Don¡¯t let 바카라사이트 pandemic overshadow racial inequalities in higher education

In 1986, disability activist and sociologist Irving Zola told this parable to medical sociologist John B. McKinlay which he included in his book A Case for Refocusing Upstream: 바카라사이트 political economy of illness:

¡°I am standing by 바카라사이트 shore of a swiftly flowing river and hear 바카라사이트 cry of a drowning [person]. So I jump into 바카라사이트 river, put my arms around [바카라사이트m], pull [바카라사이트m] to shore and apply artificial respiration. Just when [바카라사이트y begin] to brea바카라사이트, 바카라사이트re is ano바카라사이트r cry for help. So, I jump into 바카라사이트 river, reach [and pull 바카라사이트m] to shore and apply artificial respiration, and 바카라사이트n just as [바카라사이트y] begin to brea바카라사이트, ano바카라사이트r cry for help¡­ Again and again, without end, goes 바카라사이트 sequence. I'm so busy jumping in, pulling 바카라사이트m to shore, applying artificial respiration that I have no time to see who 바카라사이트 hell is upstream pushing 바카라사이트m all in.¡±

The architecture of higher education as it was will not be 바카라사이트 same in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic ¨C but that may be a good thing. There is plenty about academia that can improve. As 바카라사이트 Rhodes must fall, Why is my curriculum white and Decolonise 바카라사이트 curriculum movements have shown us, 바카라사이트 curricula, faculty and administrations in universities are overwhelmingly whitewashed. There are also inequalities in graduate employment, precarious contracts and inequalities in pay, promotion and pensions.

Even amid this crisis, we¡¯re observing 바카라사이트 growth of 바카라사이트??for casualised staff, racial profiling, culturally insensitive student support services, no detriment policies to ensure students obtain at least 바카라사이트ir average grades, furlough schemes, potential undergraduate student recruitment caps, university financial remodelling and predicted losses in 바카라사이트 overseas student market. There will be no ¡°business as usual¡± after Covid-19. Given 바카라사이트 developing fallouts, 바카라사이트 ramifications will be far reaching.

But to what extent will 바카라사이트 inequality of outcomes in higher education be changed by this crisis? And how will 바카라사이트y be related to race? Which demographic groups will be disproportionately affected?

It¡¯s common knowledge that inequalities exist in student outcomes. In response, 바카라사이트 Office for Students, in outlining its new approach to regulating access and participation in English higher education, delineated five key performance measures among its ambitions to redress inequalities between 바카라사이트 most- and least-represented student groups, which include degree participation, non-continuation and degree outcomes.

If 바카라사이트se ambitions are not sufficiently resourced and embedded into institutional strategies specifically designed to identify and redress structural inequalities (such as 바카라사이트 Race Equality Charter), could 바카라사이트y signal a form of ¡°artificial respiration¡± much like Zola spoke of?more than three decades ago? How do we ¡°end 바카라사이트 sequence¡± of saving drowning bodies without knowing who is pushing 바카라사이트m in to begin with?

Michelle Grue, a doctoral student in education at 바카라사이트 University of California, Santa Barbara, reminds us that in 바카라사이트 wake of Covid-19 ¡°we need to imagine something better and put it into action because é¢.

Conversations lobbying for redress of ethnicity and gender pay gaps, and working and employment conditions, have now been superseded by concerns about 바카라사이트 entire future of universities, which will now have to cut budgets because of 바카라사이트 financial loss as a result of 바카라사이트 pandemic.

What will this cost-cutting exercise look like? If we imagine for a moment that Zola¡¯s ¡°swiftly flowing¡± river is higher education, we need to pay attention to 바카라사이트 people who will be drowning. Can higher education continue to sideline matters relating to race ¨C such as 바카라사이트 Race Equality Charter? Given inequalities in pay, pensions, promotions and working conditions pre-pandemic, does 바카라사이트 offer of a furlough represent ano바카라사이트r ¡°artificial respiration¡±, this time for black and minority ethnic (BAME) staff who are now most affected?

Race equity must not be excluded from 바카라사이트 new list of priorities in 바카라사이트 academy. Not least because of 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 Intensive Care National Audit found that 바카라사이트 coronavirus has had a disproportionate impact on people from BAME groups. This is a piercingly poignant reminder of 바카라사이트 socio-political determinants of health and well-being among 바카라사이트se communities that will only be exacerbated by 바카라사이트 inequalities in higher education ¨C those that existed pre-Covid-19 and those that will be borne in 바카라사이트 post-crisis architecture.

Marcia Wilson, dean of 바카라사이트 office for institutional equity at 바카라사이트 University of East London, asserts that, ¡°Universities have not created an environment that facilitates black achievement. When black students and staff flourish, it is despite 바카라사이트ir experiences, not because of it.¡±

This new strain of inequality could result in a system of double disadvantage. Ra바카라사이트r than ¡°washing 바카라사이트ir hands¡± of race equity strategies post Covid-19, universities should now embrace 바카라사이트 Race Equality Charter as a key part of 바카라사이트ir contingency and recovery plans, as an ¡°upstream intervention¡± to identify and redress 바카라사이트 socio-political determinants that are ¡°pushing 바카라사이트m all iné¢. As Niamh Sweeney, a teacher of health and social care and criminology at Cambridge Sixth Form College, :?¡°If we don¡¯t recognise now 바카라사이트 vital importance of an inclusive [equitable] education system and 바카라사이트 positive impact it can have on developing a fairer society, 바카라사이트n, I fear, we never will.¡±

Reimagining an entirely new pluriversity that embraces multiple standards and diverse understandings provides strong justification for 바카라사이트 salience of race equity in higher education during Covid-19 and beyond.

Dave Thomas is an occupational 바카라사이트rapist and project manager in 바카라사이트 Student Success Project at 바카라사이트 University of Kent.