Shaping the future of postgraduate access and success
Thursday 18 July, 9:30am - 5:00pm
The Sammy Ofer Centre, London Business School
In 2022, the NEON Widening Participation in Postgraduate Study working group launched its innovative strategy blueprint for enhancing access and success in both postgraduate study and research among underrepresented and minoritised groups.
Since then, so much important and exciting work has taken place. The 2nd Postgraduate Diversity Summit is an opportunity for colleagues from across the sector to both reflect on the progress we have made in this rapidly evolving space and look to the future.
The theme of this year’s summit recognises the complexity of the challenge we face, and the need for collaboration, not competition, to drive change. We will come together to share practice, learn from our successes and failures, hear from students and identify new ways of working collectively across the sector in order to shape the future of postgraduate access and success.
2024 keynote speakers
Chantelle Jessica Lewis is a public sociologist, broadcaster and event director whose research is situated at the intersections of socio-historical analysis, politics, Black feminism, family studies and racism studies. She is the co-host of the Surviving Society podcast, the Deputy Director of Leading Routes and currently holds a Junior Research Fellowship in Black British studies at Pembroke College, University of Oxford.
Chantelle’s upcoming book, co-authored with Professor Jason Arday, entitled We See Things They’ll Never See: Love, Hope and Neurodiversity is scheduled for publication in 2025. The book is set to highlight their own and others’ experience of the challenges of neurotypical society for neurodiverse people, and the intersection of these issues with other marginalised identities.
Dr Lewis and Prof. Arday have promised a £20,000 advance from the upcoming book to charities supporting neurodivergent working-class families.
Dr Chantelle Jessica Lewis
Jason Arday is Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education. He was formerly a Guest Editor on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and listed 4th on the prestigious Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 in 2023.
Professor Arday has previously held the position of Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Glasgow, School of Education; Associate Professor in Sociology at Durham University in the Department of Sociology; and Deputy Executive Dean for People and Culture in the Faculty of Social Science and Health. He is a Visiting Professor at The Ohio State University in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, University of Glasgow in the School of Education, and an Honorary Professor at Durham University in the Department of Sociology.
He is a Trustee of the Runnymede Trust, the UK’s leading Race Equality Thinktank, and the British Sociological Association (BSA). Jason sits on the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) National Advisory Panel, the NHS Race and Health Observatory Academic Reference Group and the ITV Cultural Advisory Council.
Professor Jason Arday
The 2nd UK Postgraduate Diversity Summit is co-organised by the University of Leeds and London Business School.
