Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to Assessment Performance and Strategies for Change: Perspectives From Minority Ethnic Female Psychology Students

ABSTRACT Across universities in the United Kingdom (UK), there is a long‐standing gap in degree award outcomes for minority ethnic undergraduate students. While quantitative data demonstrate the pervasiveness of this gap, there is less qualitative research contextualising its intersectional influences, especially focused on students' experiences with module assessments. This qualitative study explored perceived barriers and enablers to students' preparation for and performance on module assessments through interviews with 14 minority ethnic female undergraduates attending a large, public research university in the UK. A focus group was conducted to generate and contextualise strategies for positive change. Themes were coded using an intersectional tool developed for the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF), which were then mapped to behaviour change techniques (BCTs). Fourteen themes were identified; the majority focused on social and environmental influences on students' assessment performance. Strategies include creating spaces for more collaboration with peers, embedding diversity in readings and lectures, incorporating opportunities for formative feedback and enabling student agency.