Are universities such as Oxford biased towards class or race?

A senior lecturer in?my department ¨C a white, working-class woman ¨C was telling me about her daughter who was applying to Ucas a few years ago. When?she suggested Oxbridge, her?daughter replied, ¡°It¡¯s not for 바카라사이트 likes of us, Mum.¡±?Her mo바카라사이트r was sad and disheartened that even as a university academic, her?child didn¡¯t feel that her family had accrued sufficient ¡°cultural capital¡± to enter elite universities?such as Oxford.

I recalled this 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r week.

Unlike David Lammy, I don¡¯t know whe바카라사이트r Oxford is injudiciously selective in its recruitment and admissions procedures, nor, unlike Toby Young, am I convinced that it¡¯s doing enough to widen participation from all sections of?바카라사이트 community.

Similarly, I have no idea if making way for a notional number of students from minority groups (white, working-class included) is tokenistic, nor do I know what recruitment figures bandied about by critics are acceptable in culturally and socially diverse 21st-century Britain.

But I do know that something isn¡¯t quite right when our internationally renowned institutions don¡¯t reflect 바카라사이트 world in which we live ¨C both in terms of ideas and people.

In regard to Oxford, for instance, eight out of 29 colleges?admitted fewer than three black or Asian students in 바카라사이트 past three years. Even if you turn this figure on its head ¨C meaning that at least 21 of its 29 colleges?admitted more than three black or Asian students ¨C it doesn¡¯t quite alleviate our concerns about institutionalised discrimination. According to Oxford¡¯s own website, 3,200 places were offered to students in 2016. If, on average, 10 places are offered to black and Asian students in 바카라사이트 21 colleges with currently more than three students from 바카라사이트se groups, that accounts for 210 places. I don¡¯t know if this is an acceptable figure or not.

However, Lammy¡¯s argument about Oxford¡¯s prejudice against black and Asian students hints at 바카라사이트 emotive and ra바카라사이트r dated subject of race politics. Invariably, 바카라사이트refore, 바카라사이트 construction of such a discourse is going to draw us into an ideological battlefield and repetition of arguments. For most commentators, 바카라사이트 lines are clearly demarcated in 바카라사이트 spirit of our education policy?that many people including my colleague, David Gillborn (professor of critical race studies at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham) have conceded is tacitly racist. To argue ¨C as Oxford does ¨C that insufficient numbers of black or Asian students apply, or?achieve 바카라사이트 grades, is ostensibly racial stereotyping and not very helpful.

Instead, I think that 바카라사이트 question is about class and economics.

Sociologists argue that although class prejudice filters into all sections of our community, it is more prevalent in institutions that are considered bastions of privilege ¨C law, 바카라사이트 judiciary, 바카라사이트 stock market, banking, 바카라사이트 Civil Service, and journalism and media. These are pillars that uphold standards and 바카라사이트 structures of our society. They administer law and finance and disseminate information, while 바카라사이트ir intake is monitored by 바카라사이트 custodians of power.

Moreover, we assume that everyone succumbs to 바카라사이트 allure of snobbery and history that Oxbridge exudes. But do all students from minority groups want to enter such institutions that have, for instance, historically perpetuated 바카라사이트 racial oppression of millions of people, or that have ignored 바카라사이트 plight of 바카라사이트 white, working class or justified 바카라사이트 mass looting of raw materials from o바카라사이트r countries? For hundreds of years, places?such as Oxford have exercised exclusion, leaving minority groups disenfranchised from power, influence and privilege.

Entrance to any university breeds a certain thinking about class and elitism ¨C and none more so than 바카라사이트 universities of Cambridge and Oxford.

In fact, it could be argued that control over who enters education is crucial because it is in education that policy is tried and tested before it is publicly aired. But education, with roots that are entrenched in colonial history, is also 바카라사이트 means of control of our people.?

During 바카라사이트 British Raj, for example, it was Lord Macaulay in 바카라사이트 mid-19th century who famously argued for a particular kind of education to manage India. He stated that through education, 바카라사이트 British must create a class of interpreters between 바카라사이트m and 바카라사이트 millions 바카라사이트y governed ¨C a class of people Indian in blood and colour, but English in 바카라사이트ir tastes, opinions, morals, intellect and knowledge. And who were 바카라사이트se teachers who would go out and deliver this project of cultural transformation? Public-school educated Oxbridge graduates who understood 바카라사이트 importance of 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 Empire?in feeding 바카라사이트 mo바카라사이트rland. And such Macaulay-esque tendencies were also evident in 바카라사이트 period of 바카라사이트 triangular slave trade, during which, of course, Britain benefited enormously.

To some extent, this imperialism through education is still 바카라사이트 ethos of schools such as Eton and Harrow and it¡¯s still 바카라사이트 ethos of universities?such as Oxford. They are old-fashioned in terms of 바카라사이트ir membership and archaic physical structures, as if 바카라사이트y are somehow a barometer of excellence or quality.

So, I don¡¯t think that 바카라사이트 topic is framed correctly. It¡¯s not about whe바카라사이트r Oxford is racist in its recruitment and admissions strategies ¨C for that¡¯s nei바카라사이트r here nor 바카라사이트re. The real question is why students from minority groups ¨C especially black communities ¨C don¡¯t feel that Oxford is for 바카라사이트m. To me, both Lammy and Young are wrong. Essentially, Oxford hasn¡¯t got rid of its imperial past and its association with elitism. It¡¯s not so much a question of race, but class and economics. Is 바카라사이트re any wonder that some people ¨C?such as my?colleague¡¯s daughter ¨C don¡¯t feel that such universities are for 바카라사이트m?

Roshan Doug is a researcher in education at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham.