Have you experienced chemistry teaching in University in the last 5 years?

Yes

Did you study at a UK university?

Yes

What was the name of your undergraduate course?

Biochemistry

What would you like chemistry educators to know about your experiences of inequalities in Higher Education?

I'm primarily sharing this as an example, without a clear message at the end. Perhaps this message could be treated as an example of gratitude for fortunate set of circumstances that have to do with the UK as a country, existence of EU Freedom of Movement and support that I had received from key individuals within [my department].

I grew up in a household, as a single child of parents who were waterboarded by the experience of the fall of communism and then introduction of wild west style capitalism in the 90s and 00s. I can comfortably claim that I was growing up in a middle class household by Lithuanian standards until 2008, when the global financial crisis occurred. This was thanks to my parents being the founders and owners of a small family run lorry transport enterprise that did cargo transport in the Baltics region. Unfortunately, the entire fleet of about 8 trucks at its peak were acquired through loans provided by multiple banks. When the 2008 financial crisis hit, the enterprise became insolvent and in the matter of 2 to 3 years we we went from middle class to working class. My parents were dragged around courts, without a real possibility of personal bankruptcy due to flawed Lithuanian laws. Technically, even in 2021 my parents are on the hook by Lithuanian bailiffs. Regardless, during this entire time my parents did invest into my education, going as far as to making sure that I receive quality education from a school that was doing International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme(IBDP).

My parents were able to delay the foreclosure of their personal assets until I turned 18, i.e. by the time I had finished high school. After I finished high school and had received an offer for an undergraduate course at [a UK university], we moved to the UK relatively successfully thanks to the Freedom of Movement that was only possible thanks to the EU.

However, moving to the UK is when my experience of "working class" background actually began. My parents were unable to secure high paying jobs, primarily due to their qualifications not being recognised and them being in their 50s. As a result, they had to opt for minimum wage factory jobs. In fact, when we came to the UK in 2015 we only had £1000 in savings, so before freshers week I myself was working in a food processing factory for 2 months to earn some money for University's accommodation.

My only support from the UK Government was in the shape of entitlement for tuition loans, but I had no access to maintenance grant as I did not hold a UK citizenship. Thankfully, because I was an EU citizen and UK was a part of EU back then, I was still allowed to seek employment, on a part time basis. During my undergraduate degree I had to work part time alongside my studies, as well as opt for factory work during summers just to be able to afford accommodation in York. I also had monetary support from my parents with what little they earned from their work in the UK. During my undergraduate degree I did go through some episodes of depression and home sickness, going as far as having an attempt to take my life away, but I somehow preserved. I think what helped me was a mental health support worker at the University and also the fact that I discovered that my mental health also co-depends on my physical health and that the gym on the campus wasn't too expensive and I could afford it.

In terms of studies, I was not the best student, I only managed to graduate with a 2:1 degree. Moreover, I had gone into Biochemistry degree expecting that I would eventually end up working in wet labs. Unfortunately, after 2nd year practicals I discovered that I actually hated wet labs and found myself at a bit of a crossroad of whether I actually wanted to continue the degree. I much preferred working on the computational side(in silico), rather than the experimental. Therefore, perhaps it would have been better if I had done a Computer Science degree instead. Nevertheless, in order to make sure that I didn't have to drop out of the degree, I instead looked whether I could change my path through [the] module and final year project choices that focused on the computational side. [...] After I got in touch with specific PIs, about a possibility of doing a final year project and some sort of internship with them, I was offered an overwhelming amount of financial support, i.e. unexpectedly I got funded to do a paid summer project, which meant I didn't have to go back to my parents that summer to work in a factory. The summer internship made me realise how much I enjoyed writing software code, which led to me doing a final year project with the same group. 3 or 4 years later I am now currently doing a PhD [...] even though I had other ideas when I had applied for Universities [...]. If it wasn't for the opportunity that was provided to me by the group leader, University and [research group], I probably would have never ended up in a favourable position in my life such as this.

Are there any actions or changes that you would like chemistry instructors to make?

It is of my understanding that it's becoming increasingly difficult to secure grants or funding to tackle inequality challenges. Therefore, it is of my hope that my contribution is going to be somewhat useful in highlighting why there needs to be more funded opportunities for various internships and small scale projects for students to discover themselves outside traditional lecture format.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

If this experience is going to go beyond [my department], then my only message is this: subsidised University accommodation would do wonders in making University more accessible for people from under privileged backgrounds. I truly had to put in an unreasonable amount of hours at my part time job which interfered with my studies just to be able to afford accommodation and food.

What country did you grow up in?

Lithuania

Are you disabled/have an impairment?

Maybe

Are you LGBT+?

No

What is your gender?

Male