Black lecturers held back by racism

White lecturers are more likely to be in top positions

Black lecturers are being held back from top positions in colleges because of institutional racism, a study has said.

A three-year investigation concluded that ethnic minority staff were better educated than their white colleagues but were less likely to have a senior post.

A survey of more than 400 colleges found that ethnic minority staff were under-represented.

The study, which was part-funded by the Association of Colleges and the lecturers' union Natfhe, said black staff accounted for just 7% of lecturers, 5% of managers and 1% of principals.

It said black staff tended to be better educated. 55% of ethnic minority staff were graduates, compared to 49% of white staff.

White-led organisations

The study was carried out by Commission for Black Staff in Education, which was set up in 1999 following the Macpherson Report into the death of Stephen Lawrence,

The report said: "Although the numbers of black students are rising, many colleges remain mainly white organisations - their leadership and management are predominantly or exclusively from a white European background.

"This raises questions about the experiences of black students in predominantly white-led organisations and the possible effects of this on retention and achievement."

Education minister Ivan Lewis described the report as a "wake-up call" to everyone in further education.

But the Association of Colleges says the further education colleges are ahead of other education sectors on race matters.

The organisation's director of communications, Linda Butler, said: "This is an example of us being very active in ensuring that race and ethnicity issues are dealt with positively in colleges.

"We would challenge other sectors to match the quality of work and effort which is going on in this area in colleges.

"Ethnic minority representation amongst staff and students in colleges is at a very good level compared with other sectors and we are keenly supporting the move to increase senior management representation."