Train white staff to be less biased, universities told
ACADEMICS at universities should be taught ‘awareness of white privilege’ to make campuses more inclusive, it has been claimed.
Institutions must also make ‘unconscious bias’ training mandatory for all senior staff, particularly those involved in recruitment and promotion panels.
The proposals are contained in a report commissioned by the University and College Union.
White privilege is often applied to white people who have advantages in society – whether they know it or not – that others do not have.
The report was compiled at the University of Birmingham which carried out 45 interviews with staff about the Race Equality Charter, introduced in 2014 to improve the representation and progression of minority ethnic staff and students.
Some highlighted ways to ‘address teaching and curriculum content in relation to the lack of BME (black and minority ethnic) staff’.
One woman, from a university created after the 1992 higher education reforms, said current culture – and the make-up of staff – ‘is absolutely delivered through a particular lens and the impact of white privilege’.
Other recommendations in the report include universities providing annual reviews about how they have addressed the attainment gap between BME and white students, as well as the under-representation of BME academics in senior roles. But Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham University, said he was ‘horrified at the disrespect shown by the proposals’.
He added: ‘This is a very concerning development and embodies extreme prejudice.
‘The idea that you should appoint someone because they’re from a particular ethnic background rather than the most able person is really a fairly steep downward slide.’
Last May, Oxford University revealed that history students would have to take a paper on black or Asian history after complaints the curriculum was ‘too white’.
The syllabus change came as universities across the country faced protests as part of the ‘Why is my curriculum white?’ campaign.