The-Rehumanisation-Station
This podcast underpins my Flippin' and Vibin' brand to flip the script on traditional or normative narratives creating inequity to the self, society, sport, education, the arts & culture, as with many other disciplines. My podcast covers two strands of groups who look to flip the script in their career, research, activism and sport through (i) hearing the voices and stories of academics, educators, community activists, students, organizational heads etc., while on the other hand covering (ii) people involved within sport (e.g., athletes, trainers, coaches).
The-Rehumanisation-Station
Access to Higher Education: Reimagining As-yet Unrealised Potential with Professor Vikki Boliver
In this episode, I speak with my previous PhD supervisor, guardian and compassionate Viber Dr. Vikki Boliver, who is a Professor at Durham University and joined the Department of Sociology in September 2011. Vikki’s research focuses on social inequalities of access to the most prestigious universities. She is a leading expert on the use of contextual data on the socioeconomic circumstances of prospective university students to inform more equitable admissions decisions.
Vikki and I speak on her working-class background where attending University was unattainable in her imagination at an early age, but with resiliency and the support of family and teachers seeing her as-yet unrealised potential she flourished in school and university. We then focus on Vikki’s academic experiences and research around access to higher education for underrepresented groups at prestigious universities, and how we must flip the script to traditional narratives such as ‘meritocracy’. Meritocracy suggests ability plus hard work equals automatic success or upward social mobility, but this has proven to be false. Thus, we dive into (i) how meritocratic narratives are a façade for fair access on one end, that creates inequitable outcomes on the other; and (ii) we discuss Vikki’s work on access and admissions making substantial changes in the higher educational sector. Vikki’s story is great for ANYONE, and more specifically students from underrepresented backgrounds, early career researchers, and policymakers in education.
If interested, please download and share this episode to understand how Vikki has thrived as a first-generation scholar, mentor, and mother.
@christopherx_ab