Exploring differential attainment and performance trajectories of students from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds admitted to the medical and biomedical degree programmes at the University of Birmingham.

Applications are invited for a 3-year fully-funded PhD Studentship starting October 2018

Higher education has been a focus of widening access initiatives due to well-documented biases in the processes used to select students. However, there is now growing a body of evidence demonstrating an association between demographic characteristics such as gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic background with poorer academic attainment at research-intensive ‘elite’ universities (characterised broadly as Oxbridge and the Russell Group universities).

It is not clear where the attainment gap develops, for example is the gap already present before the students start university or does the gap develop and/or expand during university? If the gap develops early in undergraduate careers, this may indicate issues with transitioning to university whereas a development later on may indicate lack of support and/or issues with teaching and examining practices that disadvantage particular students.

The ability of an individual student to adapt successful (‘transition’) to university life may in part be explained by their access to social capital. Many research-intensive universities are typical manifestations of educationally and socially elite settings with many teachers drawn from, and role modelling values explicitly associated with the professional elite. The effect of this type of elite environment on students’ academic performance remains substantially unexplored but it may be that non-traditional students (broadly characterised as non-White, non-middle class and non-selective state school educated students) make the transition to a research-intensive universities less easily than students for whom admission to these universities is the family and social norm. Further, within a single institution, the likelihood of successful transition for non-traditional students may vary by degree programme; for example programmes associated with graduate access to professional elites (e.g. medicine, law) might be anticipated to show greater attainment gaps than programmes where graduate career destinations are more variable.

The focus of this PhD project is two-fold: (a) to identify where in a student’s educational period the attainment gap develops; and (b) to compare student attainment gaps in two programmes – medicine and biomedical sciences – where the admission tariffs are broadly comparable but where expected graduate career destinations are different.

The key aims are:
1. To summarise what is already known about differential attainment across socio-economic groups at elite universities.
2. To follow the progress of ‘non-traditional’ students through the medical and biomedical science degrees and compare their attainment levels at each stage with their year group.
3. To investigate ‘drop-out’ rates amongst different degree cohorts to determine whether BME students are more likely to drop-out of university and, if so, at what point in their university career.
4. To explore student perspectives to understand first-hand the issues they believe underlie the attainment gap.


It is anticipated that most of the following activities will need to be undertaken in order to address the key aims:

1. Review of the literature and benchmarking of comparative data e.g. from HESA, other Russell Group Universities where available.
2. Analysis of administrative data held by the university to compare and contrast the significance of key personal variables on performance, and to determine their consistency of effect over time and programme.
3. Questionnaire-based survey of students on the medical and biomedical sciences degree programmes
4. Interviews and focus groups with students.

Person Specification
Applicants should have a strong background in quantitative research skills, and ideally some appreciation of qualitative research methods. They should hold or realistically expect to obtain at least an Upper Second Class Honours Degree in a relevant subject

How to apply
Applications should be directed to Professor Jayne Parry at [Email Address Removed]. To apply, please send:
• A Detailed CV, including your nationality and country of birth;
• Names and addresses of two referees;
• A covering letter highlighting your research experience/capabilities and why you are interested in this project;
• Copies of your degree transcripts;
• Evidence of your proficiency in the English language, if applicable.

Applicants will be required to attend an interview. This can be conducted face –to –face, by telephone or skype