Addressing the BME attainment gap: exploring differential attainment by assessment type in mathematics, chemistry and life sciences

Assessment practices must consider a significantly more diverse student body nowadays and measures taken to improve assessment should promote inclusivity. Poor legitimacy in assessment harms student confidence when assessments are not inclusive, authentic or linked to developing employability. Modes or types of assessment have received relatively limited literature scrutiny with respect to the BME attainment gap debate, although there is well-established evidence of differences related to student gender. This project focused on the outcomes of a broad range of assessments with a sample from 25 undergraduate maths, life science and chemistry modules combined with demographic information from nearly 1000 students to examine student performance on different forms of assessment (encompassing formal exams, coursework, ‟in-class tests” and oral presentations). The sample data showed statistically-significant differences in the attainment of certain groups of students in some assessment modalities, but not all. This talk will present some of the results of this analysis and their possible interpretation that is relevant to strategies for addressing the BME attainment gap. The talk aims to give attendees an appreciation of the fact that students perform differently on different types of assessment across different subjects, irrespective of the relative perceived ‟difficulty” of the subject.