The Social Exclusion and Inclusion Seminar presentation by  Kalwant Bhopal – Professorial Research Fellow; Professor of Education and Social Justice, Centre for Research in Race & Education (CRRE), School of Education, University of Birmingham

Co-Sponsor: Culture, Institutions, and Society Group, GSE

This talk will explore student and staff inequalities in higher education for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups in the UK. It will argue that despite recent policy developments and changes in the student body, inequalities continue to persist in higher education. The seminar will examine the experiences of BME academics who consider moving overseas for career opportunities. It explores the barriers that BME academics report in UK higher education, which affect their decisions for overseas higher education migration. The presentation will draw on research funded by the Equality Challenge Unit which found that BME academics were significantly more likely than White academics to have considered moving overseas to work. Many respondents reported various barriers to career progression, such as processes of racism, exclusion and marginalization. The seminar will also explore the methodological difficulties of researching BME groups in higher education, such as access, power, the use of gatekeepers and insider/outsider research. The study suggests that significant change is needed in the UK higher education sector in order to retain BME academics who consider moving overseas.