DSWP2011 Inclusion and Community Development: Fundraising

Introduction 

The term fundraising refers to means of effectively maintaining and implementing the different services that would cater to the welfare of the students. Sometimes funds from the internal community are not adequate in addressing the diverse needs of different students (Welch, Hoffius and Fox 2011). Therefore, external funds are required with the aim of disseminating services and facilities that would benefit the entire student community especially those who belong to the marginalized sections of the society on the campus. The aim of this report is to contextualize the plight of women, blacks, ethnic minorities and the disabled population on campus with relevant literature and therefore, justify the need of fundraising and the ways it would be utilized. The paper also discusses about a musical event that would be organized to raise the fund and the associated marketing and promotional strategies.

Discussion

The X University located in Brick Lane, United Kingdom stands for the principles of integrity, honesty, collaboration, inclusiveness, pluralism and cooperation. In this report, there will be discussions on the various issues that would be addressed by the student union and therefore would serve as motivation for the fundraising

Addressing the concerns of the ethnic minorities and  Concern of the Black students in UK

The ethnic minorities in England account for 5. 1 per cent of the population in England and Wales. The latest figure of the ethnic minorities account for 8.7 per cent of the population indicating that there has  been an increase in the number of ethnic immigrants in the heart of UK. Although scholars suggest that class is the major issue in UK and not ethnic stratification, reports continue to stand in juxtaposition to this understanding.  According to the Report on Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System it was found that the ethnic minority defendants are prone to harsher punishment compared to the native white Britons. For example, for sexual offences the white convict face an average jail of four years whereas this is different for the ethnic minorities who are sentenced to more than five years in jail. The Equality and Human Rights Groups Commission ensued that less than 10 per cent of the Black students are studying at the Russell Group universities as compared to a quarter of white students. Similarly, there is a disproportion in the number of teachers teaching at these schools (Jane Merrick 2018). In 2010, it was reported that less than 95 per cent of the teachers belong to Caribbean or African backgrounds (Fishwick 2018). Therefore, it can be stated that the ethnic minorities in Britain are either constructed as model minorities or connoted to negative meanings portraying them as uncouth, uncivilized and having criminal tendencies.  

According to Ami Sedghi (2014) in her analysis about the condition of ethnic minorities in Britain, it has been found that the Britain’s ethnic minorities continue to encounter a range of barriers in their social mobility despite having suitable qualifications in comparison to their white counterparts. Students who belong to Irish, Indian, Bangladeshi and Chinese origin along with black African students have been found to be outperforming compared to the white native British students. They obtain higher GSCEs at grade A to C, however their educational qualification have not been successful in finding them the right kind of jobs as found by the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity. It has been found that 43 per cent of Chinese students, 42 per cent of Indian people had degree qualification in 2011 that is in stark contrast to the 26 per cent of the white British (Baugh, Mullis, Mullis, Hicks and Peterson 2010). It has been further found that the majority of the marginalized section of people belongs to the black and ethnic minority groups (BME). Similar to the Chinese and Indian origin students, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students have high qualifications since 1991 acquired. Studies have demonstrated that the unemployment among the black male population has doubled in the past two decades. Another trend that is emerging among the ethnic minorities is the propensity of self-employment that is being considered as a promising route for financial advancement. For example, 53 per cent employees working in the transport industry belong to the Pakistani origin which is in contrast to the 8 per cent of employees who belong to diverse ethnic communities (The Guardian 2018).

Longitudinal surveys have shown that 43 per cent of white men and 45. 6 per cent of white women move to the socio-economic class compared to their fathers. The Asian immigrants, Blacks and Indians have low socio-economic mobility (The Guardian 2018). The second generation of Blacks, Chinese women (46. 8 per cent), Caribbean men (39.3 per cent), Black Caribbean women (67.3 per cent) and Chinese men (56. 9 per cent) face low upward mobility than the rest of the white population. The second-generation South Asian men have reaped in the benefits brought out by the mobility of their female counterparts. From these studies it can be ensued that the mobility of the South Asian Diaspora in Britain is banally low and therefore, the students union aims to ameliorate the challenges faced by the ethnic minorities especially the South Asian ethnic minorities on the Indian soil. It is not just the challenge for the student Union if X University but also for the policy makers across United Kingdom to work in association with placement cell of the university, organize job fairs and attract reputed organizations in the university that would provide opportunities to the ethnic minorities to be employed according to their respective qualifications. Whilst appealing for fund from the student community, college authorities and the sponsors the findings of the longitudinal survey would be provided to reach out to the authorities and make our stand clear.

