Culturally sensitive Curricula Scales as new tools for evaluating students' perceptions of the cultural sensitivity of the curriculum

At a time of growing and deepening political, economic and social unrest, the landscape of higher education is changing. Students and staff across the sector are calling for a more culturally sensitive curriculum and the moral imperative to resolve systemic inequalities that shape experiences and outcomes has become even more important. Directives from the Office for Students to reduce attainment disparities have seen universities develop detail strategies to meet these objectives. Drawing on findings from empirical research and references to case studies, Dave Thomas here proposes a culturally sensitive curriculum scale as an evidence-based framework to assess the impact of a more culturally sensitive curriculum in promoting richer interaction between students and teachers, engaging racially minoritised students’ interest and increased effort, and subsequently positively influencing the BAME outcome gap.