A new policy briefing highlighting the unacceptably low representation of Black academics in Higher Education was launched in Parliament earlier this week.
Produced by Bristol University Press, the briefing summarises two reports from the University of Liverpool and the University of Bristol which outline the experiences of Black academics and discuss actions to be taken to improve Black representation in higher education institutions.
Lifting Barriers to Black Academia makes concrete policy recommendations to address the extreme under representation of Black academics across all disciplines in Higher Education. According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency only 2 per cent of all UK Professors are Black, with the number of academics of African descent – especially women – in senior positions (such as Professor level and above) particularly low.
BAFTA award winning TV historian and Black academic David Olusoga gave a keynote address at the launch and the panel discussion was chaired by the longest serving female MP in the House of Commons and prominent Black activist, Diane Abbott and co-chaired by the founder of ‘Operation Black Vote’ Lord Simon Woolley.
At the launch, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Race Equality in Education, leading academic figures from across the UK came together to discuss the recommendations made for government, policy makers, regulators, higher education providers and funding bodies including:
- Ensure HEIs are disaggregating and reporting back on their data to identify and address continued disparities in HE for Black students
- Monitor and ensure the application of the Equality Act 2010’s ‘equality duty’ is consistent across institutions
- Increase the use of the Act’s ‘positive action’ provision to enable HEIs to urgently address racial inequality in access to postgraduate study and research
- Mandate HEIs sign up to the Race Equality Charter
The recommendations have been developed by Barriers to Black Academia, an initiative founded in 2019 by Dr Malik Al Nasir (University of Cambridge, St Catharine’s College) and Dr Leona Vaughn (University of Liverpool).
In 2021 Malik and Leona held a series of online discussions about barriers to representation in the academy and the curriculum with Black academics from the UK, USA, Canada and the Caribbean, including Prof. Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the CARICOM (Caribbean Economic Community) Reparations Commission, and UN Special Advisor on education. The themes of these discussions, sponsored by the University of Liverpool, were included in the report ‘Barriers to Black Academia – Slavery Colonialism and the Case for Reparative Justice,’ authored by L’myah Sherae from ENACT Equality.
The themes that emerged from these online discussions were the catalyst for a policy making roundtable held at the University of Bristol in 2022 which focused on lifting the barriers faced by Black academics and the changes needed in the current legislation. The roundtable discussions were encapsulated in a second report ‘Lifting the Barriers to Black Academia through Decolonisation and Positive Action.’
The two reports, based on the online discussions and the roundtable, will be discussed together with the policy brief at the parliamentary launch on 16th October.
Dr Leona Vaughn said: “Research from Leading Routes in 2019 revealed that, shockingly just 0.3 per cent of funded postgraduate researchers are Black. We knew, from this and our own experiences, that urgent change was needed. That’s why Malik and I brought together key Black academics from across the diaspora to discuss the barriers to representation, from postgraduate students to professors, and identify actions to lift these in the UK.
Our hope is that this event, in partnership with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Race Equality in Education, will help drive forward much-needed policy change in this area, dismantle deep disparities and ensure that future Black academics can reach their full potential.”
Malik Al Nasir said: “My own academic journey from a semi-literate care leaver who had a mere 18 months of secondary education, to a PhD candidate at the world’s most prestigious academic institution, demonstrates that the problem is not with the individual but the system itself. Given an equal opportunity, Black academics can add value and become a net gain to society. In contrast, depriving us renders us into the category of a burden and prevents us from contributing positively. I hope that this initiative will encourage long overdue systemic change.’”
Find out more about Barriers to Black Academia at https://blackacademia.co.uk/
You may also be interested in this podcast: The Black PhD experience.
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