Can the student speak? Voicing identities and experience in UK higher education

In recent years, HEIs have been under increased pressure to address persistent and significant educational inequalities. Within the current context of managerialism and ‘audit', universities are required to demonstrate how they are working to improve educational outcomes. We have also witnessed a return to research and policy which draws on the concept of student voice. In this paper, we question the epistemological foundations and effects of such Voice work. We argue that we need to reconfigure the ways in which identity, experience and representation are understood and mobilised through Voice work within the neoliberal university. Despite the evident commitment of staff and students to improving education, we suggest that current iterations of Voice work are fundamentally flawed. We argue that we should move away from simplistic categories of ‘the student’ and focus more on collaborative forms of speaking in order to challenge the processes and practices that sustain educational inequalities.