University staff face anti-racism training
University staff and students should be given training on “white privilege”, new anti-racism guidance states. Institutions must “go beyond” unconscious bias training when it comes to tackling racism on campus, says Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors. It has published recommendations for senior leaders to eradicate racial harassment and comes after a report found that there was an “alarmingly high rate” of racist incidents on campuses.
UNIVERSITY staff and students should be given anti-racist training on “white privilege”, new guidance states.
I nstitutions must “go beyond” unconscious bias training when it comes to tackling racial harassment on campus, Universities UK recommended.
University chiefs, staff and students all need to be taught about “racism, racial harassment and microaggressions and white privilege” through training that is drawn up specially from an anti-racism perspective, the guidance says.
UUK, which represents vice-chancellors, has published recommendations for senior leaders to eradicate racial harassment at universities.
It comes after a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission last year found that there was an “alarmingly high rate” of racial harassment on university campuses.
Nearly a quarter of ethnic minority students said they had experienced racial harassment at UK universities, according to the watchdog’s report which concluded that many universities were unaware of the scale of the problem and were overconfident in their ability to respond to it.
The guidance, from the advisory group set up by UUK, calls on senior l eaders and governing bodies to acknowledge issues that exist in their universities and acknowledge that higher education “perpetuates institutional racism”.
Universities are also told to review their curricula to ensure that they are teaching students in a way that is “diverse and inclusive”.
The guidance notes that “curricula that are based on Eurocentric, typically white voices will perpetuate existing inequalities”.
It adds that teaching courses from such a perspective is “unlikely to reflect the experience or viewpoints of many members of the student and staff body”.
UUK cited a report published last year by the National Union of Students which claimed that a lack of a “sense of belonging” may contribute to black, Asian and minority ethnic students performing less well academically.
Last month, the women and equalities minister said that teachers in schools who tell their pupils that white privilege is a fact were breaking the law.
Kemi Badenoch told the Commons there was a “dangerous trend” in race relations that should not be taught in schools.
She said: “It is the promotion of critical race theory – an ideology that sees my blackness as victimhood and their whiteness as oppression. I want to be absolutely clear – this government stands unequivocally against critical race theory.” Ms Badenoch was speaking in response to Dawn Butler, the Labour MP who said history needs to be “decolonised”.
Prof Julia Buckingham, president of UUK and vice-chancellor of Brunel University London, said: “Every racist incident is one too many, and all university students and staff are entitled to a positive, safe and enjoyable experience free from racial harassment.
“As university leaders we have a duty of care to provide that outcome and these recommendations are designed to ensure that we do.”
Jenny Sherrard, of the University and College Union, said: “We need more than warm words from institutions in order to ensure that our higher education sector is equal and inclusive.”
‘We need more than warm words from institutions in order to ensure that our higher education sector is equal and inclusive’