Meet the School of Law academic challenging structural imbalances in higher education
Dr Nick Cartwright’s recent and forthcoming work centres on amplifying Black student voices and tackling the structural inequalities embedded in higher education.
His research spans legal pedagogy, student experience, and inclusive methodology, all underpinned by a commitment to racial justice and critical reflexivity.
As Senior Advisor and external peer reviewer for the Living Black at University project – the first UK study to explore the experiences of Black students in student accommodation – Nick helped shape an ethical, inclusive research design.
The project, headed by a Black, female-led research team and commissioned by Unite Students, used thematic narrative analysis to capture and amplify lived experiences. The findings have already driven sector-wide change, including the development of culturally relevant services and new toolkits for accommodation providers.
This work is reflected in Nick’s 2024 SAGE chapter, ‘Funding, Political and Methodological Challenges in Researching the Experiences of Black Students’, which explores the politics of research funding, the ethics of representation, and the challenges of building trust with minoritised communities.
Real student narratives
His forthcoming SAGE chapter, ‘Learn About Thematic Narrative Analysis Using Data from Student Interviews on Racialised Experiences in Higher Education’, offers a practical guide to qualitative analysis using real student narratives. It was selected for inclusion in SAGE’s prestigious methodology series, a recognition of Nick’s standing as a scholar in inclusive qualitative methods.
Nick’s legal scholarship complements this work. In ‘Inequity and Distrust: Imagining the Anti-Racist Law School’ (The Law Teacher, 2024), he critiques the structural racism embedded in legal education and proposes a vision for a law school rooted in trust and transparency. In ‘There is no baby, just lots of bathwater: an argument against summative assessment’ (The Law Teacher, 2025), Dr Cartwright challenges the dominance of summative assessment in law schools, arguing that it perpetuates inequity and undermines authentic learning.
Nick says:
My work is about amplifying the voices of Black students and challenging the structures that silence them. Research should not just describe inequality; it should disrupt it.
Together, these pieces form a powerful narrative of a scholar committed to transforming education through anti-racist, inclusive, and critically reflexive research. Nick’s work not only highlights the voices of Black students – it ensures they are heard, respected, and acted upon.
Nick is a member of CIRLE and can be found on LinkedIn here.
