Racism in academia has major impact on BAME staff mental health

These so called micro aggressions are experienced everywhere, much more so outside academia than within. Academia is generally a very safe environment for BAME staff. That’s not to say racism is absent, but it is not as prevalent as this and similar articles would suggest. This is a problem that should be tackled from An early age in society at large. The most invidious problem by far is personal prejudice. If a head decides to take a disliking to a particular staff member, they can make their life extremely miserable. This would not be that much of a problem if it weren’t for the way the system works in the UK. Heads wield great power in determining the future of their staff. Things are rarely done by committee as in other countries. Moreover, there is virtually no oversight from higher level bodies within universities, faculty, university level. In many systems, thee bodies will block decisions if they don’t appear to be justified. The UK system has a rubber stamping culture with hiring and promotions, subject only to budgetary constraints. Higher level bodies rarely if ever question decisions, even if they appear prima facie to be ludicrous. Hence the lunacy seen currently, with people promoted to the highest levels despite mediocre or even very poor records of attainment in research. It used to be that papers and international standing were the the primary considerations. This was replaced in STEM with funding records. More recently, with funding hard to come by, the criteria are no longer clear. From the outside the decisions appear to be random. The reality is probably one of nepotism. Heads are picked primarily for their deference and compliance in the face of senior admin. They often have ambitions themselves of senior admin roles. There are those who don’t fit this mould and are scrupulous and fair minded, trying to foster a scholarly environment. Unfortunately, they are becoming a minority because administrators don’t like scholarship to get in the way of progress, as defined be them; namely, generating profits.