The BME attainment gap in MPharm Pharmacy students

N. S. Freestone, M. O. Carson. Life Sciences. Pharmacy and Chemistry, Kingston University, Kingston-upon-Thames, UNITED KINGDOM.

Background and Aims: In the UK, the black and minority ethnic (BME) attainment gap is a shared problem across all universities1. However, reasons for ethnic differences in academic attainment are currently unclear. These differences in attainment persist even after the student has left university. For example, in the UK General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) pre-registration exam for pharmacists in 2015 the Black-African pass rate was 55% compared to a pass rate of 89 % for White students. A similar attainment gap was observed in 2013 and 2014. Can this attainment gap be observed in MPharm students whilst they are still at university? The problem with trying to monitor this is that by definition an undergraduate master’s degree is classified as a “good degree”, regardless of degree classification, so ethnic differences in such programmes cannot be easily studied as they are not officially recognised.

Summary of work and outcomes: Kingston University (KU) MPharm students were assigned to ethnic categories as described by the GPhC. These ethnic groups were: White (British, Irish or Other), Black or Black-Caribbean (Caribbean, African, Other), Mixed (White and Black African, White and Black Caribbean, White and Asian, Other Mixed), Asian or Asian British (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Other Asian, Other ethnic group). Module outcome data was then mapped against the relevant ethnic group categorisation for each individual student (n = 20 for White students; n = 140 for BME students). Significant differences were found in student attainment on the MPharm programme in both coursework marks and end of module exam marks for specific BME groups compared to White students (using unpaired student\'s t-test). For example, in terms of coursework Black-Africans achieved 64.7 ± 9.4 % (mean ± SD) compared to White students 69.2 ± 9.6 % (p = 0.000016).

Discussion: This is the first study to identify a BME attainment gap in an undergraduate Master’s programme. This may pave the way for BME student under-attainment in GPhC pre-registration exams. KU has one of the UK’s most ethnically-diverse student bodies and has as one of its Key Performance Indicators a commitment to narrowing and eventually eliminating the BME attainment gap.

Conclusion: Identifying the problem in a more granular manner may help both in the KU context and wider across the sector.

References:

1. Stevenson J (2012). Black and minority ethnic student degree retention and attainment. Higher Education Academy report. https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/bme_summit_final_report.pdf