Blog

Beyond the Mould: Designing Higher Education Around Students’ Strengths

Author: Dr Mazia Yassim, Associate Head of College for External Relations, Westminster Business School.

You ask any educator and almost all of them will say that their passion is to ensure that all students can progress in life – as responsible citizens and successful in their chosen careers. Why is it then that, across the Higher Education sector in the UK, disparities remain in student outcomes depending on who these students are and what their backgrounds might be. Is it because the students are themselves not motivated enough to put in the hard work we think they need to? Or is this a case of us expecting all students to fit into a specific mould when they enter a university? If they can’t or don’t fit into that mould, well maybe University was not the right place for them anyway?

In the UK, the higher education sector has made good progress in attracting a wide range of students and giving them the opportunity for social mobility. This is something to be proud of collectively. But what happens to these students, who entrust us with their hopes and aspirations, once they start their university life? Are they being welcomed and treated as an honoured guest, an unexpected visitor or even an intruder?

As academics and colleagues in higher education, we do not intentionally design our courses, systems or processes to exclude students. But do we intentionally design them to include everyone? This is the idea of inclusive by design. Influenced by the principles of Universal Design for Learning (Meyer, et al. 2014), it involves creating learning environments, curricula and systems that recognise learner diversity as the norm and proactively remove barriers to participation, engagement and success from the outset. Rather than relying on data about who is in the classroom, inclusive by design encourages us to consider potential barriers at every stage, increasing the likelihood that all students can thrive. It extends beyond curriculum and assessment to every aspect of university life, including how we help students become confident and career-ready graduates.

Strength-based Approach as Inclusive by Design

At the Westminster Business School, our adoption of strength-based approach to developing students is an effort to be inclusive by design. Strength-based approach, stemming from positive psychology, is an educational philosophy that enables learners to identify, develop, and apply their existing talents and capabilities, fostering confidence, engagement, and achievement. Especially in the context of inclusivity, strengths-based approach challenges deficit narratives about students and instead focuses on the assets, resilience, cultural capital, and experiences they bring to higher education and their future places of work (Krutkowski, 2017).

As an institution and Business School passionate about social mobility, we set out to find a way to develop our students’ confidence and career readiness by getting them to recognise their own strengths and value themselves as individuals. Our adoption of a strengths-based approach from the moment students enter our Business School helps to reinforce the message that every student has valuable capabilities and perspectives to contribute to society and to employers. Crucially, it does not ask whether the students are from underrepresented backgrounds, have a disability or have a parent who went to university and so on. It helps them surface their unique strengths and, through discussion and reflection, fosters a sense that they can succeed and add value to the institution, society and their future places of work.

Debates and discussions around inclusion, belonging and differential student outcomes are not new to the higher education landscape. These debates have been ongoing for some time. Still, we commonly fall into the habit of designing curriculum, assessments, delivery, employability initiatives, to name a few, and question why students are not engaging or why it is not as effective as we hoped it would be. Inclusivity is not something we should retrofit, it should be our starting point.

Our commitment to social mobility for all students has led us to embrace a non-deficit, strength-based approach to developing our students at Westminster Business School. As with all inclusive by design endeavours, we do not expect to get everything right the first time. To be truly inclusive by design in a dynamic environment, we need to continually stress-test our design to ensure it remains inclusive. We have started our journey and sometimes, that can be the most challenging part. We are invested in our principle of being inclusive by design and will learn along the way, evolve and adapt. We will not ask our students to fit into a mould. Rather, we will help them shape their futures and play to their strengths. Because, for us, our students are very much honoured guests, and we honour and value them for who they are.

Krutkowski, S. (2017) ‘A strengths-based approach to widening participation students in higher education’, Reference Services Review, 45(2), pp. 227–241.

Meyer, A., Rose, D.H. and Gordon, D. (2014) Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice. Wakefield, MA: CAST Professional Publishing.

Dr Mazia Yassim, Associate Head of College for External Relations, Westminster Business School.