Closing the postgraduate continuation gap

There is a continuation gap between ethnically minoritised taught postgraduate (PGT) students at the University of Leeds and their white peers. Our Access and Student Success Strategy aims to reduce this to 2.3% by 2025 and eliminate it altogether by 2035.

We have made good headway with reducing the continuation gap for our PGT students from an ethnically minoritised background, decreasing the percentage of these students who did not continue their studies from 6.9% in 2020/21 to 5.2% in 2021/22.

Taught postgraduate studies are very intensive and require high levels of personal resilience and confidence to navigate the next steps into a PhD or a postgraduate career path. The view that a ‘sense of belonging’ is an issue for ethnically minoritised students on master's courses at Leeds is a real one. 

There are often low numbers of students from similar backgrounds on some programmes, and students have mentioned a lack of diversity at postgraduate level, which can lead to feelings of isolation and cause students to leave their course, reducing further the numbers progressing to higher study levels and an academic career.

It’s a recognised and longstanding national problem. A 2016 study by the Higher Education Funding Council found that while more ethnically minoritised students progressed to a master’s degree than their white counterparts following graduation, nearly twice as many white graduates went onto a PhD. And the 2019 Advance HE Equality in Education Statistical Report revealed that Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic representation was markedly lower among Postgraduate research (PGR) study — just 17.2% — than in undergraduate and PGT study, at 24.7% and 22.6% respectively.  

Tackling the problem at an individual level

Focusing on building confidence within our ethnically minoritised PGT students, the Plus Programme  piloted a one-to-one coaching scheme from an external organisation — the Flourished Minds LTD — in the 2021/22 academic year. A successful initiative which was repeated in 2022/23 and is being run again in 2023/24. 

In its pilot year, the Ethnically Minoritised Postgraduate Coaching Programme was followed by 11 students and comprised four face-to-face meetings with a personal coach. The initial assessment was based on their feelings in the areas of self-esteem, confidence, imposter syndrome, anxiety and a sense of belonging. Students also requested help on an individual basis with issues ranging from public speaking and time management to motivation and social anxiety.

Their response was measured on a scale of one to ten at the start of the coaching, and then again after their final coaching session.

Notable improvements 

The things that were holding me back can be addressed. All it takes is some effort on my part and a positive mindset

When the ‘before and after’ scores were compared, the biggest improvements were seen in sense of belonging, with most students doubling their scores over the course of the programme. Imposter syndrome was also reduced by around half by the last session. 

All the areas covered reported improved scores and every student taking part felt their primary need for attending the sessions had been addressed.

“I learned that I am more than capable of achieving my career goals,” said one participant. “The things that were holding me back can be addressed. All it takes is some effort on my part and a positive mindset.”

Another noted that, “...even when I fall short of what I aspire to be and do, that is no reflection on who I am as a person or on what I can achieve in the future.”

Moving forwards

The main feedback from the pilot was that the intervention didn’t last long enough. To remedy this, the 2022/23 programme ran from March to June 2023, expanding to support 17 students with one-on-one coaching over six sessions, compared to the four in the pilot. In between sessions, coaches from the Flourished Minds LTD ran group workshops focusing on common themes emerging from the face-to-face sessions. 

Following completion of the scheme, respondents said they felt they had had benefitted from the programme and had short and long-term goals that they will be proactively working on as a result of the coaching. One commented:
“I felt that I was truly listened to, as one of the most helpful things that happened during the coaching sessions were that my coach repeated back to me some of what I said and invited me to think about it. Sometimes it was incredibly eye-opening to hear my own words said about me, and others it was deeply rewarding to identify what caused my way of thinking about myself and others. Additionally, it was helpful when some advice was given which helped re-centre my thinking on myself, which continues to give me a greater sense of control in my life.”

In 2022/23 the scheme reached 4% of postgraduate-taught ethnically minoritised students and will continue to form one of a range of opportunities open to PGT ethnically-minoritised students from which they can draw support during their time at Leeds. 

For more information about our Ethnically Minoritised Postgraduate Coaching Programme or how we support PGT ethnically minoritised students, email the Student Success Team: studentsuccess@leeds.ac.uk.