ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on number of competing forces that can thwart a genuine desire to reduce the ethnicity attainment gap. It provides a theoretical understanding of the dilemmas coupled with practical suggestions to help and navigate students. The chapter describes the experience of research and interventions at the Open University, the UK's largest university drawn over the decade from 2005 to 2015, including details of the most recent intervention, Great Expectations, which has grappled with each of the dilemmas. The Open University's mission is open to people, places, methods and ideas; open to people in the sense that there are no minimum entry requirements for admission to most undergraduate qualifications. Teaching is predominantly online through a system of supported learning which includes the provision of high-quality print, multimedia and online teaching materials, together with personalized tuition, learning feedback and support. The Pygmalion effect describes the phenomenon of placing high expectations on individuals, which internalize, ultimately leading to better performance.
