Belonging in UK Business Schools : Creating a Community

What can business schools do to address key difficulties supporting students with particular needs? The chapters brought together by the editors explore the challenges faced by students who are disabled, neurodiverse, from widening participation backgrounds and students who regularly disengage.

Business Schools in the UK attract a range of students: home and international students, full-time and part-time, on campus and at a distance. These students come from a range of backgrounds and have varied pastoral and academic needs. University can be an isolating time for students and this can lead to high attrition rates and low performance and engagement. So what can business schools do to address key difficulties supporting students with particular needs? The chapters brought together by the editors explore the challenges faced by students who are disabled, neurodiverse, from widening participation backgrounds and students who regularly disengage. The research examines issues these groups of students face and offer practical experiential solutions to ensure that these students feel included and as a result can achieve academic excellence. The book provides a platform for academics to share firsthand accounts of building community in Business Schools, sharing their own experiences of both pedagogical and pastoral successes and failures. Each chapter offers narrative-driven insights into how the authors have explored the issues faced by their students and how they have built belonging despite the difficulties. By highlighting these experiences, this book aims to inspire those in Business Schools to create a more inclusive learning environment.