhD in Plant Sciences from the University of Cambridge (as a Gates scholar) and a postdoctoral research training at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK. Her PhD and postdoctoral research focused on two major global staple cereal crops (rice and wheat) and how their interactions with beneficial and harmful fungi may be optimized for practical agricultural applications. Although she enjoyed working on these interesting projects, Carol has become increasingly restless about the looming hunger and malnutrition problems affecting millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. She now devotes most of her time and efforts towards developing innovative solutions aimed at advancing research on scientifically neglected and undervalued African indigenous (local) crops. Carol strongly believes that the democratization of plant science research will enhance the accessibility of plant bio-technologies to enable scientists in low resourced scientific communities in Africa and elsewhere to accelerate food production in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. Carol’s outstanding research, leadership and absolute commitment to improving lives and systems has led to several awards including the 2019 Bill Gates Sr. Prize and the University of Cambridge’s Society for the Application of Research Awards (CSAR).

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Jason Arday

Professor of Sociology of Education, University of Glasgow

Title: Racial Inequality and Social Justice in Higher Education

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Sarah-Marie da Silva

Undergraduate, University of Hull

Title: Confronting Ableism in Biosciences: its history and how we can take positive steps towards disability inclusion 

Description : Ableism is society’s prejudice toward disabled people that is embedded in our society. Ableist thinking has a significant impact on the culture and structures of education. In this talk, biosciences education is used as a case study on how ableism’s history has a negative impact on disabled students today and suggest how educators can be more inclusive.  

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