Widening participation in Theology departments: experiences, needs and motivations of ‘unbelievers’

What does ‘unbelief’ mean and who is an ‘unbeliever’ in the context of Theology departments in UK higher education? What are these students’ experiences, needs and motivations? What contributions do they make to academic life and after graduation, and what challenges does their presence pose to staff and students?
Whilst Theology programmes in the UK recruit candidates from all faiths and none, and no religious test is required for successful entry, a preponderance of Christian perspectives still predominates, both in the profiles of participants and in what theologian Tom Beaudoin (2016) has termed the implicit ‘christianicity’ of the discipline. In a recent article, Elaine Graham (2017) argued that addressing this legacy and developing a more inclusive, multi-faith curriculum beyond its current Christian boundaries represents a major priority.
This paper reports on the interims findings of research to develop a strategy for widening participation in Theology programmes. A wide range of data is collected and generated to gauge how well existing provision is responding to a broad-based student constituency drawn from Christian backgrounds as well as Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and agnostic traditions. The research considers formal and informal religious affiliation and disaffiliation, inter-religious dialogue and intra-religious debate, and the significance of comparative religious literacy in society.