Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
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  2. SoTL Spotlight Podcast /
  3. Season 3 /
  4. Episode 3 - Improving Higher Education Equality of Opportunity for Working Class Boys

Episode 3 - Improving Higher Education Equality of Opportunity for Working Class Boys

Join Prof Liz Austen and Dr Alex Blower as they discuss South Yorkshire's first Boys Impact Conference, and explore topics about improving the equality of higher education opportunities for working class males

 

Alex Blower

Dr Alex Blower

Dr Blower is an author, researcher and global thought leader on issues related to masculinity, inequality and education. Since completing his doctoral research which focused inequality and access to university for white working-class boys in the West Midlands in 2020, he has been a keynote speaker at national and international conferences, talking on issues related to inequality and the experience of young working-class men in education. In 2023, he founded Boys' Impact, a UK wide network of educators who are committed to taking an evidence-based approach in closing the gap in educational outcomes for young men who are eligible for Free School Meals.

In 2025, he was invited to join the MenCare Changemaker network a global initiative to mobilise 100 leading influencers from around the world from business, the media, culture, civil society, and government to find solutions to critical challenges related to men, boys, and masculinities. Regularly commenting on issues related to masculinity and inequality in education for media outlets such as the BBC, LBC and The Times, his first monograph, Lost Boys: How Education is Failing Young Working-Class Men, was released in July.