‘Social Justice’ means justice in how wealth, opportunities and privileges are distributed within society. In higher education, this means that same equal distribution amongst students and staff.
However, it is impossible to look at universities in isolation. For example, a university might actively implement all kinds of measures to recruit from a wide range of socioeconomic and race backgrounds, but if the people they are looking to recruit are not adequately supported from early childhood, they will not be presenting themselves as applicants.
There should be work done by universities to address issues these groups face outside their walls, but there is also a lot to do that is out of reach of universities, and needs to be reflected in changes to wider society as a whole. Depressingly, ‘social Justice’ can likely never be fully achieved. It is a ‘wicked problem’, which is so widely distributed and has tendrils in so many aspects of society, that perhaps all we can hope to do is make movements towards it.
Neurodiversity and HE
An area of interest for me is how students’ neurodiversity can affect their experiences and outcomes in HE. It is too easy for students to fall between the cracks in a large institutional context, and work that universities do to address this is vital. I am passionate about trying to truly see my students and recognise where additional support is needed. I am keen to learn more about what the disability support team do, so that I can better understand how to support students within my role.
Socioeconomic background and HE
I am also interested in how students socioeconomic background can affect their chances of commencing and succeeding at university. We talked a lot about student fees, and this was helpfully contextualised by learning how the Robbins report in the 1960s opened up university education, and the Dearing report in 1999 shook up the sector again by asking ‘who should pay?’
High fees cut off access to many students. For those who make it, costs of living, materials, excursions and expenses can end up being challenging. Lack of money can affect both outcomes and morale (and morale can affect outcomes!)
Students are becoming more willing to critique where they feel they are not receiving ‘value for money’ on what they have invested in their education. Universities should be willing to address these concerns, and take measures (like offering part time courses) to support those who need to work while they study, and to address the systematic inequality and barriers that lack of financial capital can cause to students.
Talking about it
What is important is that we make space for these conversations. I enjoyed reading reading “From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces”, where the authors reflect that ‘safe’ spaces often centre the experiences of the oppressor and their discomfort at being confronted. They suggest that participants in all such conversations need to instead bring ‘bravery’, and readiness to both speak, listen and learn.
“In this manner, we suggest that the language of safety contributes to the replication of dominance and subordination, rather than a dismantling thereof. This assertion does not mean we believe ‘anything goes’ is a better approach; rather, we suggest we do participants a disservice by reinforcing expectations shaped largely by the very forces of privilege and oppression that we seek to challenge through social justice education.”
‘From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces’ (2013) in The Art of Effective Facilitation: Reflections From Social Justice Educators. 1st edition. Sterling, Virginia : Washington, DC: Routledge.
I want to take what I have learned about social justice and my own positionality in my life and professional career so far, and transfer these conversations and ideas into my educational work. We should constantly keep asking ‘how can I do things differently’, and ‘how can I keep moving in the right direction’.