RAISE Buddy Scheme: A Group Reflection
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66561/sehej.v7i3.1436Keywords:
Higher Education, Buddy Scheme, Student Engagement, BelongingAbstract
This collaborative autoethnography explores the experiences of three Higher Education practitioners participating in the RAISE Buddy Scheme. Initially joining for professional development and potential collaboration, we found that the scheme evolved into a reflective, supportive, and human‑centred counter-space within an increasingly metric‑driven sector. Through shared dialogue across difference, we cultivated a space of trust, solidarity, and critical friendship that enabled open exploration of identity, belonging, and purpose in academia. Our reflections reveal that the Buddy Scheme offered more than peer support. As a result, this provided a vital site of connection that challenged hierarchical and isolating norms, demonstrating that taking time to “be with others” is both necessary and transformative in contemporary HE.
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Nathan, B., Love, R., & Carlson, L. (2023). An autoethnographic reflection from two Black women Ph.D.’s and their White woman advisor on the use and impact of Sista Circle Methodology in the dissertation process. The Qualitative Report, 28(1), 323–339. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol28/iss1/19/
Palmer, D., & Udoh, E. (2024). Building mentorship networks to support Black women: A guide to succeeding in the academy by Bridget Turner Kelly and Sharon Fries-Britt (Eds). Routledge, 258 pp. ISBN: 9780367706098 (paperback).
Preece, J., et al. (2025). Special edition, third space in HE. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 33. https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/issue/view/47
RAISE (2025). Buddy Scheme. https://www.raise-network.com/buddy-scheme
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