One of my favourite events after the Easter spring break at the University of Plymouth is the annual Debate Society awards ceremony. We began this tradition almost five years ago and it continues to be an enjoyable occasion that highlights the achievements of society members across a given academic year.
Public speaking and being able to shoot from the hip are invaluable skills approaching the graduate job market. Reflecting back to our keynote at Ahead at Bett a couple of years ago, we explored the conversation on how workplaces need to adapt welcoming Gen Z into the workforce for the first time. It is worth recognizing the tremendous pressure that Gen Z are under to stand out from the crowd with technological advances constantly evolving what that workplace will look like for them.
Having had the pleasure of being involved with the University of Plymouth Debate Society in various capacities and committee roles over the last eight years – I have had the privilege of watching cohorts of students develop not just their confidence with public speaking, but their confidence in themselves as well.
At the University of Plymouth, we’ve built a strong community of students and alumni through our Debate Society. I have been continually excited to see the journey of members from their point of entry into the society, where they often remain throughout their higher education journey, up until they graduate and beyond.
As we come to the end of the academic year in the UK, we have recently enjoyed the annual Debate Society awards. I find myself reflecting on what has kept me involved for so long (never mind having been a student at Plymouth for almost a decade now myself) and what about the format of debate continues to form strong bonds between cohorts of students.
The higher education context
When we think about third spaces in the higher education context, we might automatically think of theories around organizational third space in which university staff members experience a blurring of the boundaries between academic and professional labour roles. University debating societies, which are often student-led and managed, wouldn’t fit this category of third spaces but perhaps fit more directly with sociocultural third space theories.
Debating societies encapsulate the broader concepts of hybridity and boundary-crossing with the generation of new practice and community. Students voluntarily step into roles that differ from their everyday academic identities but aren’t dissimilar for roles they might be expected to step into in the workplace. Debating takes academic skills like critical thinking, speaking and presentation – recontextualising them as social performances.
Students create their own structures to navigate complex dialogues and build governance systems to manage those boundaries. Political debate by nature explores complex and sensitive issues that require a certain tact. This format has been frustrated in recent years by the re-emergence of more divisive dialogues in mainstream politics, but empowering students to have these conversations equips them with social tools to support emotional self-regulation and build intellectual confidence when challenging concepts and ideologies.
The caveat being that the format is not to everyone’s taste and there will always be those that prefer not to engage in these types of conversations – indeed there are those that shy away for the fear of being offended. At Plymouth however, we have tried to curate an open and inclusive space that welcomes students from all walks of life. Softening the hierarchy and widening participation enables students to engage in a conversational community-building space. Those that do engage with the format come away from the experience with a wealth of transferable soft skills that position them for rapid progression in a graduate context.
Skills like negotiation, active listening and critical thinking aren’t necessarily taught in the classroom. Higher education often relies on aspects of self-discovery and development where the foundations to knowledge are provided but engaging requires a persistent effort. As a complimentary extra-curricular activity; Debate provides a facilitating space that nurtures these skills whilst also nurturing ethical and civil awareness.
University of Plymouth Debate Society
At the University of Plymouth, Debate utilizes a less formal iteration of the Westminster system. The room is divided into three sections; proposition, opposition and fence. Perhaps best described as a hybrid of the Westminster system and the vote with your feet format promoted by the United Kingdom Youth Parliament.
Members submit motions each week and then vote via poll to select four of the submitted motions to be discussed in 30-minute blocks over a two-hour meeting. Motions are usually defined as either “this house believes” (THB) or “this house would” (THW). Two motions in a given week might be ‘this house would raise the legal drinking age’ and ‘this house believes that vaping indoors is socially acceptable’ as examples.
Unlike the Westminster system recognized by the World Universities Debating Championship (WUDC), which recognises speakers in parliamentary roles of Prime Minister (PM), Leader of the Opposition (OL), deputies and whips – the University of Plymouth sessions are facilitated by a central Chairperson. Any individual from proposition (for the motion), opposition (against the motion) and fence (undecided) can raise their hand to signal intent to speak and are each given between one to two minutes each to speak.
In this format, members are encouraged to think of speaking points in the moment and to avoid rehearsing their points before the meeting. Members are also encouraged to speak from perspectives that do not necessarily align with their own beliefs or opinions on a given motion. Intentionally advocating the role of devil’s advocate with the goal of promoting confidence with public speaking by separating their instinctive emotive output from their spoken voice.
