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Suki Dhesi

Vice Principal - Students, Learning and Quality, Havant and South Downs College (HSDC)

Research Bio

Exploring how to make technical education more culturally inclusive for 16-19 year-old FE students.

Suki is undertaking a six-year part time PhD from 2023-2029. Research interests include post-16 educational choices in relation to ethnic group, with a focus on choices made by ethnic minority young people. As a member of the Black Leadership Group, Suki is focussed on exploring ways to make technical education more ethnically inclusive, as current data shows an under representation of ethnic minority in technical education, for example T Levels and Apprenticeships. Suki is interested in the factors leading to this low level of uptake, including factors highlighted in existing research, including interrelated social factors such as gender and social class, young peoples’ experiences of racism at school and at work, an overly Ethnocentric curriculum, lack of cultural capital and family expectations relating to educational choices. Accessing the views of young people through semi-structured interviews will enable an insight into the factors affecting educational choices from a range of colleges across the country. In terms of impact, the needs of the economy are apparent, and we know from Skills England that, for learners, the pathways into skilled careers are not always sufficiently clear, and UK employers report that over a third of UK vacancies in 2022 were due to skills-shortages. Skills England’s 2024 report however does not explicitly highlight the ethnic underrepresentation in technical education. This research aims to provide further education colleges in England with recommendations to make technical education more ethnically inclusive, expanding the available talent to meet the ever-increasing skills demand, recognising that education is the key to inter-generational social mobility