ENroute Yearbook 2020-21
Learning and Working with Students of Colour Richard Whitecross , The Business School , Principal Fellow
Since 2013 , the number of Black and Minority Ethnic ( BAME ) students entering the Edinburgh Napier LLB Programme has risen year on year to just over 30 %. In 2018 , recognising the importance of understanding the needs and the diversity of this student body , I applied for Enhancement Project funding .
What emerged among a majority of our students , was a sense of expectancy to fit in and that their own cultural heritage was unimportant . This sense of separateness and a “ blindness ” to the range of cultures was summed up by one student who noted , “ the fact we have different views and beliefs isn ’ t a bad thing , it is a beautiful thing ”. The Law Society and the Scottish Government Legal Department engaged with the project , enabling several students to meet the inspirational American judge , Judge Victoria Pratt , at the Scottish Parliament ( see photograph below ).
The experience was transformational and enabled me to engage , meaningfully , in a range of environments to support students of colour at university and in seeking careers in the legal profession . I joined the Advance HE Anti-Racist Working Group , the Scottish Government Working Group on Racial Discrimination . More recently , I led a session organised by former Edinburgh Napier Law students on barriers to the legal profession for lawyers of colour . In a more recent development , I am looking at how to support students from traveller backgrounds to study law .
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