The Universities UK (UUK) advocacy group, which unites 140 institutions of higher learning, on Tuesday released a report that unveils prevalence of racial inequalities within the country's higher education system, with recommendations on how to combat what it calls racial harassment
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2020) The Universities UK (UUK) advocacy group, which unites 140 institutions of higher learning, on Tuesday released a report that unveils prevalence of racial inequalities within the country's higher education system, with recommendations on how to combat what it calls racial harassment.
According to UUK, last year's report on tackling racial harassment by the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission brought attention to the issue and its prevalence in the university system, prompting the group to act.
"In the past few months alone, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have shone a stark light on the racial inequalities that exist throughout all sections of UK society, including within higher education," the group said in an executive summary of the report.
The document goes on to list various recommendations covering five themes, such as culture, whole-institution response, prevention, response, evaluation and sharing good practice and organizing race literacy training for university vice chancellors.
"We recommend that senior leaders, including vice-chancellors and principals, demonstrate strong leadership and ownership of activity to address racial harassment ... On a personal level, we also recommend senior leaders enhance their knowledge and understanding of race and racial literacy as well as the lived experiences of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and students in their community," one recommendation reads.
The recommendations are developed by an advisory group, led by University of East Anglia Vice Chancellor David Richardson, informed by experts and consultations with minority students.
