How can Lecturers ensure that they create an inclusive environment where all students can thrive and enjoy an optimal sense of belonging? Why are some students less inclined to participate in in-class discussions than others? Are we doing enough to diversify the curriculum? Are we adopting a truly intersectional approach when we implement new teaching and assessment methods? Why is attendance not what it used to be?

UCL’s Arts & Humanities Faculty boasts a myriad of successful and effective EDI initiatives, yet these questions kept popping into my mind following meetings with personal tutees and candid conversations with students. Indeed, it was as part of the “Reverse Mentoring in SELCS” programme that my own student mentor first mentioned the issue of socio-economic equity, and our sessions brought to the forefront something that should be self-evident but that many of us hadn’t really paid attention to: that not all students arrive in UCL with the same financial, social and cultural capital. Whilst this is especially true for First-Year students, these differences are also pervasive in every degree year. Students who have attended private schools with lower student-to-teacher ratios, who have benefitted from private tutoring, who are well-travelled and who regularly attend cultural events are more likely to participate in class and to show higher levels of confidence. This is particularly pertinent in the Arts and Humanities, where in-class discussions often prompt students to share their personal experiences and preferences with regard to travels, performances or exhibitions.

A collage of our socio-economic equity interviews.I discussed this with my colleague Macarena Jiménez Naranjo, who had also taken part in the same reverse mentoring programme and who incidentally had received similar comments from her own student mentor. In fact, it became clear that so many of our students had discreetly hinted at the issue of socio-economic inequalities, and how these shaped their learning and campus experience. Furthermore, as an Access UCL personal tutor who has worked closely with this cohort for the past two years, students have often confided in me how in particular a lack of cultural capital exacerbates their impostor syndrome and limits their ability to perform inside and outside the classroom.

Macarena and I felt it was time to discuss the socio-economic dimension openly. We already worked together to produce an A&H EDI Dialogues podcast, an experience we really enjoyed. We therefore decided to host and record a series of three podcasts under the umbrella topic of socio-economic equity and education. Each podcast would involve the two of us as presenters and two students who would discuss a particular aspect of this overarching topic. We knew we wanted to create a safe environment where students could safely hone their speaking and analytical skills, boost their critical thinking and gain confidence. Also, in line with the decolonising the curriculum format, students should be responsible for designing the podcasts.

With the support of the Centre for Humanities Education, we invited six Arts and Humanities students to cover three main topics. Anna Duongova and Isaac Timberlake focused on intersectionality and reverse snobbery, highlighting how appearances can deceive. James Cooper and Victoria Wysocka discussed class issues on campus, including commuting and social opportunities. Natalie Calderon and Tatum Kemsley’s conversation centred around the Year Abroad, which, although no doubt exciting and enriching, can also pose a set of socio-economic issues.

The very stimulating conversations allowed students to provide insights and convey suggestions on how to make our lectures more inclusive in terms of socio-economic factors. It was also heartwarming to see how it built a greater understanding between all of us – people from different generations, origins and backgrounds. Above all, the students’ candid revelations and pertinent recommendations are already shaping our strategy – as Lecturers, as researchers and as personal tutees. We invite you to listen to the full series, which indeed challenges assumptions and calls for deeper thinking about the delivery of courses and institutional practices by bringing socio-economic issues on campus to the forefront. In the meantime, here are our top tips:

• Don’t judge a book by its cover. Reverse snobbery is real, and it is damaging. Living off campus and/or having to miss out on expensive social activities can also exacerbate students’ feelings of loneliness – encourage your students to attend free or low-cost activities.
• Commuting is expensive! It can also be exhausting. It can affect students’ attendance, performance, and in-class participation. The same applies to part-time jobs. Whenever possible, try to help make their workload more manageable.
• If your students have a Year Abroad, acknowledge that whilst this really is an exciting opportunity for all of them, the logistics can be challenging for students with caring responsibilities or those from lower economic backgrounds without financial support.

Interested in continuing the conversation or looking to collaborate with us on similar initiatives? Please contact us via m.oaknin@ucl.ac.uk and m.naranjo@ucl.ac.uk.

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The UCL Centre for Humanities Education is funded by generous support from The Lord Randolph Quirk Endowment Fund at UCL. EDI Dialogues were made possible through the support of The Lord Randolph Quirk Endowment Fund.

Macarena Jiménez Naranjo, PhD, is a Lecturer (Teaching) in Spanish Language and Hispanic Literature at University College London. Her interests include Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE), language varieties, and curriculum decolonisation. She currently coordinates the Special Interest Group on Decolonising Spanish Language Teaching ELEUK (SIG-Des-ELEUK).

Mazal Oaknín is Associate Professor (Teaching) in Spanish Language and Literature and Gender Studies and Spanish Language Coordinator. Her publications include the monograph Feminism, Writing and the Media in Spain (Peter Lang, 2019), and the co-edited volumes Literatura política y política literaria en España: Del Desastre del 98 a Felipe VI (Peter Lang, 2015), and Inclusion, Diversity and Innovation in Translation Education (UCL Press, 2024). Her present research interests centre around EDI in Spanish language teaching and translation education.  Mazal is Co-Director of the e-Expert Seminar Series in Translation and Modern Language Teaching and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Translation Studies. Since 2022 Mazal has also launched a number of EDI projects, including the “Tackling the BAME-BIPOC Awarding Gap in SELCS”, “Decolonising Gender Studies Through Reverse Mentoring”, “Reverse Mentoring in SELCS”, and “Mi Salud Mental: Using Curriculum-Infusion to Promote Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing”. Mazal is also a Co-Chair of UCL’s Gender Equality Steering Group.