Originally published here.

Here, we offer a synthesis of recent evidence and new developments in relation to three broad aspects of Black and minority ethnic (BAME) students’ participation in UK higher education (HE). First, we examine recent trends in ethnic group differences in rates of access to, success within, and positive destinations beyond HE. Secondly, we examine the nature of UK universities as exclusionary spaces which marginalise BAME students in a myriad of ways, not least through curricula that centre Whiteness. Finally, we consider the impact of the marginalisation of BAME students on mental health. We argue that progress towards race equality in each domain has been hampered by white-centric discourses which continue to identify BAME students and staff as ‘other’. We highlight the important roles that academic communities and HE policy-makers have to play in advancing ethnic equality in UK universities.

Young British people from Black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds have been more likely than their White British peers to participate in HE for more than three decades (Modood, 1993). In 2019, rates of HE participation stood at 45 per cent for Black British young people, 50 per cent for British South Asians, and 68 per cent for British Chinese, compared to just 30 per cent for the White British ethnic group (UCAS, 2021). Until recently, however, Black British, British Pakistani and British Bangladeshi students have been substantially under-represented at the UK’s most academically selective universities  (Boliver, 2015). This historic under-representation has been due partly to corresponding ethnic group differences in pre-university attainment at GCSE and A-level (Department for Education, 2017,2019). But research also shows that BAME applicants to highly selective universities have been less likely to be offered places than their comparably qualified White British peers (Boliver, 2013,2016; Noden et al.,2014).

The persistence of racial inequality in relation to higher education access, success, inclusion and mental health contradicts the professed egalitarian values of the Academy. Dismantling racial inequality in HE is particularly difficult in light of the institutional and structural racism that continues to permeate the sector (Ahmed, 2012; Arday and Mirza, 2018). Although there have been many seminal moments in the long struggle for racial equality throughout the sector, the pace of change remains slow, often lacking resource, sustainability and penetration. From fiscal and human resource perspectives, universities have historically been non-committal in this endeavour, resulting in the continued exclusion and marginalisation of ethnic minority staff and students (Rollock, 2016; Adams, 2017). As such, universities have been complicit in undermining their own  poorly-developed race equality interventions and this has significantly hindered diversification agendas and the mobilisation of ethnic minority staff within the Academy (Arday, 2019).

The murder of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 has created another seminal moment in race relations history which has brought about a collective moment of reflection, resulting in a challenging of whiteness and the power and privilege that accompanies this at the expense of BAME communities. This collective reflection as a result of the Black Lives Matter movement provides a stimulus for a renewed commitment to an egalitarian and racially inclusive Academy (Arday, 2018a). While the labour of race work continues to predominately fall on those encountering this systemic violence on a daily basis, this period of reflection has illuminated the need for White people to disrupt these racially discriminatory spaces and dismantle the monopoly on power that serves to disadvantage ethnic minorities attempting to progress throughout the Academy (Miller, 2016).

More longstanding equality interventions such as the Advance HE Race Equality Charter also continue to be pivotal in challenging universities to change racially discriminatory cultures and practices. Commitment to this intervention varies and institutions must fully resource and invest in this work if they are serious about addressing racial inequality in the sector. Senior stakeholders at universities must consider the composition of their workforces and discern whether existing workforces are reflective of increasingly diverse university populations (Ahmed, 2012). There is also a need for institution-wide commitment towards this endeavour which facilitates continuing professional development as a way of supporting staff and students in understanding the importance of a racially-diverse university community (Shilliam, 2015). Engagement with such activities must empower people actively to intervene and challenge evidently inequitable structures and behaviours.

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