Understanding Barriers to Academic Achievement of White British Male Students from Low Higher Education Participation Areas

The project team was interdepartmental, comprised of three LJMU staff members and two student interns:

• Principal Investigator: Dr Elena Zaitseva, Head of Student Voice and Evaluation, Teaching and Learning Academy, e.zaitseva@ljmu.ac.uk.
• Co-Investigator: Dr Matt McLain, Senior Lecturer in Education and Professional Learning, School of Education, m.n.mclain@ljmu.ac.uk.
• Co-Investigator: Dr Casey Beaumont, Academic Achievement Manager, Library Services, c.j.beaumont@ljmu.ac.uk.
• Research Assistant: Eve Groome, Postgraduate Researcher in the School of Psychology.
• Digital Marketing and Graphic Design: Ehsan Mirzajani, MSc Digital Marketing student in the Liverpool Business School.

The project identified several key challenges and barriers faced by white working-class and first-in-family male students:

• Limited knowledge of student demographics: cohort demographic data is not usually shared with academics, and many staff members don’t know how to access the information.
• Hidden inequalities: The discourse around 'white privilege' often obscures the specific challenges faced by this group, leading to feelings of alienation and neglect.
• Help-seeking behaviours: Male students are less likely to seek help due to traditional masculine ideologies, which view help-seeking as a sign of weakness.
• Impact of previous education: Many first-in-family students come from non-feeder schools, leading to low confidence and a need for support with independent learning skills. They are often reluctant to challenge themselves academically.
• Financial challenges: Financial difficulties significantly impact students' ability to engage fully with their studies.
• Mental health: Mental health issues are prevalent, but many students do not seek help until they reach a crisis point.
• Sense of belonging: Male students, especially those living at home, are more likely to have difficulty establishing a sense of belonging in university.

For academic staff

• Improve personal tutoring: Enhance the personal tutoring system with targeted training for tutors on supporting white working-class male students.
• Inclusive curriculum and assessment: Provide opportunities for inclusive assessment and learning environments, capitalising on students’ strengths and gradually promoting academic challenge.
• Proactive support: Encourage module and personal tutors to proactively reach out to students who may be struggling and create a supportive environment that promotes early help-seeking.

For professional services staff

• Increase awareness of support services: Improve visibility and awareness of available resources, including financial support and mental health services.
• Simplify navigation of resources: Review and simplify the navigation of support services and reduce the complexity of university documents on the website.
• Timely advice and wellbeing support: Ensure that support services are easily accessible and normalise discussions about mental health and assessment literacy to reduce stigma.

For university leadership

• Expand availability of student demographic data: Improve signposting to the Access and Participation Student Demographic Tool, and expand availability of students’ demographic data for staff via a pre-arrival survey.
• Review engagement monitoring systems: Develop strategies to encourage attendance and identify early indicators of disengagement using learning analytics.
• Support for first-in-family students: Provide additional support such as pre-course orientation programmes, resources for parents and guardians, skills development resources, and peer-mentoring programmes.

For all staff

• Challenge hidden prejudice: Be aware that a focus on important equality and diversity narratives, such as white privilege and gender equality, may inadvertently reduce the visibility of white working class and first-in-family male students.
• Better know our students: There is nothing more powerful than relationship building for supporting white working class and first-in-family male students; and by better understanding their backgrounds and circumstances, assumptions and biases can be addressed.
• Be proactive in reaching out: Whilst this project demonstrated that there are some behaviours that tend to be more prevalent amongst male and working class and first-in-family students, the real picture is more nuanced. However, they are less likely to seek help than their female and middle-class peers and will benefit from staff taking a more proactive approach to support.