Debate Society, neurodiversity and third space
Neurodiversity has become a core aspect of the University of Plymouth Debating Society. Where higher education is a space in which neurotypical students experience the pain of psychosocial growth through a journey of self-exploration; neurodiverse students experience this same pain with the added emotional strain of masking.
That intentional effort towards softening hierarchy and widening participation enables neurodiverse students to explore their sense of self without having to supress their natural traits to avoid stigma and adhere to the social hierarchy of their immediate peers.
They can select roles to play such as speaker, researcher, strategist and organiser. In this negotiated student-led space, they can then draw on their cognitive strengths like deep-knowledge, pattern recognition and intensive focus – translating these strengths into practice.
For neurodiverse students then, Debate functions as a third space in the higher education context because it exists at the intersection of formal academic structure and the student social world. At this intersection, identities, roles and cultural norms are negotiated rather than prescribed.
Indeed, enabling neurodiverse students to cross boundaries, co-construct meaning and explore their own voice within a predictable structure with flexible participation; facilitates the establishment of identity positions that embrace their neurodiversity whilst scaffolding transferable skills.
A sense of community and a sense of “us”
How then do we evidence the success of the University of Plymouth Debate Society operating successfully as a third space that creates community – for both neurodiverse and neurotypical students? The annual debate society awards ceremony is just one way that the society comes together outside of regular debate meetings. Over the last near decade, the society has engaged in a range of socials and community focused projects that highlight the importance of spaces like this in higher education.
Perhaps the most visible community project was In the 2021/2022 academic year. The UoP Debate Society came together to repaint the smoking area at the University of Plymouth Students’ Union. On club nights, the plain white wall to the rear of the facility had been vandalized and a range of problematic graffiti had been introduced. Students from the society volunteered to clean off the wall and paint a mural that would discourage future incidents.
“I wanted to help highlight that students care about our campus, by giving something back to the community that has helped us to flourish during our time at University.” – Chloe, UoP Debate Society.
Five years later, the mural remains and happens to still be graffiti free.
“Volunteering to help repaint the wall allowed me to express my inner creativity and explore the application of a new skill.” – Charlie, UoP Debate member.
Shared meals and cross-community collaboration
At least once a week, members of the society share a meal together in the city centre. This ritual provides a predictable social interaction without performance pressure that usually applies to most social settings. In this context, neurodiverse students who may often feel peripheral in other campus spaces can feel like part of a community and valued for who they are without performative masking.
Whilst not celebrated in the United Kingdom, the society previously hosted a Thanksgiving dinner to help raise money for charity, whilst also providing some home comfort to an American international student unable to fly back to the US for the holiday.
The society booked a nearby church hall and invited members of the University Rounders team to join for the shared Thanksgiving meal. Saffron, the Chair at the time said:
“We wanted to do something different to […] celebrate Thanksgiving, so everyone bought a dish, and we laid it all out and members could help themselves. We down together to share our food and what we were thankful for. It was a really nice chance to reflect on the good things we have in life, the community we have all found in Debate…“
“Since moving away for University, it’s always nice to have a piece of home with you, and being able to share that with debate meant a great deal to me, it was so much fun sharing this with everyone!” – Mori, UoP Debate Society.
Beyond this, the society has often invited other student groups to their regular meetings – with themed sessions around the topic of the invited other group. This enables the groups to share their passions with each other and compare perspectives in an open and fun environment.
In 2024, the society collaborated with the University of Plymouth Pole Dancing club to volunteer in a litter picking effort within the Drake ward of Plymouth City. With seventeen individuals volunteering over two hours, the volunteers filled up 46 bags of rubbish and collected an array of vapes to be recycled.
What the future holds…
As the 2025/2026 academic year draws to a close, the UoP Debate Society has elected a new committee to continue the journey. Students from across a range of academic disciplines and levels of study will be taking up the mantle of leadership within the community and setting their sights on the 2026/2027 academic year.
I am extremely privileged to have been able to witness successive cohorts of students explore themselves through the format of Debate and as things continue forward – building a strong community of students and alumni – I look forward to seeing where the journey takes them next.
