Ethnic experience at Oxbridge

The article by Pat Younge (April 7) on the experiences of black and other minority ethnic students demonstrates the need for a shift of attention from access to pedagogy in debates about equality of opportunity in higher education.

To date, there has been only limited work by feminist and antiracist educationalists on this, focused mainly on specific curriculum areas such as women's studies, adult continuing education or initial teacher education. Consequently, large tracts of the higher education curriculum remain untouched by these perspectives and ideas.

If we are to change the picture painted by Younge, these perspectives must be developed further in relation to pedagogy across the whole curriculum and we must find ways to embed them in wider debates such as those about modularisation, semesterisation, teaching more students etc..

Stuart Billingham University of Central Lancashire