8/9/2019 ACS Focus Group - The Summary

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ACS Focus Group The Summary

The ACS Report is an initiative of the African Caribbean Company Limited - Registered in England and Wales No: 07015366

8/9/2019 ACS Focus Group - The Summary

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The AC Company conducted a Focus Group of African Caribbean Society members from seven

universities across the United Kingdom we invited a selected group of black students

representatives from Manchester, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham, Warwick, UCL and LSE to

attended/participated in the Focus Group at Manchester Business School on Thursday, 17th

June, 2010.

The Focus Group looked into four areas of interest:

1. Life at University2. Career Ambition3. Relationship with the African Caribbean Society (ACS)4. Future of the ACS

Each section required participants to fill out a questionnaire and participate in an open

discussion.

Summary of Focus Group Discussions

The group discussed the reasons for educational achievement and underachievement by black

students at UK universities. According to a review conducted by Julie Tolley and Jill Rundle for

The National BME Education Strategy Group in 2006 and funded by HEFCE, it found that despite

an increase in the representation of Black or Black British student in UK Higher Education

institutions, only 30% of black graduates achieve a First Class or Upper Second Class degree. The

Focus Group discussed reasons for achievement and underachievement in higher education.

The following points were raised:

Reason for educational achievement: Personal goals, drive & motivation, family background,

positive peer competition, career prospect, fear of failure, time management, good study

routine.

Reasons for educational underachievement: social class, procrastination, socializing, financial

pressure, pressure from part-time work, parental influence, lack of advice, role models and

culture shock as no prior family member in some instances had attended university.

A participant said lack of direction impacts strong educational performance, asuniversity can be a completely different environment from college without the right

level of guidance; some people find it challenging to adapt and end up underachieving

Leeds ACS Mentoring Scheme: A representative from Leeds ACS talked about how their

peer mentoring initiative was changing the experience of new students. They pair

established students with incoming students to help ease their transition from college to

university.

In discussing Career Ambition of black UK students, we highlighted a statistics from the Julie

Tolley and Jill Rundle review of BME participation in HE which showed 13% of black graduatesremain unemployed 6 months after graduation in comparison to 6% of their white counterparts.

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We tried to understand the participants views on the factors that influence

employment and unemployment after graduation.

Reasons for employment: Relevant work experience, strong academic achievement, attitude &

personality, assimilation, cultural fit.

Reasons for unemployment: Lack of relevant work experience, poor academic performance,social class, relevance of degree to career interest, types of job, people you know, dominant

culture, current job market.

A participant said for some sectors, black people dont expect to get the jobs; as a result

they dont apply because they dont believe it is possible to get in

When asked what will increase confidence in applying to such jobs, the participant said

just by seeing black people within the organization will influence my decision and

confidence to apply.

The Focus Group finally touched on the importance of the African Caribbean Society network

and the participants relationship with their university network. A significant number of the

participants were aware of the African Caribbean Society before they got to university (78%)

showing that ACS is popular outside of the university environment. Most of the participants

consider the ACS as a strong socio-cultural group or a group of like minded individuals (53% &

29% respectively), when asked the best way to describe their university ACS. 11% thought the

ACS was just another university society.

The Focus group concluded with a discussion on the future of ACS. When asked, participants if

they thought a better run ACS can impact on their educational achievement (Response; 83%Yes, 11% Maybe, 6% No) and we also asked if a better managed ACS can enhance career

prospects(Response; 83% Yes, 11% Maybe, 6% No).

100% of the participants want to see ACS provide more cultural, educational and career focused

events.

One participant said ACS is about the betterment of the black student, not the social life

of the black student.

What we are looking for

We want to educate you to educate us to educate society on ways to improve the experience of

black students in the United Kingdom. We plan to conduct a national survey asking similar

questions to black students to establish their needs and help advice our clients and users better.

We welcome contributors and partners from University Career Services, Employers, Education

departments, students and graduates who are interested in better understanding how African

Caribbean Society can best use it scale and reach to positively impact the UK black community.

8/9/2019 ACS Focus Group - The Summary

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Write to us @ Minshull House, Chorlton Street Manchester. M1 3FY

Call us @ 0161 921 8185 or 0779 557 6617 E-mail us:hugo.obi@ac-company.co.uk

Visit us:www.ac-company.co.ukandwww.africancaribbeansociety.com