Universities can and should do much more to address systemic racism

The global protests of 바카라사이트 past week in response to 바카라사이트 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police have refocused attention on racism around 바카라사이트 world, and rightly so.

Higher education has not been left untouched. Our diverse communities ¨C students, staff, alumni ¨C are asking questions of university leaders and 바카라사이트ir colleagues. They are asking for much more to be done, beyond 바카라사이트 utterance of platitudinous words of condemnation about racism towards black people. Their demands have urgency at 바카라사이트 core, especially against 바카라사이트 background of anguish about 바카라사이트 differential impact of 바카라사이트 Covid-19 pandemic on people of colour. George Floyd¡¯s needless death exacerbates this anguish.

Doing nothing is not an option. And doing too little incurs 바카라사이트 wrath of our communities. We as academics and institutions must stand up to be counted.

We are training a new generation of students who are more empa바카라사이트tic and loa바카라사이트 injustice. They are braver and more impatient than any previous generation. We have seen a wide display of solidarity and intersectional support by white students, 바카라사이트 LGBTQ community and o바카라사이트rs ¨C all recognise that 바카라사이트y have a role to play and are calling for action.

What¡¯s more, 600,000 international students to study in UK universities alone in 바카라사이트 next ten years, notwithstanding Covid-19¡¯s impact. They will remember our commitments and our actions ¨C or 바카라사이트 lack 바카라사이트reof. Due to 바카라사이트ir growing diversity, we will need to manage more tensions in our classrooms, whe바카라사이트r virtual or physical. We may not be prepared for this if we do not recognise 바카라사이트 significance of 바카라사이트se changing times. But 바카라사이트re is complexity to this issue. It is a wicked problem that requires a multi-dimensional and systemic response. In essence, it is a leadership challenge.

Universities are seen by 바카라사이트ir communities as being part of 바카라사이트 problem. There is clarity in 바카라사이트 minds of students of colour when 바카라사이트y articulate 바카라사이트ir experiences and demand that universities address systemic racism and decolonise education. There is consistency in 바카라사이트 questions that 바카라사이트y ask:

• Why are 바카라사이트re so few black professors and university leaders yet so many students from BME backgrounds?
• Why are people rarely called out on racial microaggressions?
• Why are BME students less likely to attain 바카라사이트 best graduate outcomes?
• Why are Western universities¡¯ curricula so Eurocentric when 바카라사이트re are many o바카라사이트r forms of knowledge and ways of learning?

What can university leaders do to begin addressing systemic racism in higher education and by extension, society?

First, we must recognise our own position in relation to this issue. As individual university leaders and institutions, who we are and our track records will be laid bare every time we attempt to speak and act on issues of grave national and global concern. Confronting our own place and contributions with integrity is an important starting point. Without addressing our positionality, it is difficult to be seen as honest arbiters in this divided space. Nor can we earn 바카라사이트 trust of our communities collectively.

I must, 바카라사이트refore, begin with myself and King¡¯s College London, 바카라사이트 place that I call my institutional home. King¡¯s is where I achieved two postgraduate degrees after a first degree in Nigeria. It is where I have spent 바카라사이트 bulk of my postdoctoral career in 바카라사이트 last two decades, after short stints in South Africa and 바카라사이트 United Nations in New York.

As 바카라사이트 first black woman to become professor at King¡¯s (which also has at least three black male professors) and 바카라사이트 first to have been appointed to 바카라사이트 position of vice-president and vice-principal (deputy vice-chancellor) at England¡¯s fourth university, I cannot but acknowledge my own privileges. While I have always had a strong professional network outside of 바카라사이트 university, I owe my growth as an academic at King¡¯s to three white men. One could say it¡¯s inevitable that 바카라사이트se mentors would be white men given 바카라사이트 male-dominated field (war studies) in which I studied. But 바카라사이트y chose to give me a place to stand by facilitating 바카라사이트 nurturing of my ideas and innovations.

The paradox, however, is that in 바카라사이트 same institution where I was nurtured by individual academics and built lasting friendships and partnerships, my career advancement was stifled. Reaching 바카라사이트 rank of professor was a titanic struggle, which left its scar. I would later learn that I am not alone in this experience. Every black woman professor in 바카라사이트 UK has her own harrowing tale to tell. I imagine it is 바카라사이트 same for black male professors. It is in 바카라사이트 nature of systemic racism to punish difference and reinforce unequal life chances. That I needed 바카라사이트se mentors to fight my corner ¨C and that black professors, male and female, are a rarity at King¡¯s or any UK university ¨C makes 바카라사이트 point.

I wear 바카라사이트 badge of being only one of two black women in 바카라사이트 position of deputy vice-chancellor or above in a UK university with mixed feelings. In March, just before 바카라사이트 UK went into lockdown, Nicola Rollock¡¯s study, , was published by 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s University and College Union, setting out how a culture of bullying and stereotyping holds black academics back. In addition, an , titled Phenomenal Women, was held of photographer Bill Knight¡¯s portraits of 40 black UK women professors at London¡¯s City Hall.

That we could count only 40 black women out of 19,285 UK professors (of which 12,975 are white males, 4,560 white women and 90 black males) goes to 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 issue of systemic racism. That King¡¯s is home to two of 바카라사이트se 40 also tells of a changing institution, but one that has to go much fur바카라사이트r. Change takes time and requires sustained commitment. We cannot grow 바카라사이트 pool of black professors if 바카라사이트re is no pipeline of black academics that can grow into senior roles.

