Staff diversity: socio-economic background

The movement to ‘decolonise’ university curricula has leaped into the political and educational mainstream in the wake of George Floyd’s death, dividing opinion on campus and beyond. Anna McKie examines how scholars are handling difficult discussions and where the agenda goes next

Indigenous peoples balance patience and autonomy with the lure of education and jobs

Universities UK guidance says institutions must introduce training on concepts such as microaggressions and white privilege

Pledged support for equality must be put into practice on multiple fronts, from syllabi and curricula to advising and recommending, say Chisomo Selemani and Anna Young

Scientists ask why major journal published findings that female mentors may be bad for your career, even after reviewers pointed out flaws in the paper’s methodology

Sexual orientation may have greater impact on academic choices than race, US data suggest

Experts urge universities to see Covid disruption as an opportunity to broaden access

Astrophysicists in Hong Kong and France say that public perceptions of gender should change and that more should be done to support women in science

If these unique institutions can become more inclusive, issue-oriented and multidisciplinary, their graduates will be equipped to tackle the 21st century’s multiple crises, say Steven Volk and Beth Benedix

Denise Bradley’s instrumental target has easily been reached, reshaping the populace in the process

Suzanne Rivera receives both praise and abuse on social media in response to offer but says she will continue to defend rights to assembly and free speech

Socio-economic disadvantages are most prominent in the first two years of university, study finds

When teachers ignore offensive language, we are complicit in making the classroom unsafe, say Mariangela Palladino and Shalini Sharma

Asian American opposition seen as decisive, as state also favours human embryonic research

Vice-chancellor says sector should aim to get to a point where losing staff from diverse backgrounds is no longer a worry

Gap in rates of entry to England’s most selective institutions between most and least underrepresented is biggest since 2016

Greater diversity is needed within higher education’s libraries, says Regina Everitt, one of very few BAME directors of a university library in the UK

Oldest state-funded military college has history of venerating Confederacy

UK minister Kemi Badenoch’s disavowal of the theory plays into a misleading right-wing narrative, says Hannah Robbins

An honest national conversation about the murky origins of Greek life is a prerequisite for a better future, says Taulby Edmondson

Institutions have begun cancelling diversity, equity and inclusion programmes in response to an executive order, but critics say it amounts to censorship

Several institutions will not be enrolling doctoral students in autumn 2021 because of the pandemic

Patience will be required to bring along those who refuse to embrace racial equality or recognise it as a priority, says Jason Arday

Higher education is awash with stirring statements about its commitment to greater diversity. Yet students who face discrimination often do not know where to turn and are seldom impressed by the support they get, discovers Jason Murugesu

Natural Environment Research Council defends decision to award fellowships entirely to men in 2019, but will review diversity processes

Despite numerous announcements by the University of British Columbia, indigenous leaders see big talk from a big institution, but no clearer answers on finding balance

Leading human rights barrister calls on UK law schools to address ethnic minority under-representation among academic teaching staff

The readers’ editors employed by some quality newspapers offer a model for how to protect and promote universities’ core values, argues Priya Rajasekar

Leading academics respond to government plan to end link between charter mark and research funding, amid fears that equality issues will be sidelined

Members of the Athena SWAN review steering group write an open letter in response to the plan to cut the link between the equality charter and research funding

Calgary initiative aims to stamp out unconscious bias in law and medicine

The increasing social status of the ‘highly credentialed’ risks breeding populist resentment, according to renowned political philosopher

While finding seats as university directors, minorities still lack teaching equity and questions remain over ‘check-box representation’

Jessica Krug, a ‘white Jewish child’ of suburban Kansas City, blames mental stress

New York University provost says sector approaches to diverse hiring can become ‘distasteful, racist and fetishistic’ exercises

Mamokgethi Phakeng says universities often ‘part of the machine’ that perpetuates white privilege and exploitation of Global South

Wits v-c says that decolonised knowledge must not be sanitised knowledge

Confining students with disabilities to ‘special-education castles’ within Chinese universities does not provide true opportunity, says Zhang Yuexin

University denies favouring black applicants over white and Asian American candidates

‘Well-meaning’ codes of conduct do not lead to initiatives that make a difference, study finds

Publisher says investigation under way after academics call for retraction of ‘unscholarly’ paper by influential voice on US welfare reform

Pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests amplify pressure on multibillion-dollar sports programmes over levels of athlete remuneration

Universities and colleges offering hands-on training have found it harder to shift online, hurting their students, who are more likely to be from less-advantaged families

Campus-focused plans show US colleges still too age-limited, says job-centric pioneer

Hepi report says universities need to move past the idea that decolonisation is merely an equality and diversity issue

Michelle Donelan says higher rates of university entry among black Britons highlight how narrative about social mobility can be misleading

Black Lives Matter protests have reignited debate over the persistence of ‘neocolonial’ structures within discipline

Research also suggests that government’s anti-terrorism strategy is causing students and staff to self-censor discussions of Islam

Across leading higher education sectors, black and ethnic minority academics are more likely to be in the insecure roles being targeted by coronavirus-triggered saving programmes

London institution says use of Sir John Cass’ name is ‘incompatible with our values of diversity and inclusivity’

An open letter from academics, university staff and students to sector leaders

Open letter from ethnic minority university staff in UK includes 17 recommendations to help eliminate racism in higher education

Liverpool John Moores asked staff to consult communications team before expressing support for movement on institutional social media accounts

But data from UKRI show that fellowship success rates for women and BAME researchers are now higher than men and white academics 

Academia says it understands need for cures but black voices proposing changes go unheard, scholars say

Renaming policy school and college raises pressure across US higher education

Lawmakers approve referendum on reversing 1996 ban, although with tempered expectations

Deborah Gabriel also calls for imposition of financial penalties on universities that fail to tackle pay gaps

Briefing note from UKCGE shows drop-off in numbers at PhD level compared to undergraduate

Universities must put as much effort into equality and diversity strategies as they do into other areas, say leading academics