Concerns of the women students

According to the UK Commission of the status of women, it was found that the United Kingdom Government firmly committed towards the cause of inequality of women. Since 2011, UK Aid has extended its support towards 36 million women who have access to the financial services and have helped 3 million to improve their property and land rights (GOV.UK 2018). Despite organizations and civil society groups working towards the cause of women equality and women empowerment, the reality is quite different. It has been found that women outnumber men in all the two-thirds of the degree subjects  and the gender gap in the universities in Britain has doubled in numbers since 2007. Men continue dominate the subjects that are traditionally. Women are found to be outnumbering men in 112 subjects out of 180 subjects. Despite the stark gender gap there has been a deafening silence on policy implementation. There are certain subjects that are completely dominated men, these are computer science where there are 13, 085 male students compared to a limited number of female students (Kirkup, Zalevski, Maruyama and Batool 2010). This is followed by the subjects of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, economics and sports science where there few numbers of women. This gender disparity in the pursuit of the subjects is not unique to our college but entire Britain. Studies have reported that there 5 per cent more male students compared to female students for every subject (Boliver 2013). This is a paradox considering that girls fare much better than boys in the primary, secondary and the fields of higher education as compared to boys. However, it is the field of higher education where women find it difficult to make entry. The mobility of women in higher education is further exacerbated by their economic position in the society. It has been found that more than 50 per cent of women who belong to the lower economic social strata face great disadvantage in making it to higher education.

 It is in this light that the student Union wants to emerge in the forefront and improve the plight of female students of the university through the collection and allocation of fund for appropriate projects. The first project of the student union from the fund collected would be to organize conventions and seminar on gender rights, sexuality and empowerment. Our objective is to invite women leaders, women politicians, women in the corporate sector, women civil rights activists and women academicians to share their experiences about their rise to the top. Students, professors in the university as well as the non-teaching staff to understand about the trials, would attend the session and tribulations encountered by women and deepen their understanding regarding the glass ceiling and the public patriarchy (Bowman 2010). Based on the above data on the disproportional representation of women in the so-called male-dominated subjects, the thrust would be encourage women students to apply for this subjects and creating a compatible educational environment. This can be done through the provision of reservation where 7 per cent of the seats will be reserved for female candidates especially those who belong to the marginalized communities. Preference would be given to women candidates who belong to the Hispanic groups, Blacks and the South Asian immigrants. It is believed that this step would encourage more female  students to apply to the university and thereby increase their representation.

Another issue that would that would motivate the fund raising is eliminating inequality and campus and incidents of campus. The money raised from the fund would also be utilized in building lifts in those building that do not have elevators and a part of the funding would be utilized for building disable-friendly toilets in the university. Ramps will also be constructed in those buildings of the university that have been until now inaccessible for the disabled students. Provision of ethnic kitchen- Ethnic kitchen would be organized every week that provide an opportunity to the students belong to different communities to prepare their traditional food. The notion behind this move would be to familiarize the students of different communities about one another and break the barriers that are posed by the different worldview of the communities. In addition there will be the organization of ethnic days where different students would be encouraged to demonstrate the uniqueness of their culture either through attire or preparation of a specific dish that is unique to the community or music and dance performance that represents the uniqueness of the community.

There is a culture of silence regarding discussions of sexual violence and intimate partner violence that has become an everyday affair for the hostel residents as well as the day scholars. Despite the veracity of issue, the apparently private nature of these problems these reports go unnoticed. It is important that there are robust discussions on this and adequate awareness among the students about the grave nature of violence and the seeking measures that would end such problem. For a long time, the university lacks a committee that would specifically address the issue pertaining to gender and sexuality. The absence of such a committee is evident in the rate of campus that goes unreported. Therefore, the funds collected would be utilized for establishing a committee that would address the different gender related issues faced by students on campus. This committee would organize gender sensitization workshops every month. In addition to the gender sensitization workshops, it would conduct panel discussions where famous personalities would be invited to discuss about the issues of personal hygiene for women, eliminating the taboo surrounding menstruation and share their tips to deal with sexual harassment and intimate partner violence on and off the campus. Health is another aspect that is important for the welfare of the students. To look after the different health related needs of the students some of the following steps will be implemented. There will be availability of subsidized medicines for the students in the medicine shop, eye check-ups will be conducted twice a year, blood donation camps will be organized twice a year  and annual health camp would organized that would feature doctors who would discuss about the trend of diseases and the measures to prevent those disease.  Apart from these, the fund will be utilized for organizing sanitation weeks and building of toilets for the third gender student population and the gender fluid student population with the aim of upholding the principles of equality, pluralism and diversity.

