Individual perceptions of advantage and disadvantage in accessing, undertaking and progressing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) postgraduate taught study

<p>Research looking at students’ perceptions of advantage and disadvantage in higher education (HE) has focused on two main areas; student learning and perceptions of the academic environment and large scale statistics looking at participation, progression and attainment through the lens of certain demographic groups at undergraduate level. However, there is no research exploring whether the individual within a demographic group or those with a range of characteristics (e.g. socioeconomic, generational, disability) consciously or unconsciously perceive those characteristics as advantageous or disadvantageous. This paper reports the findings from a small-scale research project carried out at three UK universities in geographically different areas across STEM disciplines exploring this.</p>