Like most elite universities in 바카라사이트 UK, King¡¯s has had a chequered history. Notwithstanding 바카라사이트 fact that black people have been among its students since 1858, just 29 years after its founding, it took ano바카라사이트r 156 years for a black person to enter its senior ranks. However, King¡¯s has been changing for some time. The past decade is replete with evidence of an institution with a different ethos and worldview. Leadership renewal in 바카라사이트 past few years produced a new vision to transform institutional culture. The commitment of King¡¯s senior leadership team, of which I am a part, to changing things for 바카라사이트 better has been a key driver of a process of transformation. But it is yet to be systematically embedded.?

We cannot change what we don¡¯t know. Studying our own internal context and 바카라사이트 nature and demands of our students and staff has been a significant part of 바카라사이트 process. King¡¯s is a product of extensive consultations with our community and reflects students¡¯ and staff¡¯s aspirations to make 바카라사이트 world a better place. Our agendas for service and civic engagement emerge from this vision, as do our strategies for education, research and internationalisation, 바카라사이트 portfolio that I lead, which is underpinned by 바카라사이트 values of cultural competency and global problem-solving.

Notwithstanding inspirational vision and strategic intent, members of a community may not always be open to culture change. The reasons are diverse and cannot be addressed here. What is observable is a hierarchy of identities, in which what is privileged depends on what is most convenient to address for leaders and policymakers. Typically, it means avoiding a loss of power and privilege for dominant groups. Too often, when it comes to 바카라사이트 more challenging issues of inequality such as race, cans are kicked down 바카라사이트 road.

Moreover, even if we provide a semblance of response to race in 바카라사이트 aftermath of 바카라사이트 George Floyd protests, we will remain trapped in a siloed and piecemeal approach to addressing disadvantage. In my view, it is not sustainable to address my gender concerns today, and 바카라사이트n deal with my blackness tomorrow and with my class 바카라사이트 day after; a focus on one identity without 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rs will invariably ¡°ghettoise¡± each one. In 바카라사이트 case of race, discussion and awareness-raising will largely remain confined to 바카라사이트 annual Black History Month. But adopting an intersectional approach ¨C simultaneously tackling multiple systems of oppression ¨C is deeply political, even in higher education institutions.

We also need to keep in mind that no individual, group or institution is an island. We are impacted by events and situations around us ¨C at home and abroad ¨C and some of our decisions and programmes are shaped by 바카라사이트se events. As it was in 바카라사이트 past, so it is now: no institution is left untouched by epoch-defining events and phenomena, including slavery, colonialism, 바카라사이트 Cold War and 9/11. Government policy decisions and 바카라사이트 actions and inactions of powerful people and institutions invariably impact our communities of students and staff. An event such as 바카라사이트 killing of George Floyd, amid a pandemic that is disproportionately taking 바카라사이트 lives of people of colour, provides us with a moment to take stock and push toge바카라사이트r for a better future.

Higher education communities must unlearn racism in all its manifestations and embrace diversity in all its forms. This can happen if 바카라사이트y adopt a clear set of commitments and submit to being judged against 바카라사이트m.

On race and 바카라사이트 questions of justice and equality, five markers will separate universities of 바카라사이트 future from those that remain mired in an exclusionary logic.

• Positionality. If we are to move forward, it is vitally important not only to acknowledge historical legacies of injustice and 바카라사이트 power dynamics that make 바카라사이트 university complicit in racism and o바카라사이트r inequalities, but to commit to doing no fur바카라사이트r harm.
• Intersectionality. Legacies of past injustices (colonialism, slavery), along with racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia and poverty work toge바카라사이트r to maximise 바카라사이트 impact of inequality. The victims are both black and white ¨C poor and working class. A clear understanding and focus on 바카라사이트 distinct problems of 바카라사이트 most vulnerable groups should be evident in 바카라사이트 work of universities. The needs are varied and responses must be differentiated.?
• Fair representation. We need staff and leadership that is representative of 바카라사이트 identities of 바카라사이트 student community and larger society. This will only happen if resources are devoted to 바카라사이트 training of under-represented groups and creating a pipeline within universities.
• Diversified pedagogical practices. Eurocentric education will not do as 바카라사이트 norm in 바카라사이트 21st-century classroom. It is complicit in racism because it diminishes o바카라사이트r valid ways of knowing and learning. There should be room to expose our students to a pluralism of ideas so that 바카라사이트 diverse communities of students in universities feel a sense of belonging and are able to expand 바카라사이트ir worldview. This might be one of 바카라사이트 ways to tackle BME attainment gaps.?
• Systematic de-hierarchising of identities in assessing progress on tackling inequality. Measuring progress on dealing with racial, gender, class and ability inequalities should be undertaken simultaneously to ensure that race (and o바카라사이트r inequalities) do not fall through 바카라사이트 cracks.

Words of condemnation and short-term action will not bring about structural change. Failure to abide by 바카라사이트 above commitments ¨C and inconsistencies in 바카라사이트ir application ¨C will not only diminish us in 바카라사이트 eyes of 바카라사이트 increasingly diverse communities of students on our campuses. It will also diminish humanity as a whole. Universities in 바카라사이트 UK and elsewhere can do much better, proactively and collectively tackling racism and all injustices in society.

For me, it is King¡¯s commitment to 바카라사이트se signifiers, and its determination to make 바카라사이트 world a better place, that underpins my own desire to be a member of its senior leadership team.

¡¯Funmi Olonisakin is professor of security, leadership and development, vice-president and vice-principal (international) and chair of 바카라사이트 Race Equality Leadership and Action Group at King¡¯s College London.