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This paper is a critical discussion about how the curriculum contributes to the sense of belonginess within Higher Education (HE), and how the ongoing aim of decolonisation needs to incorporate a more consistent intersectional lens with the curriculum within psychology. Psychology as a discipline has been criticised for its focus on primarily conducting research with people from countries that are Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD; Henrich et al., 2010). This approach has neglected a number of social groups within the wider literature and has indeed marginalised the voices and experiences of many. Through the topic of decolonisation, there has been the discussion of the importance of belonging and belongingness, but the intersectional experiences of various social groups within the curriculum has been neglected. In summary, this discussion reveals that there are several key ways in which curricula and decolonial research can contribute to belonging: 1) communication of what (who) is important; 2) consideration of student learning needs; 3) appreciation of course content that is salient to students; 4) demonstration of alignment with a wider range of philosophical approaches; 5) promotion and celebration of cultural differences which allow students to be themselves; and 6) inclusion of a wide range of factors within teaching that contribute to belonging, for example the importance of place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students minoritised because of their race and/or ethnicity have a different university experience from their peers, which is reflected in degree completion statistics, awarding gaps, and graduate outcomes. One factor influencing these outcomes is students' sense of inclusion and belonging with the university, which is lower in minoritised students. We aimed to identify whether barriers to inclusion were present across students and alumni in one university, and whether this varied according to ethnic and/or racial backgrounds. Three-hundred and twenty-three students and alumni completed an online questionnaire measuring students' belonging, experience of the curriculum and microaggressions, and 14 students and alumni attended focus groups to further explore the barriers to inclusion and belonging, and proposed recommended actions to reduce these barriers. From the questionnaire, ethnicity and/or race did not influence students' sense of belonging, experience of the curriculum or microaggressions, though having a long-term health condition was consistently associated with these outcomes. However, students' culture and ethnicity/race were consistently reported as factors associated with experiencing obstacles in academia and microaggressions. From the focus groups, three key themes emerged: 1) Hidden racism at the university, which included a prevailing nature of microaggressions and 2) Eurocentric curriculum; that representation is valued in the community and curriculum; and 3) The role of diversity and inclusion initiatives for building community. These findings are discussed in terms of their impact for Higher Education institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion are under increasing scrutiny in Higher Education. This poses an opportunity for educators involved in the delivery of psychology courses to reflect on the inclusivity of their curricula. Though psychology as a discipline has contributed to reproducing social inequalities, it has also brought them to the forefront, and has the potential to improve the landscape for minoritised people. To honour our commitment to building a more inclusive curriculum that could contribute to these efforts, we codesigned with students a final year undergraduate module, Psychology of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. The module employed inclusive pedagogies to explore how a range of EDI issues affect particular groups of people, sustaining an intersectional perspective throughout. Positive feedback from students indicated that they left the module with the confidence to speak about and take action on the inequalities and injustices they see around them, and experience themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]