UAL Creative Mindsets: Co-production and bias breaking in Arts HE

The UAL Creative Mindsets intervention aims to close awarding differentials by developing growth mindsets (Dweck, 2000), reducing stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) and implicit bias (Staats, 2014) as barriers to learning. The project developed at UAL from partnership in the OfS-funded Catalyst Project ‘Changing Mindsets’.

This case study presents the model adopted for phase 2 of the project that was delivered to 1,398 first year students and 120 staff across four colleges and 37 BA Undergraduate courses during October-November 2018. The workshops were delivered to both staff and students (avoiding a student deficit model) by the UAL Creative Mindsets team of students, Alumni and staff. The Team drew upon critical pedagogy to facilitate discussions on race, bias and inequality in arts higher education.

The aim of this presentation is to share both the challenges faced and good practice to support future sector co-produced interventions that address attainment differentials both at an institutional and individual level.