Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-g4j75 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-11T07:10:10.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

What Do We Know About Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Participation in UK Higher Education?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2021

Jason Arday ,
Charlotte Branchu  and
Vikki Boliver
Jason Arday
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Durham University, Durham, UK E-mail: [email protected]
Charlotte Branchu
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, University of Liverpool, UK E-mail: [email protected]
Vikki Boliver
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Durham University, Durham, UK E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Black asian and minority ethnic (BAME)higher educationdecolonisingaccessracism
Type
State of the Art
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 21 , Issue 1: Themed Issue: ’Race’, Learning and Teaching in Social Policy , January 2022 , pp. 12 - 25
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, R. (2017) ‘British universities employ no black academics in top roles, figures show’, The Guardian, 19 January.Google Scholar
Advance, HE (2018) ‘Developing institutional capability in inclusive assessment’, https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/news-and-views/developing-institutional-capability-inclusive-assessment [accessed 12.07.2020].Google Scholar
Ahmed, S. (2012) On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life, Durham and London: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Alexander, C. and Arday, J. (2015) Aiming Higher: Race, Inequality and Diversity in the Academy, London: Runnymede.Google Scholar
Alexander, J. C. (1987) ‘The centrality of the classics’, in Giddens, A. and Turner, J. H. (eds), Social Theory Today, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 11–52.Google Scholar
Andrews, K. (2016) ‘At last, the UK has a black studies university course. It’s long overdue’, The Guardian, 20 May.Google Scholar
Andrews, K. (2019) ‘Blackness, empire and migration: how black studies transforms the curriculum’, Area, 10, 1–7.Google Scholar
Arday, J. (2018a) ‘Understanding race and educational leadership in higher education: exploring the black and ethnic minority (BME) experience’, Management in Education, 32, 4, 192–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arday, J. (2018b) ‘Understanding mental health: what are the issues for black and ethnic minority students at university?’, Social Sciences, 7, 10, 196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arday, J. (2019) ‘Dismantling power and privilege through reflexivity: negotiating normative whiteness, the eurocentric curriculum and racial micro-aggressions within the academy’, Whiteness and Education, 3, 2, 141–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arday, J. (2020) The Black Curriculum: Black British History in the National Curriculum Report, London: The Black Curriculum.Google Scholar
Arday, J., Belluigi, D. Z. and Thomas, D. (2020) ‘Attempting to break the chain: reimaging inclusive pedagogy and decolonising the curriculum within the Academy’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 10: 1–17.Google Scholar
Arday, J. and Mirza, H. (eds.) (2018) Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy, London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, H., Bardgett, S., Budd, A., Finn, M., Kissane, C., Qureshi, S., Saha, J., Siblon, J. and Sivasundaram, S. (2018) Race, Ethnicity and Equality in UK History: A Report and Resource for Change, https://royalhistsoc.org/racereport/ [accessed 25.07.2020].Google Scholar
Belfield, C., Britton, J., Buscha, F., Dearden, L., Dickson, M., van der Erve, L., Sibieta, L., Vignoles, A., Walker, I. and Zhu, Y. (2018) The Impact of Undergraduate Degrees on Early-Career Earnings, London: Department for Education and Institute for Fiscal Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhambra, G. K. (2014) Connected Sociologies, London: Bloomsbury Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhambra, G. K. (2016) ‘Sociology and postcolonialism: another ‘missing’ revolution?’, Sociology, 41, 5, 871–884.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhopal, K. (2014) The Experience of BME Academics in Higher Education: Aspirations in the Face of Inequality, London: Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.Google Scholar
Bhopal, K., Brown, H. and Jackson, J. (2015) Academic Flight: How to Encourage Black and Minority Ethnic Academics to Say in UK Higher Education, London: ECU.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhopal, K., Brown, H. and Jackson, J. (2018) ‘Should I stay or should I go? BME academics and the decision to leave UK higher education’, in Arday, J. and Mirza, H. S. (eds.), Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy, Cham: Springer International Publishing, 125–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boliver, V. (2004) ‘Widening participation and fair access at the University of Oxford’, Oxford University Sociology Department Working Paper, 2004–02.Google Scholar
Boliver, V. (2013) ‘How fair is access to more prestigious UK universities?’, British Journal of Sociology, 64, 2, 344–364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boliver, V. (2015) ‘Why are British ethnic minorities less likely to be offered places at highly selective universities?’, in C. Alexander and J. Arday (eds), Aiming Higher: Race, Inequality and Diversity in the Academy, London: Runnymede, 15–18.Google Scholar
