Stop the pain: Black and minority ethnic scholars on diversity policy obfuscation in universities

Abstract

PurposeThe author extends the work on diversity policy in UK higher education by centring the voices of Black and minority ethnic scholars and de-centring white comfort with the aim of a call to stop the pain that sanitised university diversity policies cause Black and minority ethnic scholars.Design/methodology/approachUsing in-depth qualitative and auto-ethographic research methods, this paper engages with both respondents' narratives as well as the author's experience of carrying out the research within the walls of predominately white universities.FindingsIn order for universities to move beyond hollow and sanitised diversity, they must centre the voices of Black and minority ethnic scholars. Respondents spoke of their experiences of pain, and feelings of “taking up” space in predominately white universities. The author also discusses respondents' feelings towards diversity and inclusion policies such as the Race Equality Charter Mark.Originality/valueThe research is built on previous work on diversity by decentring white comfort.

“you just look at rocks, and have beards” Perceptions of geology from the UK: a qualitative analysis from an online survey.

“…Efforts to improve equity, diversity and inclusion in our subject are slowly gaining ground (e.g. Dowey et al, 2021;Mildon et al, 2021;Tooth and Viles, 2021;Kavanagh et al, 2022;Singh et al, 2022) but are still too often seen as fringe activities, often undervalued (and underfunded or unfunded), or hindered (Bhopal, 2022), and fall to individuals from historically excluded groups (Padilla, 1994;Cleaveland et al, 2018;Ahmet, 2021). Interventions also preferentially favour white women rather than being truly equitable (Bernard and Cooperdock 2018;Bhopal and Henderson, 2019;Ranganathan et al 2021;Hastings 2021).…”

Equal opportunities but unequal mentoring? The perceptions of mentoring by Black and minority ethnic academics in the UK university sector

“…Specifically, many scholars have argued that university policies are made within normative environments that are not inclusive. They contend that such policies commonly reinforce the legitimacy of norms, values, and practices that are presented as neutral, but which confer and institutionalise advantages to white faculty (see Ahmet, 2021;Bhopal & Pitkin, 2020). Linked to the above is that, while the important role of mentoring in career success has been acknowledged (e.g.…”

“…A review finds that while the organization, management, and employment academies are relatively silent on these issues, there is growing research that points to the prevalence of institutional racism that is perpetuated through ‘colour‐blind’ approaches in managing academic institutions in education, psychology, and sociology. The overriding conclusion of many of these studies is that the cultures, systems, and processes of academic institutions, many of which were historically non‐inclusive of ethnic minorities, have been developed and perpetuated in ways that reinforce the status quo (see Ahmet, 2021; Murji & Solomos, 2015). The emergent practices have become taken‐for‐granted, such that policy makers are oblivious to the pernicious racism of such contexts (e.g.…”

“…While the representative of university employers (Universities UK) acknowledged the charge of institutional racism and urged fellow heads to take this seriously (see The Guardian, 2021), few institutions have similarly acknowledged the prevalence of racism. Instead, race remains a sensitive topic and a source of discomfort which universities prefer to ignore (see Ahmet, 2021). Thus, scholars have labelled the approach of UK university managers as maintaining ‘colour‐blindness’ wherein race is not considered as a factor that influences outcomes (see Bhopal, 2019; Tate & Bagguley, 2017).…”

“…Previous research has alluded to workplace race discrimination as partly the result of cultural and systemic processes at institutional and structural levels designed to protect ‘white spaces’ (e.g. Ahmet, 2021) or to deal with ‘white fragility’ (e.g. DiAngelo, 2019).…”