The Wider Context
The existing evidence on racial and ethnic inequalities
“Racial and ethnic inequalities are particularly acute at senior levels in academia.”
HESA reports that, for professors of known ethnicity across all subjects, only 0.8% identify as Black (compared to 3.0% of the UK population), while 7.5% identify as Asian (compared to 6.9% of the UK population), and 88.5% as White (compared to 87.2% of the UK population)2,3. Of the 540 academic managers, directors or senior officials at UK universities, 0% identify as Black* and less than 5% identify as Asian, mixed or other.
“Academics from minoritised ethnic backgrounds find it more difficult to secure
research funding.”
Funding is essential for success in an academic career. Yet in the UK Principal Investigators (PIs) from minoritised ethnicities are less likely to win a bid for research funding than their White peers. According to figures from UKRI for the financial year 2019/20, the award rate for minority ethnic PIs is 25% compared to 32% for White PIs – a difference of seven percentage points. Those who succeed also get less funding. The median award for minoritised ethnic PIs £320,000 vs £355,000 for White PIs – 10% less.5 In addition, UKRI reports that 12% of PIs awarded funding are from minoritised ethnicities. Less than 1% identify as Black, compared to the 2% HESA estimate of the proportion of the academic workforce that identifies as Black, as well as the 3% proportion of Black people employed in the UK workforce more broadly
“There is significant attrition of Black STEM students from postgraduate level to
academic employment.”
The Royal Society reports that across science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects as a whole, there is no significant attrition of Black students from undergraduate to postgraduate level, accounting for the time lag for progression through undergraduate studies. Of all STEM first degree entrants in 2015/16, 7.6% identified as Black, similar to the 7.1% of postgraduate entrants in STEM subjects that identified as Black in 2018/19.23 However, significant attrition occurs from postgraduate level to academic employment, leading to an underrepresentation of Black scientists and engineers in academic careers. In 2018/19 just 1.7% of STEM academic staff identified as Black, while 13.2% identified as Asian (compared to 6.9% of the UK population) and 2.1% identified as mixed (compared to 2% of the UK population).2