Considering the kind of changes that will be brought through the fund raising of the Student’s  Union, the thrust would be adopt a robust marketing strategy that would be able to attract the attention of the potential donors. The marketing and promotional strategy would be organize a musical performance involving a famous band, singers and hip hop performers from the country. The aim of this fundraising program would be collect fund to address the various issues relating to the student welfare of the female students, black students, ethnic minorities, gender and sexual minorities, and the disabled students on the campus. It is believed that a large amount of fund will be generated through this program and the proceeds of the fund will be used by the Student’s Union in addressing the various issues of discrimination, stratification and inequality that has become a component of the university culture. The event will be promoted in a vigorous manner through the utilization of social media platforms like Facebook., Twitter and Instagram. Pamphlets will be distributed to raise awareness about the programme. Secondly, a flash mob will be organized with the aim of generating excitement among the interested visitors. Apart from the musical show there would be stalls selling dessert and savoury items, handcrafted jewelleries and handmade cards and knick knacks so that the visitors have additional interest to visit the event part from the musical show.

Conclusions

Based on the above discussion it can be stated that the objective behind fundraising by the student union is to address the different problems faced by the marginalized communities and sections of the society in the campus. Britain is no exception to the various kinds of discrimination faced by the different sections of the student communities, therefore a range of measures need to adopted to prevent and ameliorate such situations. This justifies the need for fundraising event, the proceeds of which will be utilized for the same.

Recommendations 

1. The University should look after the needs of the students belonging to the ethnic minorities
2. The university space needs to be gender and sexuality sensitive
3. There should be separate toilets for the third gender students and disabled students on the campus.
4. The placement cell should be proactive in ensuring that students belonging to the marginalized community have equitable opportunities for making it to the jobs and have adequate placement option.

Bibliography 

Baugh, E., Mullis, R., Mullis, A., Hicks, M. and Peterson, G., 2010. Ethnic identity and body image among Black and White college females. Journal of American College Health, 59(2), pp.105-109.

Boliver, V., 2013. How fair is access to more prestigious UK universities?. The British journal of sociology, 64(2), pp.344-364.

Bowman, N., 2010. Fundraising during an economic downturn within the Historically Black College and University environment. International Journal of Educational Advancement, 9(4), pp.266-272.

Fishwick, C. (2018). Black students on Oxbridge: 'we need to change the narrative'. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/20/black-students-on-oxbridge-we-need-to-change-the-narrative [Accessed 19 May 2018].

GOV.UK. (2018). UK Commission on the Status of Women - National Statement. [online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-commission-on-the-status-of-women-national-statement [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Jane Merrick, K. (2018). Race in Britain 2012: Has life changed for ethnic minorities?. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/race-in-britain-2012-has-life-changed-for-ethnic-minorities-6286786.html [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Kirkup, G., Zalevski, A., Maruyama, T. and Batool, I., 2010. Women and men in science, engineering and technology: the UK statistics guide 2010.

The Guardian. (2018). Ethnic minorities face barriers to social mobility and job opportunities. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jun/12/ethnic-minorities-social-mobility-employment [Accessed 19 May 2018].

The Guardian. (2018). Gender gap in UK degree subjects doubles in eight years, Ucas study finds. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jan/05/gender-gap-uk-degree-subjects-doubles-eight-years-ucas-study [Accessed 19 May 2018].

Welch, J.M., Hoffius, S.D. and Fox, E.B., 2011. Archives, accessibility, and advocacy: a case study of strategies for creating and maintaining relevance. Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA, 99(1), p.57.

Woolf, K., Potts, H.W. and McManus, I.C., 2011. Ethnicity and academic performance in UK trained doctors and medical students: systematic review and meta-analysis. Bmj, 342, p.d901.