The Black Professoriate: Assessing the Landscape Within British Higher Education

Abstract

The paucity of Black higher education professors within the United Kingdom (UK) illuminates the systemic inequity of the higher education system within Britain. The dearth of Black Professors within the professoriate in UK Higher Education (HE) is reflective of the racially discriminatory landscape. This paper offers a succinct synthesis of recent evidence in relation to assessing how the Academy systemically marginalizes Black academics from the professoriate in the UK. This paper highlights the need for the sector to mobilize greater opportunities for Black academics to progress throughout the Academy to the professoriate, in addition to challenging the sector and HE policy-makers to play more of a pivotal role in advancing ethnic equality in UK universities.