Whiteness and exclusion: An ethnography of the racialised discourse of the UK’s Widening Participation agenda
type: CreativeWork
description: The widening participation policy agenda in higher education – increasing participation for historically underrepresented groups – forms part of a broader picture of local and global transformations in higher education. In the UK, the focus on widening participation grew in momentum under the New Labour government in the latter years of the 1990s. Since this time, participation rates have increased significantly, in the UK and internationally. In the UK, this includes for those from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. It is now reported that these students are more likely to attend university than their white peers. However, BME students tend to have less favourable experiences and outcomes than their white counterparts. Addressing these disparities, this thesis presents findings from an ethnographic study which investigated the racialised discourse of widening participation in UK higher education. Locating widening participation in an extended history of race and education policy, the study draws on critical race theory, critical whiteness studies and Foucauldian conceptualisations of discourse. The empirical research ‘followed’ the discursive practices – symbolic and material – of widening participation policy as it ‘travelled’ across multiple higher education settings. An analysis of participant observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with widening participation policy actors shows that the everyday implementation of the policy agenda reproduces and circulates racialised discourse. More specifically, the study shows how human difference is reified through widening participation discursive practice along racial lines and how white perspectives and dominance are normalised. Core to the study’s findings is the lack of a critical approach in widening participation policy that acknowledges histories of race and racism. This thesis calls for a committed focus on race in widening participation policy that engages with its logics of exclusion, …
abstract: The widening participation policy agenda in higher education – increasing participation for historically underrepresented groups – forms part of a broader picture of local and global transformations in higher education. In the UK, the focus on widening participation grew in momentum under the New Labour government in the latter years of the 1990s. Since this time, participation rates have increased significantly, in the UK and internationally. In the UK, this includes for those from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds. It is now reported that these students are more likely to attend university than their white peers. However, BME students tend to have less favourable experiences and outcomes than their white counterparts. Addressing these disparities, this thesis presents findings from an ethnographic study which investigated the racialised discourse of widening participation in UK higher education. Locating widening participation in an extended history of race and education policy, the study draws on critical race theory, critical whiteness studies and Foucauldian conceptualisations of discourse. The empirical research ‘followed’ the discursive practices – symbolic and material – of widening participation policy as it ‘travelled’ across multiple higher education settings. An analysis of participant observations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with widening participation policy actors shows that the everyday implementation of the policy agenda reproduces and circulates racialised discourse. More specifically, the study shows how human difference is reified through widening participation discursive practice along racial lines and how white perspectives and dominance are normalised. Core to the study’s findings is the lack of a critical approach in widening participation policy that acknowledges histories of race and racism. This thesis calls for a committed focus on race in widening participation policy that engages with its logics of exclusion, …
author: Walker, Sharon
language: eng
keywords: widening participation policy, higher education, racialised discourse, whiteness, racial exclusion
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/63017761-453b-4d9d-b720-ad78cdb847e9/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 2020-08-04
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:27Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.64202