Question

Briefly, discuss the Race Discrimination that is happening in Universities...

-Describe its main consequences on the country/on the international community/on people/education industry

-What actions can be done to prevent this?

Answer 1

According to the Race Equality Survey, undertaken by the group Black British Academics, 56 per cent reported discrimination, while almost three quarters (73 per cent) said they would rate their institutions’ performance on race equality as “poor” or “very poor”.

Many of the 100 respondents criticised institutions’ recruitment and promotion practices, with comments complaining of “closed doors”, “differential treatment” and being “cold shouldered”.

“You are not taken as seriously and it is as if you have to do more/owe more in order to receive the same as a white British individual,” says one respondent.

“In an employment capacity, I and other members of staff of colour are often the last to hear about departmental developments,” another claims. “Information is passed along informally to others beforehand.”

The report states that although positive action on recruitment is an option under equalities legislation, there is little evidence of its use across the higher education sector. A 2013 poll by the same organisation found that 77 per cent of respondents favoured positive action targeted at the most under-represented ethnic groups.

Other respondents complained of overtly racist behaviour by their colleagues.

“Black staff are treated with contempt and disgust and career progression is almost non-existent among our demographic,” reads one comment, while another lists some of the “numerous situations” in which they have encountered racism in academia.

They include “negative stereotypes of what to expect of black people (jokes about mugging, rioting, capacity to understand complex ideas, ability to develop creative ideas)” and “constantly being challenged by students and staff who have low expectations with regards to receiving a high level of education from a black female”.

At a recent public talk at University College London, titled “Why Isn’t My Professor Black?”, black scholars claimed that insidious forms of racism may explain why just 85 of the UK’s 18,500 professors are black, and only 17 are black women.

“Our survey shows that black and minority ethnic staff are frustrated by racial inequalities that block their path to senior positions and feel positive action is the most effective strategy to address their under-representation and low progression to senior levels,” said author of the report, Deborah Gabriel, who is also the founder and chief executive of Black British Academics.

Of the 100 respondents to the survey, 91 worked or studied at UK higher education institutions, with the remaining 9 working in related areas including schools and the early learning sector.

"You do know they only accepted you because you're black?" reads a placard that forms part of the "I, too, am Oxford" campaign.

This week students have been raising awareness about the often overlooked issue of racial prejudice on campus. It started with Harvard's "I, too, am Harvard" photo project that went viral on social media.

Students at Oxford and Cambridge then followed suit, and drew attention to issues on their own campuses.

Those at Oxford say they want to "demonstrate that despite there being a greater number of students of colour studying at Oxford now than there has ever been before, there are still issues that need to be discussed."

They say they are "demanding that a discussion on race be taken seriously and that real institutional change occur".

Other comments those in the campaign had heard were: "Where are you really from?" and "I was pleasantly surprised you actually speak well".

So how much of a problem is racism on campus?

In 2011, a report by the National Union of Students (NUS) found that one in six black students had experienced racism at their institution, and one third did not trust their university to handle complaints properly.

A report by the York Student Think Tank this week revealed that one in ten students and workers at the University of York felt they had experienced some form of discrimination because of their race or ethnic background.

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One in four from outside the EU said they felt discriminated against because of their race and half of respondents said they had witnessed racism happening to others. The kind of discrimination experienced included being stereotyped and treated differently.

Zena, a student who wishes to be known only by her first name, says: "I constantly have to deal with things like offensive racist 'banter' from white students, or assumptions on the basis of my ethnicity. And it's difficult to report it to support services.

"I commonly hear: 'where are you really from', as if the fact that I am ethnically Arabic must mean that I am lying about being a British citizen. It is difficult to know how to deal with comments like this, as I doubt any university would take a complaint seriously."

The report, covered in York Vision student paper, revealed that 79% of students who had experienced racism did not report it.

Last year racism on campuses hit the headlines when students in York were criticised for painting their faces black and dressing as characters from Cool Runnings.

Elsewhere, students at the University of Edinburgh were accused of racism for dressing as Somali pirates as a fancy dress outfit. And the University of London students' union was criticised when a "blacked up" student won a fancy dress prize at an event held in the union.

In contrast, the University of Birmingham attempted to stamp out racism by banning racially insensitive fancy dress outfits, but their heavy-handed approach received criticism from many students.

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So what is the best way to tackle the problem? Respondents in the York Vision report found it hard to call out instances of racism because they often "lack malice or a specific target".

Zena says: "It is difficult to speak up about racist jokes without being seen as too sensitive."

Isabelle Scott and Sairish Tahir, racial equality officers at the University of York's student union, say: "These issues will always be prevalent and unfortunately these statistics will rise, if not tackled by both unions and universities."