‘Same old story, just a different policy’: race and policy making in higher education in the UK

ABSTRACT

Evidence suggests that Black and minority ethnic (BME) students and staff continue to be disadvantaged in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK. Policy making has been introduced to specifically address such inequalities. This article draws on critical policy analysis and 45 interviews to explore the impact of the recently introduced Race Equality Charter (REC) as a measure to address such inequalities. By using principles of Critical Race Theory (CRT), we argue that racism continues to play a key role in the experiences of BME groups in HEIs and policy making. Consequently, the enactment of policy making on race through the REC works to benefit HEIs by adhering to White normative practices and behaviours which contribute to a system which reinforces and perpetuates White privilege.

KEYWORDS:

• CRT
• higher education
• policy making
• race equality
• performativity

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their useful and insightful comments. We are especially grateful to Martin Myers for his feedback on earlier drafts of the article, and to the University and College Union (UCU) who funded the research. Thanks also to the editors for their support and encouragement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The data described in this article are openly available in the Open Science Framework at DOI:10.17605/OSF.IO/TPA6U.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. In this article, we use the term BME to refer to individuals from Black British, Black African, British Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi, Chinese and those from other non-White backgrounds, official terms used in the Census (2011). We are aware of the limitations of the term, particularly that BME individuals are not a homogenous group, but it remains a useful designation in a field such as higher education in which White identities remain dominant.

2. Degree classifications in the UK consist of a first class, upper second class, lower second class, third class and a fail.

3. The Equality Challenge Unit is a registered charity in the UK. It works to enhance and support equality and diversity for staff and students in UK higher education institutions. In April 2018, the Equality Challenge Unit became part of a newly developed organisation, Advance HE which incorporates the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and the Higher Education Academy.

4. Professor is the highest academic ranking in the UK and is more selective compared to other countries such as the US.

5. Institutions (or individual departments or faculties) are awarded a bronze, silver or gold award based on evidence demonstrating the progression of women in STEMM subjects.

6. Science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine. However, in May 2015 the charter was expanded to include the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences, Business and Law.

7. The research was funded by the University and College Union (UCU). The UCU is the main union that represents academic, professional and support staff working in further and higher education in the UK (see https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/1685/About-UCU).

8. For further details, see Bhopal and Piktin (2018).

9. Pro-Vice Chancellor and Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor are titles used in the UK, they are the equivalent of the Provost in the USA and Deputy Rector/Principal in Europe.

10. The Russell Group consists of 24 member institutions of UK research-intensive universities. Post-1992 institutions are former polytechnics awarded university status after 1992. Non-affiliated institutions did not fall under either of the two categories above and/or do not align themselves with any formal groupings of HEIs in the UK.

11. See also Bhopal and Henderson (2019) which compares the REC and ASC.

12. Black, Asian and minority ethnic.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University and College Union.