UK: Ethnic Minority Staff, Students Face Pay Gaps, Lower Odds of Top Degrees in Universities
David Mba | 10 January 2024 | The Wire
A 2020 report on racial harassment published by industry body Universities UK drew attention to the “institutional racism and systemic issues that pervade the entire higher education sector”. In the same year, the Black Lives Matter movement drew attention to inequality faced by Black people across society. UK universities pledged to do more to root out racism.
In 2022, I co-authored the sector-first Ethnic Representation Index to measure progress made by universities in England. We looked at differences in the positions of academic staff, executives and governors. We also examined gaps in student outcomes, such as degree awards, degree completion and student experience, between white students and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) students.
In 2023, we published a second, more detailed, iteration of the index. Its findings show that universities need to go further and faster in tackling inequality.