Boliver, V. (2016) ‘Exploring ethnic inequalities in admission to Russell Group universities’, Sociology, 50, 2, 247–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boliver, V. (2018) ‘Ethnic inequalities in admission to highly selective universities’, in J. Arday and H. S. Mirza (eds.), Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy, Cham: Palgrave MacMillan, 67–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boliver, V. and Powell, M. (2021) Fair Admission to UK Universities: Improving Policy and Practice, London: Nuffield Foundation.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. and Passeron, J.-C. (1977) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, London: Sage.Google Scholar
Bryan, A. (2016) ‘The sociology classroom as a pedagogical site of discomfort: difficult knowledge and the emotional dynamics of teaching and learning’, Irish Journal of Sociology, 24, 1, 7–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryan, C. and Clegg, K. (2020) Innovative Assessment in Higher Education: A Handbook for Academic Practitioners, 2 nd edn, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Burnett, A. and Peel, M. (2001) ‘Health needs of asylum seekers and refugees’, British Medical Journal, 322, 544–557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cameron, D. (2015) ‘The Conservatives have become the party of equality’, The Guardian, 26 October.Google Scholar
Chattoo, S., Atkin, K., Craig, G. and Flynn, R. (2019) Understanding ‘Race’ and Ethnicity, 2 nd edn, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Connell, R. W. (1997) ‘Why is classical theory classical?’, American Journal of Sociology, 102, 6, 1511–557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, R. W. (2018) ‘Decolonizing sociology’, Contemporary Sociology, 47, 4, 399–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connelly, L. and Joseph-Salisbury, R. (2019) ‘Teaching Grenfell: the role of emotions in teaching and learning for social change’, Sociology, 53, 6, 1026–1042.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, C., Spiers, N. and Livingston, G. (2013) ‘Ethnic inequalities in the use of health services for common mental disorders in England’, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 48, 685–692.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craig, G., Cole, B., Ali, N. and Qureshi, I. (2019) ‘The missing dimension: where is ‘race’ in social policy teaching and learning?’, Social Policy Association, http://www.social-policy.org.uk/uncategorized/the-missing-dimension-where-is-race-in-social-policy-teaching-and-learning/ [accessed 16.09.2020].Google Scholar
Dei, G. J. S., Karumanchery, L. L. and Karumanchery, N. (2004) Playing the Race Card: Exposing White Power and Privilege, USA: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Delgado Bernal, D. and Villalpando, O. (2016) ‘An apartheid of knowledge in academia’, in Taylor, E., Gillborn, D. and Ladson-Billings, G. (eds.), Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education, 2 nd edn, New York: Routledge, 72–92.Google Scholar
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (DBIS) (2016) Success as a Knowledge Economy: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Department for Education (DfE) (2017) A Level Attainment: Characteristics, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/600142/A_level_Attainment_Characteristics.pdf [accessed 13.09.2020].Google Scholar
Department for Education (DfE) (2019) English and Maths Results, https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/11-to-16-years-old/a-to-c-in-english-and-maths-gcse-attainment-for-children-aged-14-to-16-key-stage-4/latest [accessed 09.09.2020].Google Scholar
Doharty, N., Madriaga, M. and Joseph-Salisbury, R. (2020) ‘The university went to ‘decolonise’ and all they brought back was lousy diversity double-speak! Critical race counter-stories from faculty of colour in ‘decolonial’ times’, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53, 3, 233–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dorling, D. (2015) Injustice: Why Social Inequality Still Persists, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Fernando, S. (2010) Mental health, Race and Culture, London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freire, P. (1999) ‘The banking concept of education’, in Bartholomae, D. and Petrosky, A. (eds.), Ways of Reading, New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s.Google Scholar
Gillborn, D. (2006) ‘Critical race theory and education: racism and anti-racism in educational theory and praxis’, Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 27, 11–32.Google Scholar
Giuliano, A., Mokuau, N., Hughes, C., Tortolero-Luna, G., Risendal, B., Ho, R. and McCaskill-Stevens, W. J. (2000) ‘Participation of minorities in cancer research: the influence of structural, cultural and linguistic factors’, Annals of Epidemiology, 10, 8, 22–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grey, T., Sewell, H., Shapiro, G. and Ashraf, F. (2013) ‘Mental health inequalities facing UK minority ethnic populations: causal factors and solutions’, Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, 3, 1, 146–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, C. (2016) ‘What’s wrong with a Eurocentric curriculum’, Spiked, https://www.spiked-online.com/2016/09/27/whats-wrong-with-a-eurocentric-curriculum/ [accessed 21.09.2020].Google Scholar
