Part 6 Conclusion

6.1 Policy implications

Whilst strategic priorities of the Muslim community are perhaps more important considerations, schemes designed to increase Muslim representation at the postgraduate level may be better focused in under-represented subject areas such as Natural and Mathematical sciences, Humanities and languages, Design and creative and performing arts and Natural and built environment.

Policy should be targeted at addressing the systemic under-representation of UK domiciled Muslim students at the Postgraduate level (relative to average representation across all levels from 2017-2020).

6.2 Limitations and caveats

There is no reliable population data available on Religion and Belief before the return of data on students' religion and belief by HE institutions was made mandatory by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) in 2017
Data on religion and belief is self-reported, with institutions expected to provide students with an opportunity to update their record on an annual basis. However, students have the option to not respond, hence the number and percentage of Muslims represent a lower bound on the true figures
There is no data on academic staff from the OfS; the number of Muslims in post-doctoral roles, professorships and lecturships is not explored
The raw data is structured such that student characteristics such as gender and religion cannot be cross examined against each other, only across study characteristics, such as the level of education and subject area
Figures only include students at HE providers/ universities with administrative centres in England
Data is not yet available post 2020/21 from the OfS
Any subjects with fewer than 400 students, or less than 30 Muslim students at a given level and year are dropped from the interactive tools, since the percentage of Muslims is artificially bounded from below at 7.5%
This data is not directly comparable to HESA open data data⁸ nor AdvanceHE equality data⁹, due to differences in methodology adopted by the OfS

6.3 Related literature

AdvanceHE Research Insight: Religion and Belief in UK Higher Education (2020)

This Research Insight presents analysis of student data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), which includes all students studying in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) in the academic year 2017/18. This is the first year that returns of information about students’ religion and belief was made compulsory for HEIs.
HESA statistics show around half of all students reported having a religion or belief (50.2%). The majority of these were Christian (65.5%), followed by Muslim students (17.8%).
There were substantial differences in degree attainment by students’ religion or belief. Overall 76.3% of students received a first or 2:1 degree, yet only 64.9% of Muslim students received a first or 2:1. Nearly nine out of 10 students who declared their religion as Jewish graduated with a First or 2:1 degree.
The figures show that men are underrepresented in UK HE; overall 57.0% of students are women. However, the analysis found that this split was not present in all religious groups. For Muslim students, the gender split of people in HE was close to 50:50.
A gender attainment gap was present within all religious groups with women graduating with a first or 2:1 degree in higher numbers than men.
Muslim students are underrepresented at the most academically selective universities: 22.6% of Muslim students were enrolled at Russell Group universities compared to 27.8% of the general student population. In contrast, over half of Jewish students (51.8%) were enrolled at Russell Group universities.
Muslim students were relatively overrepresented in science, engineering and technology (SET) subjects.
On average, HEIs with a higher proportion of Muslim students or staff had smaller attainment gaps between Muslim students and those with no religion or belief. HEIs with fewer Muslim students and staff had larger attainment gaps.

Bridge Institute: British Muslims in UK Higher Education (2018)

This report presents Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) data from 2012-16 on the numbers of British Muslims entering HE, in comparison to other faith groupings and to the wider UK populous.
While there has been an increase in the number of British Muslim students in HE, there is a smaller proportion in the esteemed Russell Group universities, and that female British Muslim students are more in number, and more successful in their studies, than male British Muslim students. -Ali (2016a) asserts that 24% of the Muslim population (age 16 and above) have a degree- level and above qualification. Significantly, in 2001, 39% of Muslims had no qualifications, but this dropped to 26 per cent in 2011 (MCB, 2015).
Stevenson et al’s (2017:3) recent qualitative study has suggested that some Muslim students have "inequitable access to high status universities as a result of geographical provision, discrimination at the point of entry, or self-limiting choices reflecting fears of being in a minority".
The limitations of the currently available data about students’ religious identities, means that further quantitative research is necessary in order to explore if there are correlations between students’ religious identity, socio-economic status and educational attainment, for example.

Bridge Institute: Muslim Students in UK Higher Education (2018)

Research into Muslim students studying in HE business schools found that 77% of Muslim students attended post-1992 universities, 4% attended Russell Group institutions and 19% attended other pre-1992 (‘older’) universities (Dean and Probert, 2011).
Reasons for why Muslim students are over-represented in certain universities may be in part because minority ethnic students are much more likely to live at home than White students. Data from the 2011/12 Student Income and Expenditure Survey (Pollard et al, 2013) showed that 61% of Asian and Asian British students lived at home, compared with 19% of White students.
Using statistical modelling, research by the Nuffield Foundation (Noden, Shiner and Modood, 2014) found that for average applications, Pakistani students would receive seven additional rejections per 100 compared with comparable applications by white applicants.
Boliver’s research (2012, 2016), however, indicates that BME students are also discriminated against at the point of applying to Russell Group universities. Her analysis of more than 151,000 applications to Russell Group institutions between 2010-11 and 2012-13 found that 54.7% of applications submitted by White students resulted in offers, but that the success rates for BME students were considerably lower. Between 2010 and 2012 only 36% of minority ethnic applicants were offered places compared to 55% of White applicants (Boliver, 2012, 2016). Those least likely to receive offers were applicants from Bangladeshi (31%) and Pakistani (30%) backgrounds which have the largest proportion of Muslim students.
Those Muslims who do manage to access HE are also more likely to leave early (Rose-Adams, 2012), are less happy with their teaching (Neves and Hillman, 2016), most likely to be disappointed in their student experience (Neves and Hillman, 2016; HEFCE, 2016) and, overall, do less well than their non-Muslim, White peers in terms of their final degree attainment (Stevenson, 2016).

6.4 Areas for further research

An examination into the causes of lower Muslim representation amongst UK domiciled students at the postgraduate level is required. Reliable survey data collected using a balanced sample of Muslim and non-Muslim students on the reasons for pursuing/not pursing higher education at the postgraduate level, in addition to background student and university characteristics can be used to examine the potential causes. The MRN aims to conduct further quantitative research in this area.

Without a robust theory linking intrinsic or perceived Muslim characteristics, beliefs or practices to the supply-side of higher education (i.e. discrimination on the part of universities) or demand-side (i.e. the preferences of Muslim students), it is likely that the lower representation can be explained by extrinsic factors such as lower parental/household income and educational background, educational attainment at the degree level, and the type of higher education institution attended by the student (i.e. Russel Group status). However, The Bridge Institute (2018)¹⁰ found that Muslims face many unique challenges in higher education, including Islamophobia, being under increased surveillance due to the Prevent agenda and lacking a sense of belonging.