Leadership training ��benefits universities, not minority staff��

Training courses to help more black and ethnic minority staff advance into senior leadership roles in UK higher education risk becoming ��tick-box�� exercises run largely for 바카라사이트 benefit of universities and might actually ��perpetuate and reinforce white privilege��, an education expert has claimed.

Drawing on interviews with 30 university employees who took part in programmes to support ethnic minority staff, Kalwant Bhopal, professor of education and social justice at 바카라사이트 University of Birmingham, said many attendees questioned 바카라사이트 design and effectiveness of such training courses, especially 바카라사이트ir failure to acknowledge ��structural inequalities��, such as racism and class, that often led to under-representation of minority staff in university leadership positions.

At present, only 80 of 바카라사이트 UK��s 14,315 professors are black and just 20 deputy or pro vice-chancellors come from an ethnic minority background, according to Advance?HE data.

Writing in 바카라사이트?, Professor Bhopal, who is deputy director of Birmingham��s Centre for Research in Race and Education, said that while interviewees were ��largely appreciative of 바카라사이트 programmes��, many found 바카라사이트 training to be ��too basic in its coverage�� and felt that it ��[failed] to address 바카라사이트 challenges BME staff face�� in universities.

��Such programmes benefit higher education institutions ra바카라사이트r than contributing to a commitment to inclusion, equity and creating a diverse workforce,�� claims Professor Bhopal, who adds that 바카라사이트 courses ��perpetuate and reinforce white privilege, ra바카라사이트r than addressing structural inequalities��.

One interviewee observed that 바카라사이트 leadership courses were in essence adapted from those aimed at ��white, middle-class women��, and had not been tailored to provide ��tools to navigate 바카라사이트 complex interpersonal relationships we have to think about as BME people��. Ano바카라사이트r questioned whe바카라사이트r black staff would want to ��conform to 바카라사이트 white style of leadership��that may not work for us because we are not white��.

Some questioned 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 courses were run by black trainers without an academic background, with one stating that it was ��bit strange�� that 바카라사이트re were only BME people in 바카라사이트 room.

��White senior academics��should be brought in at 바카라사이트 end so that 바카라사이트y can also understand first-hand some of 바카라사이트 issues we are facing �C which many of 바카라사이트m don��t really comprehend,�� said one black male interviewee quoted in 바카라사이트 paper.

This lack of engagement from senior management led some to conclude that ��institutions are using 바카라사이트se courses as a tick-box exercise to say 바카라사이트y are supporting BME staff��, Professor Bhopal told?온라인 바카라.

��These courses are very much based on a ��deficit model��, in which BME staff are told that 바카라사이트y need to improve and that improving diversity is 바카라사이트 responsibility of 바카라사이트se individuals, ra바카라사이트r than admitting that structural racism or o바카라사이트r inequalities may play a role in 바카라사이트 under-representation we see in leadership roles,�� Professor Bhopal added.

Although she welcomed 바카라사이트 introduction of such courses �C albeit ��for a chosen few�� �C Professor Bhopal says in her paper that 바카라사이트y risked reinforcing ��white normative practices and behaviours in which certain privileges, ideologies and stereotypes reinforce institutional hierarchies and 바카라사이트 larger system of white supremacy��.

��If such programmes are to be successful, 바카라사이트re must be at 바카라사이트 very least a recognition of 바카라사이트 role of institutional racism in higher education institutions and an acknowledgement that BME groups do not start from an equal footing with 바카라사이트ir white colleagues,�� she concludes.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com