Abstract
Higher education (HE) seems to eternally be placed in a state of flux or turbulence. There continues to be widespread condemnation of a sector that remains one of the United Kingdom’s (UK) most racially inequitable institutions. This is in part due to the HE sector failing to tackle endemic racism against ethnic minority students and staff despite a plethora of policy briefings and research indicating widespread evidence of discrimination and differential outcomes (Ahmed, On being included: Racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham/London: Duke University Press, 2012; Arday and Mirza, Dismantling race in higher education: Racism, whiteness and decolonising the academy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018). At its essence universities should embody community whilst being a vehicle for social mobility and cohesion (Emejulu, The University is not innocent: Speaking of Universities. Verso Blogs, 2017). In such factious times never has the function of a university been more paramount with its potential to reflect egalitarianism and unity. The conclusion provided proffers that universities have the potential to embody all of the intersectional ideals that we herald within an equal society. Conversely, they also illuminate all of the inherent inequalities faced by Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) staff within the academy and the oppressive centrality of Whiteness (Arday, Whiteness and Education, 3(2), 141–161, 2019).
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Arday, J. (2021). Sowing the Seeds: Embracing and Re-imaging a More Racially Inclusive Academy. In: Thomas, D.S.P., Arday, J. (eds) Doing Equity and Diversity for Success in Higher Education. Palgrave Studies in Race, Inequality and Social Justice in Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65668-3_25
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