How a London university is rewriting the rules of access to biomedical science

Biomedical science quietly underpins modern healthcare. Biomedical scientists analyse the blood samples that guide cancer treatment, run the analysers that flag infections, and develop the diagnostic assays that decide how patients are treated within hours of admission. Yet the profession’s workforce does not look like the population it serves. Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic professionals make essential contributions across UK healthcare, research and the life sciences industry, but they remain strikingly underrepresented in senior roles, and a new case study from London South Bank University argues that the problem starts long before anyone applies for a job.

The statistics are stark. As of March 2024, 28.6 percent of NHS staff came from BAME backgrounds, but only 12.7 percent held very senior management positions. In clinical roles, BAME staff are concentrated in junior bands, making up 42.3 percent of Band 5 posts but just 12.0 percent of Band 9. Academia shows an even sharper gradient: in the biosciences, only five of 1,345 professors were Black as of 2023, according to Higher Education Statistics Agency data. Of nearly 23,000 UK professors, fewer than 45 are Black women. The pattern persists at the point of entry, too: between 2010 and 2016, only 36 percent of BAME applicants to Russell Group universities were offered places, compared with 55 percent of White applicants, and in 2024 the University of Oxford’s biomedical sciences course made offers to just 6.7 percent of BAME applicants against 13.9 percent of White applicants.

Researchers Ruth Gyereh Dogwul and Eiman Aleem of London South Bank University, together with Bernine Idowu of the University of West London, published the case study in Frontiers in Education on 16 October 2026. It documents a series of targeted interventions embedded within the university’s Institute of Biomedical Science-accredited BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science programme, launched in 2020, and pairs them with an anonymous survey of alumni and current students. The study is framed around three recurring barriers: limited access to the discipline, a weak sense of belonging, and a scarcity of visible role models. The university’s setting makes it a natural laboratory for the work. In 2025, 66 percent of LSBU students were from BAME backgrounds, in a region of high ethnic diversity and historically low participation in higher education, and roughly 60 percent of the biomedical science academic staff themselves come from BAME backgrounds, a notable exception to the 37 percent BAME share across the university’s overall staff.

The flagship initiative is the Black in Biomedical Science Undergraduate Conference, a collaboration between LSBU and the University of West London. The inaugural event, themed Changing the Story, was held in 2023 at UWL; the second took place at the University of Cambridge in 2024, and the third returned to LSBU in 2025 under the banner Empowering the Black Biomedical Scientist of Tomorrow. Around 95 percent of attendees were Black students, with the remainder mostly from other minority groups. Delegates hear keynote lectures from senior professionals describing how they navigated academia and healthcare, take part in dedicated networking sessions and afternoon workshops on career development and confidence-building, and leave with a programme booklet listing speakers and participants to make post-conference connections easier. Feedback collected from roughly 100 respondents across the three conferences was consistently positive, with participants singling out networking, exposure to diverse career pathways and access to role models as the most valuable elements.

Attendees’ own words capture why representation matters so much. One wrote that seeing young Black men and women in spaces of authority fills you with confidence and hope, and provides assurance that there are people looking out for you who want you to succeed. Another described being surrounded by smart Black individuals as transformative, while a panellist’s story left a participant with the conviction that you can come from any background and still go far in life, and that even failure is not the end because the future still awaits. These responses align with prior qualitative research showing that social isolation, stereotype threat and unequal access to informal academic networks significantly hamper Black students in medical and biomedical programmes in London. The conference team says future iterations will focus on structured mentoring schemes and longitudinal evaluation of participant outcomes.

The second strand of the case study targets the pipeline itself, reaching students years before they apply to university. One workshop brought approximately 15 female pupils aged 7 to 13 from BAME backgrounds from a local primary school onto campus for a DNA extraction practical using fruit samples, DNA double-helix modelling with confectionery materials, a careers session, and a laboratory tour, all supported by student ambassadors and Level 6 biomedical science students who shared their own experiences. A second event, staged for Biomedical Science Day with support from the Institute of Biomedical Science, brought 27 students aged 14 to 16, mostly from BAME backgrounds, from Lambeth College and South Bank College into LSBU’s laboratories. They examined blood films, malaria-infected slides and sickle cell morphology under the microscope, performed simulated ABO blood typing, watched a full blood count demonstration on an automated Sysmex haematology analyser, and worked through a forensic science workshop using fingerprint analysis, fibre comparison and basic DNA profiling to identify a mock suspect.

Written feedback collected on paper at the end of each outreach event showed that students valued the hands-on laboratory experiences above all, with microscopy, blood grouping and the full blood count consistently identified as the most engaging components. Participants also highlighted the benefit of interacting with university staff and students, which helped demystify higher education and laboratory-based careers. The authors note that the combination of scientific content with informal mentoring supports both cognitive and affective dimensions of learning, including confidence and belonging. They are candid about the limits of the evaluation, however: feedback was limited to immediate post-event responses, and future iterations would benefit from structured pre- and post-event questionnaires and longitudinal tracking to assess changes in knowledge, attitudes and career aspirations over time.

The survey of alumni and Level 5 and 6 students, prepared using Qualtrics and approved by the LSBU Ethics Committee under registration ETH2425-0200, comprised 24 questions across four sections covering demographics, course experience, career progression and suggestions. Approximately 48 students, around 40 percent of the cohort, responded. Among them, 76 percent were from BAME backgrounds, including 23 percent Black or African-Caribbean, 35 percent Asian, 8 percent Arab and 10 percent mixed ethnicity; 81 percent identified as female and 83 percent were aged 18 to 25. Forty percent were the first in their family to attend university. The results were largely encouraging: 94 percent rated the course positively, 94 percent felt always or often supported by academic staff, 67 percent found the learning environment very inclusive, and 78 percent reported access to BAME role models or mentors. Forty percent had attended a widening participation event and said it positively influenced them, while a further 31 percent had not attended but would be interested.

The survey also exposed where barriers persist. Sixty-three percent of respondents first learned about biomedical science as a career option only at sixth form or college, with just 25 percent aware of it during secondary school, suggesting that outreach needs to reach students even earlier. Financial constraints were the most frequently cited personal barrier, named by 33 percent of respondents, ahead of lack of information about the profession at 13 percent and limited role models or mentors at 10 percent. Career aspirations were diverse, with 48 percent heading into healthcare professions, 29 percent into research and 13 percent into pharmaceutical or biotech industry roles. Seventy-one percent found the employability skills embedded in the curriculum helpful for career progression, and 81 percent felt the course had prepared them for their intended careers. Placement feedback was mixed, with international students in particular reporting barriers linked to immigration status, and only 15 percent of respondents had actually completed a placement year, all but one in a hospital or clinical setting.

Free-text suggestions for improvement clustered into six themes: broader career guidance beyond biomedical science, more placement and work experience opportunities, requests for more practical and less theoretical content, stronger academic and pastoral support with early identification of struggling students, greater representation in career talks and mentoring particularly for BAME and international students, and positive reflections praising staff dedication and events such as the Black in Biomed conference. The authors conclude that inclusive, career-focused initiatives embedded within the curriculum can support equity and representation, and argue that their model is easily transferable to other programmes. Their stated priorities are earlier career guidance, relatable role models, hands-on experience and targeted financial support through scholarships and bursaries. As they put it, to truly widen participation, institutions must embed equity into recruitment, mentorship, career and leadership development, ensuring that BAME professionals are not only welcomed into the system but empowered to lead within it.

Subject of Research: Strategies for widening participation in the biomedical science at London South Bank University—a case study

Article Title: Strategies for widening participation in the biomedical science at London South Bank University—a case study

Article References: Dogwul, R. G., Idowu, B., & Aleem, E. (2026). Strategies for widening participation in the biomedical science at London South Bank University—a case study. Frontiers in Education, 11, Article 1748405. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2026.1748405

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2026.1748405

Keywords: biomedical science, widening participation, higher education, BAME representation, mentorship, STEM outreach, London South Bank University, equity in science, Strategies, widening, participation, biomedical