Jenny Shaw is HE External Engagement Director for Unite Students, where she has previously led on student experience and student welfare. Since 2013 she has led research into the non-academic student experience on behalf of Unite Students. She is seconded on a part-time basis to the Higher Education Mental Health Implementation Taskforce.
Jenny previously worked at senior level in the UK higher education sector to widen participation in higher education, and has published several academic articles and edited a book on the subject. She has worked for the universities of Hull, York St John and Middlesex, and provided research and consultancy for a number of national bodies including the former HE Academy, Equality Challenge Unit and Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA). All her posts here represent her personal views.
17 pieces
Newest first, since September 2012
· Comment
It’s the little moments that power social mobility
Socioeconomic disadvantage can manifest in many different ways during the transition to university. To counter this, Jenny Shaw highlights the value of small, local actions
· Comment
Opening universities’ doors wide enough to let students’ lives in
The traumas and challenges students bring with them to higher education need to inform how they are supported in transition, finds Jenny Shaw
· Comment
To make progress on the awarding gap we must also address the belonging gap
Closing awarding gaps is as much about the wider environment and experience as it is about what happens in the classroom, argues Jenny Shaw.
· Analysis
Racial inequity plays out in university accommodation as well as the classroom
Accommodation is rarely mentioned in discussions of inequalities, but it may be a key piece of the puzzle. Jenny Shaw reports on Unite Students research on black students in halls
· SUs
What has Unite Students done on Covid-19?
Eva Crossan Jory’s Wonkhe article on 24 March distilled a comprehensive set of requirements for private student landlords to support students through the Covid-19 crisis. This provided a positive challenge to providers l
· Comment
Are freshers the new realists when it comes to mental health support?
A new report from Unite breaks down the state of mental health support during the transition to university. Jenny Shaw has the data
· Comment
What has purpose built accommodation got to do with student welfare?
What has purpose built accommodation got to do with student welfare? Jenny Shaw on a new guide on the role of private accommodation
· Analysis
Getting beyond the tired old student stereotypes
Understanding the truth behind student stereotypes can help us serve students better. Jenny Shaw from Unite Students takes a look at three of the classics.
· Analysis
Let’s go fly a kite: Students
Top wonks from across the sector share innovative ideas on better ways to serve students
With Rosie Tressler, Ben Vulliamy and David Malcolm
· Analysis
The canary in the mine
In this instalment of our HE Futures series, Jenny Shaw of Unite looks at how 2014 predictions about the sector in 2034 are shaping up three years on.
· Comment
Student resilience – it’s all about empowerment
Accompanying a new Unite Students report on student resilience, Jenny Shaw outlines a new model for considering how students adapt to new environments and can be best supported through their studies.
· Analysis
Family capital, retention and student wellbeing
Students rely heavily on their parents for emotional, financial and career support throughout their time at university. Jenny Shaw ponders the consequences for those involved in widening participation and retention.
· Analysis
Estrangement, the hidden disadvantage
Jenny Shaw of Unite Students looks at a new report from Stand Alone and the Unite Foundation which gives the first comprehensive overview of the vulnerability of estranged students.
· Data
Learning from diversity: managing student integration in accommodation
Jenny Shaw of Unite Students looks at the data – what it tells us about how students relate to the cultural and international mix in their accommodation, and what this could mean for policy.
· Data
Student finance in the devolved administrations
The upcoming general election has offered many of us the opportunity to reflect on the student finance system. The political rhetoric is entirely focused on the headline-grabbing issue of tuition fees, rather than the mo
· Analysis
The postgraduate identity crisis
With rising fears that there is a crisis looming in English postgraduate higher education, Jenny Shaw takes a look at a recent study which shows that that there is a crisis in identity and belonging amongst postgraduate
· Comment
Public opinion could yet be our undoing
It has been an interesting week. We have grappled with the apparent outcome of the government’s student number policy, we have struggled to understand whether disaggregating international students from net migration figu