Programme Director, Creative Education
Programme Director Creative Education with oversight of the Postgraduate Certificate Creative Education and Advance HE Experiential Route to Professional Recognition at UCA.
Bio
Nikolai is Programme Director Creative Education at UCA where he oversees the PgCert Creative Education and Advance HE Fellowships at UCA. His educational philosophy emphasises inclusivity, empowerment, and transformation, embedded in the belief that every student deserves access to high-quality education and the necessary support to achieve their fullest potential.
At UCA Nikolai is also pursuing his PhD, focusing his research on the attainment premium among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) students in higher education. This research looks at how and why these students consistently outperform their heterosexual peers in achieving 'good degrees' (first-class and upper second-class honours) across the sector. Building on this, Nikolai’s research seeks to uncover why some marginalised groups, such as LGB students, might academically outperform others despite facing similar systemic oppression and discrimination. His research employs a mixed-methods approach, integrating both quantitative and qualitative analyses, to investigate 'academic-passing'; this concept refers to self-regulatory behaviours of conforming or minimising aspects of their identity to perform well in academic settings. Through his work, Nikolai aims to deepen the sector’s understanding of strategies that can better support and empower marginalised students within higher education contexts.