Co-creating solutions to overcome the barriers that exclude students of Bangladeshi heritage from studying environmental science

This project sought to address the lack of diversity, equity and inclusion in environmental science at university level. We co-created knowledge with the Portsmouth Bangladeshi community through a one-day Environmental Jam. The event is aimed at students of Bangladeshi heritage, aged 13–18, who are studying at schools and colleges in Portsmouth. Our research team will deliver talks at local schools to introduce the project.

Secondary students from the Portsmouth Bangladeshi community and their parents/guardians were invited to attend and enjoy a series of creative activities to explore the local natural environment and environmental science. The activity-based learning sessions were led by Seekers Create — a creative social enterprise that is skilled in engaging young people in Portsmouth through creative and participatory heritage trails — and supported by academics from our School of the Environment and Life Sciences.

During the afternoon session, focus groups facilitated by our academics were asked about their experience on the day, their ambitions for the future and whether they would consider studying environmental science. Follow up interviews with individuals took place approximately two weeks after to gather further qualitative data and in-depth responses.

Our findings are developed from a nuanced account of Bangladeshi-heritage students’ embodied and emotional relationships with nature, school curricula, and culturally-informed professional aspirations. These revealed complex interactions between whiteness, racism and social class. The discipline’s lack of ethnic diversity will require challenging racialised social inequalities and expanding minority-ethnic students’ senses of belonging within the discipline, from an early age.