At Equality, Diversity and Inclusion we understand the importance of recognising the brilliant contribution of researchers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds and have therefore committed to spotlighting their work.

This piece was authored by Dr Chiamaka Nwosu, a Research Fellow based in King’s Business School, to highlight the important work they have been carrying out as an early career researcher. Dr Nwosu specifically dives into their experience of being a researcher, the impact their expertise and research will have on the King’s community, and what they have gained from their experience as a researcher at King’s.

My main research interest has been shaped by my PhD which I completed here at King’s Business school. My research aims and objectives were to explore the factors associated with student Higher Education (HE) participation and attainment in the UK. I was particularly interested in how the student experience differs for students from minority ethnic backgrounds, and how this may impact their HE participation and attainment. I have recently published one chapter of my PhD research titled “Does Study abroad affect student academic achievement” in the British Educational Research Journal (BERJ) and currently in the process of publishing another chapter, which is currently under review.

Before joining the Business School as a Lecturer in Policy Evaluation and Research Fellow at the Policy Institute, I worked at the Widening Participation Department at King’s College, where I was responsible for conducting research on students who may be disadvantaged either due to their ethnic group or widening participation status such as being a first-generation student, coming from a financially disadvantaged family, or receiving a contextual admission offer. This is helpful in identifying disadvantaged students who may struggle with continuation, progression, and/or attainment.

Given that my PhD research and subsequent work on student experience, sense of belonging and self-efficacy among students from minority ethnic backgrounds was conducted using King’s as a case study, my research has direct implications for the university and provides recommendations to improve the higher education experience for students.

From an innovation standpoint, I have also developed KITAASTAT, a web-based statistical software package that makes it easier to understand the results from correlations, hypothesis tests & regressions. This term, I have introduced this as an additional learning tool for students taking the Research Methods module in the MSc in Public Policy and Management programme at the Business School and have received positive feedback from the students on the ease of use, and design of the software.

As a quantitative researcher, one of the biggest challenges to research is data access as data restrictions can severely affect the timescales of a research project as well as limit the quality and validity of the work being done. While working as a researcher at King’s, I have enjoyed certain resources that help moderate these data access concerns. For instance, the Information Compliance team is readily available to work with researchers who require administrative data for research purposes, subject to data protection regulations. Also, being able to work with experienced colleagues who have similar research interests has been extremely valuable as an early career researcher.

 

Further resources:

As part of our mission to more effectively communicate race equality initiatives across the College, we have not only committed to spotlighting the impactful contributions of our Black, Asian and minority ethnic colleagues, but using our platform to highlight resources we think would be beneficial to all staff.

We encourage you to explore the following:

  • The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team have created an anti-racism and allyship toolkit which includes information and tips on race, racism, anti-racism and allyship. It can be used to support individual learning and/or as part of existing learning opportunities within Directorates, Faculties and Departments.
  • Consider taking Diversity Matters training, which has been specifically designed for King’s staff and updated in response to staff feedback and current staff training needs. Find out more on the EDI training webpages.
  • Request Tackling Microaggressions training for your department, faculty or team! These sessions discuss the formation of bias, how that manifests into microaggressions and what we can do to challenge microaggressions when we experience and/or witness them. This training does not occur on a scheduled basis and will need to be requested. If you would like us to facilitate a session, please get in touch at diversity@kcl.ac.uk.
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