Achieving greater diversity among staff in higher education requires a change in culture

Last week the UK Government launched a consultation on whether whether mandatory reporting will help address disparities between the pay and career prospects of minorities. Today the Royal Historical Society has published a report on racial and ethnic inequalities in the teaching and practice of History in the UK draws attention to the underrepresentation of ‘Black and Minority Ethnic’ (BME) students and staff in university History programmes. This issue of diversity of staff is one which needs to be more widely discussed in higher education

UK higher education has been under significant scrutiny in the last few months – with debates ranging from Vice Chancellor salaries to concerns about value for money for students and the quality of the student experience.

One issue which has not received sufficient attention is the poor record of appointing and developing senior BAME academics, professional services staff and leaders in our higher education institutions. The figures are woeful and not enough progress is being made.

BAME staff remain in the lower paid roles and are more likely to be on fixed-term contracts than staff who are white.

The total number of black professors fails to reach 1% (around 0.6% for UK nationals against a total number of 14,770 professors and 0.7% international against 4,180 professors). In relation to professional support staff and senior managers, BAME staff remain in the lower paid roles and are more likely to be on fixed-term contracts than staff who are white. When I was appointed Director of SOAS in 2015, I was astounded to discover that I was the first British person of African-Caribbean descent to head a UK university. Today I remain one of very few British BAME Vice Chancellors.

This should be a clear warning to all of us that we have been much too complacent in tackling inequality in the sector. While action plans and strategies have been produced by many, the impact this has on a practical level remains patchy. This is evidenced in the lack of black and minority ethnic leaders in our university system. Our attitude needs to change. To put it simply: we should not be rewarding intent – we need to reward action and change.

The context in which we are operating as higher education institutions is challenging. The UK’s decision to leave the EU has placed significant pressure on UK universities to remain attractive to both international staff and students. The Home Office reported a spike in hate crime recorded during the EU referendum – partly stirred by the way in which much of the debate on Britain’s relationship with the EU was conducted. The #LondonIsOpen campaign launched by the Mayor of London has attempted to dispel that perception of the UK, particularly of London, but we need to do more than that.

The Government’s Race Disparity Audit, introduced last year and championed by the Prime Minister, is useful in helping to understand some of the barriers that BAME groups face. It tells us what many of us have known for years. But I hope that, with the backing of a Prime Ministerial initiative, the discrepancies in the data will be viewed seriously and action taken. For example, in Britain, black households are one of the groups most likely to be in persistent poverty; black Caribbean students are three times more likely to be permanently excluded from school than white students; and one in ten black, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or people with mixed background were unemployed compared to one in 25 of white British people. It is always hard to start conversations around these issues because people jump from the institutional to the personal and immediately think they have been accused of racism. Of course the picture is more complex than that and seemingly equal behavior can result in discriminatory practices and effects because we are NOT all the same. Culture, race, class does make a difference.

It is always hard to start conversations around these issues because people jump from the institutional to the personal and immediately think they have been accused of racism.

So what can the HE sector do to begin to tackle some of these issues? Firstly, to achieve greater diversity in the recruitment of staff in higher education, one major challenge lies in how we select our leaders and our use of the term ‘merit’. This is a particularly pernicious term as it means different things to different people, yet it is too often used to justify the status quo or resist a change in culture. When you see a lack of diversity in leadership within an organisation, yet are told that appointments are “based on merit” - I ask - what does this say to me as a black person? It says that you are not good enough.

We also have to look at aspiration and the level people are being told they can aspire to. In the UK we celebrate the fact that we have some of the best universities in the world. But this summer, the Minister for Higher Education, Sam Gyimah, described Oxford and Cambridge’s failure to take in more students who are black or from disadvantaged backgrounds as “staggering”, saying that it was rare for him to be a black student at Oxford 20 years ago – and it still continues to be rare. This is despite there being a 51% increase in the number of BAME students entering higher education in the last 12 years and it’s not just about Oxbridge.

The issue here is whether our education system is enabling young people from all backgrounds to thrive. In my view, it is not - and we need to change that. Fast.

What does this say to young aspiring BAME students who cannot see themselves in some of the UK’s most prestigious universities, let alone as tomorrow’s leaders? Is it right that we let a generation of talented young students think that it is all down to ‘merit’ and unfortunately they are not good enough? That they are somehow the problem. The issue here is whether our education system is enabling young people from all backgrounds to thrive. In my view, it is not - and we need to change that. Fast.

Creating an inclusive environment in higher education requires a structured and integrated approach. At SOAS we are constantly looking at these issues driven by concerns from students, staff, our trustees and the senior team. Because we know we cannot be complacent: despite robust policies, women and BAME staff are disproportionally less likely to progress through the ranks within the School.

We found that while staff valued SOAS as a good place to work, there was a lack of clear pathways and transparency in career development. Some staff described parts of the institution as being far too ‘old school’. We learned that in order for us to help support career progression for all we had to do more to tackle issues such as support for part-time academic staff, ensuring the career support systems are fit for purpose, through for example, a regular audit of relevant staff benefits, training opportunities, flexible working arrangements and work-life balance.

Changing the culture extends to everything we do, including rethinking how we teach our students and our approach to pedagogy

Changing the culture extends to everything we do, including rethinking how we teach our students and our approach to pedagogy. It is not just about who teaches, but what is taught and how it is taught. I am proud of the way students and staff have engaged in the debate around decolonising the curriculum. We are listening to questions being raised such as ‘Why is my curriculum white?’ where students and staff are seeking a greater inclusion and diversity of non-European writers and scholars on our syllabuses. We are listening to questions raised from across the organisation.

Achieving greater diversity among staff in higher education requires a change in culture in the UK – at a societal, sector wide, institutional and personal level. As leaders we must play our part by helping to create an environment which recognises and rewards talent – wherever it is found.

This piece also appears in booklet produced by Wildsearch