Hanesworth, P., Bracken, S. and Elkington, S. (2019) ‘A typology for a social justice approach to assessment: learning from universal design and culturally sustaining pedagogy’, Teaching in Higher Education, 24, 1, 98–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2014) Differences in Degree Outcomes: Key Findings, London: HEFCE.Google Scholar
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2015) Differences in Degree Outcomes: The Effect of Subject and Student Characteristics, London: HEFCE.Google Scholar
Hobson, M. and Whigham, S. (2018) ‘White privilege, empathy and alterity in higher education: teaching about race and racism in the sociology of PE and sport’, in Arday, J. and Mirza, H. S. (eds.), Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy, Cham: Springer International Publishing, 195–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodkinson, P. (2005) ‘Learning as cultural and relational: moving past some troubling dualisms’, Cambridge Journal of Education, 35, 1, 107–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
hooks, b. (1994) Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Housee, S. (2017) ‘Insiders and/or outsiders: Black female voices from the academy’, in Anderson, P. and Williams, J. (eds.), Identity and Difference in Higher Education: ‘Outsiders Within’, 1st edn, Oxon: Routledge, 79–92.Google Scholar
Joseph-Salisbury, R., Ashe, S., Alexander, C. and Campion, K. (2020) Race and Ethnicity in British Sociology, Durham: British Sociological Association.Google Scholar
Kaur, A., Noman, M. and Nordin, H. (2017) ‘Inclusive assessment for linguistically diverse learners in higher education’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 42, 5, 756–771.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knifton, L., Gervais, M., Newbigging, K., Mirza, N., Quinn, N., Wilson, N. and Hunkins-Hutchison, E. (2010) ‘Community conversation: addressing mental health stigma with ethnic minority communities’, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 45, 497–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leathwood, C. (2005) ‘Assessment policy and practice in higher education: purpose, standards and equity’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 30, 3, 307–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lent, R. W. (2004) ‘Toward a unifying theoretical and practical perspective on well-being and psychosocial adjustment’, Journal of Counselling Psychology, 51, 4, 482–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leonardo, Z. (2016) ‘The color of supremacy’, in Taylor, E., Gillborn, D. and Ladson-Billings, G. (eds), Foundations of Critical Race Theory in Education, 2nd edn, New York: Routledge, 265–277.Google Scholar
Leonardo, Z. and Porter, R. (2010) ‘Pedagogy of fear: toward a Fanonian theory of ‘safety’ in race dialogue’, Race Ethnicity and Education, 13, 2, 139–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lessard-Phillips, L., Swain, D., Pampaka, M. and Nwabuzo, O. (2014) When Education Isn’t Enough: Labour Market Outcomes of Ethnic Minority Graduates at Elite Universities, London: Runnymede Trust.Google Scholar
Lynch, K. and Baker, J. (2005) ‘Equality in education: an equality of condition perspective’, Theory and Research in Education, 3, 2, 131–64.10.1177/1477878505053298CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malik, A. and Wykes, E. (2018) British Muslims in UK Higher Education: Socio-Political, Religious and Policy Considerations, London: Bridge Institute.Google Scholar
Marginson, S. (2020) ‘The world research system: expansion, diversification and hierarchy’, in C. Callender, W. Locke and S. Marginson (eds), Changing Higher Education for a Changing World, London: Bloomsbury, 35–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayo, P. (2013) Echoes from Freire for a Critically Engaged Pedagogy, London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
McArthur, J. (2016) ‘Assessment for social justice: the role of assessment in achieving social justice’, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 41, 7, 967–981.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Memon, A., Taylor, K., Mohebati, L. M., Sundin, J., Cooper, M., Scanlon, T. and de Visser, R. (2016) ‘Perceived barriers to accessing mental health services among black and minority ethnic (BME) communities: a qualitative study in southeast England’, BMJ Open, 6, 11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, P. (2016) “White sanction’, institutional, group and individual interaction in the promotion and progression of black and minority ethnic academics and teachers in England’, Power and Education, 8, 3, 205–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MIND (2013) Mental Health Crisis Care: Commissioning Excellence for Black and Minority Ethnic Groups, London: MIND.Google Scholar
Modood, T. (1993) ‘The number of ethnic minority students in British higher education: some grounds for optimism’, Oxford Review of Education, 19, 2, 167–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohanty, C. (1988) ‘Under western eyes: feminist scholarship and colonial discourses’, Feminist Review, 30, 1, 61–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molefe, T. O. (2016) ‘Oppression must fall: South Africa’s revolution in theory’, World Policy Journal, 33, 1, 30–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noden, P., Shiner, M. and Modood, T. (2014) ‘University offer rates for candidates from different ethnic categories’, Oxford Review of Education, 40, 3, 349–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nwadeyi, L. (2016) ‘We all have a responsibility to disrupt the status quo’, Mail and Guardian, https://mg.co.za/article/2016-06-29-we-all-have-agency-and-we-must-use-it-to-disrupt-the-status-quo/ [accessed 04.08.2020].Google Scholar
Office for Students (OfS) (2019a) Regulatory Notice 1: Access and Participation Plan Guidance, OfS, Bristol: Office for Students.Google Scholar
Office for Students (OfS) (2019b) ‘Mental health: are all students being properly supported?’, Insight, 5.Google Scholar
Office for Students (OfS) (2020) ‘Access and participation data dashboard’, https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/data-and-analysis/access-and-participation-data-dashboard/ [accessed 05.09.2020]Google Scholar
Peters, M. A. (2018) ‘Why is my curriculum white? A brief genealogy of resistance’, in Arday, J. and Mirza, H. S. (eds.), Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy, Cham: Springer International Publishing, 253–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierce, C. M. (1995) ‘Stress analogs of racism and sexism: terrorism, torture, and disaster’, in Willie, C., Rieker, P. P., Kramer, B. and Brown, B. S. (eds.), Mental Health, Racism and Sexism, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: University of Pittsburgh Press, 277–293.Google Scholar
Pilkington, A. (2013) ‘The interacting dynamics of institutional racism in higher education’, Race Ethnicity and Education, 16, 2, 225–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reay, D. (2018) ‘Race and elite universities in the UK’, in Arday, J. and Mirza, H. S. (eds.), Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy, Cham: Springer International Publishing, 47–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, J. T. E. (2018) ‘Understanding the under-attainment of ethnic minority students in UK higher education: the known knowns and the known unknowns’, in Arday, J. and Mirza, H. S. (eds.), Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy, Cham: Springer International Publishing, 87–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rollock, N. (2016) ‘How much does your university do for racial equality?’, The Guardian, 19 January.Google Scholar
Rollock, N. (2019) Staying Power: The Career Experiences and Strategies of UK Black Female Professors, University and College Union, https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/9921/Bullying-and-stereotyping-blocking-professorial-path-for-black-women [accessed 07.08.2020].Google Scholar
Rugkåsa, J. and Canvin, K. (2011) ‘Researching mental health in minority ethnic communities: reflections on recruitment’, Qualitative Health Research, 21, 1, 132–143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sardar, Z. (2008) ‘Foreword’, in Fanon, F. (1967), Black Skins, White Masks, London: Pluto Books, vi–xx.Google Scholar
Shay, S. (2016) ‘Decolonising the curriculum: it’s time for a strategy’, The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/decolonisingthe-curriculum-its-time-for-a-strategy-60598 [accessed 03.08.2020].Google Scholar
Shilliam, R. (2015) ‘Black academia in Britain’, The Disorder of Things, https://thedisorderofthings.com/2014/07/28/black-academia-in-britain/ [accessed 03.08.2020].Google Scholar
Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (2013) Higher Education: The Fair Access Challenge, London: Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.Google Scholar
Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (2015) Data and Public Policy: Trying to Make Social Progress Blindfolded, London: Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.Google Scholar
Tate, S. A. and Bagguley, P. (2017) ‘Building the anti-racist university: next steps’, Race Ethnicity and Education, 20, 3, 289–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) (2021) 2020 Entry UCAS Undergraduate Reports by Sex, Area Background, and Ethnic Group, Cheltenham: UCAS.Google Scholar
Universities UK (UUK) and National Union of Students (NUS) (2019) Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic Student Attainment at UK Universities: #Closingthegap, https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2019/bame-student-attainment-uk-universities-closing-the-gap.pdf [accessed 12.10.2020].Google Scholar
Vernon, P. (2011) ‘Put race equality in mental health back on the agenda’, The Guardian, 01 March.Google Scholar
Wallace, S., Nazroo, J. and Bécares, L. (2016) ‘Cumulative effect of racial discrimination on the mental health of ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom’, American Journal of Public Health, 106, 7, 1294–1300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waterfield, J. and West, B. (2006) Inclusive Assessment in Higher Education: A Resource for Change, University of Plymouth: Plymouth.Google Scholar
Williams, P., Bath, S., Arday, J. and Lewis, C. (2019) The Broken Pipeline: Barriers to Black PhD Students Accessing Research Council Funding, London: Leading Routes.Google Scholar
Zwysen, W. and Longhi, S. (2018) ‘Employment and earning differences in the early career of ethnic minority British graduates: the importance of university career, parental background and area characteristics’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 44, 1, 154–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar