Widening Participation Research & Practice Conference
In 2019, a review by the Office for Students of Access and Participation Plans suggested that of the 838 targets set relating to university access, success and progression by providers, only 11 gave specific mention to working-class males.
As such, Universities across the country are committing to explore what can be done, and how, to better support working-class boys’ educational attainment and progression to Higher Education.
On Thursday 8th September, hosts Arts University Bournemouth along with the University of Portsmouth and the University of Winchester (part of the SUN UniConnect programme) are convening a free joint conference for Higher Education practitioners, speakers include:
Professor Nicola Ingram, Director of Education and Social Research Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University
Author of Working-class Boys and Educational Success: Teenage Identities, Masculinity and Urban Schooling, Nicola is professor of sociology of education with an interest in analysing social class based educational inequalities across the whole education sector, and their connection to labour market outcomes. Her research is politically motivated by a personal history of growing up on a council estate with multiple markers of deprivation in Belfast, and a conflictual experience of social mobility through education.
Susan Morgan, Taking Boys Seriously, Ulster University
Building on the seminal ‘Taking Boys Seriously’ study by Ken Harland and Sam McCready (2012), Taking Boys Seriously 2 drive an innovative approach to closing the attainment gap with working-class boys in Northern Ireland. Their 10 principles of engagement situate young men as relational learners in a context where success comes down to ‘the tenacity of the relationship between the learner and the educator. Where the relationship is marked by trust, empathy and respect, any challenge or setback can be worked out’.
Future Men
Future Men are a multi-award-winning specialist charity that supports boys and men along the path to becoming dynamic future men. Through practice-led services, Future Men encourage boys and men to explore, celebrate and build on the seven key characteristics which contribute to positive masculinity.