"Race Equality and Higher Education: Thinking outside the (tick) box" Dr Gurnam Singh, Centre for the Study of

1. "Race Equality and Higher Education:Thinking outside the (tick) box"Dr Gurnam Singh, Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE), Coventry University Minding the gap: ethnicity and gender disparities in degree attainment in Higher Education Institute of Education, University of London 22 January 2008

2. 1. White. 11 White - British 2 White - Irish. 13 White Scottish. 14 Irish Traveller. 19 Other White background. 21 Black or Black British - Caribbean. 22 Black or Black British - African. 29 Other Black background. 31 Asian or Asian British - Indian. 32 Asian or Asian British - Pakistani. 33 Asian or Asian British -Bangladeshi. 34 Chinese. 39 Other Asian background. 41 Mixed - White and Black Caribbean. 42 Mixed - White and Black African. 43 Mixed - White and Asian. 49 Other Mixed background. 80 Other Ethnic background. Higher Education Stats Agency (HESA) Categories

3. Academic neutrality and the problem of positivism William Blake's Newton (1795),

4. Alternative knowledge claims in and of themselves are rarely threatening to conventional knowledge. Such claims are routinely ignored, discarded, or simply absorbed and marginalised in existing paradigms. Much more threatening is the challenge that alternative epistemologies offer. (Patricia Hill Collins, 2000a p270-271) Need for a paradigm shift

5. I learned everything from this first spectacle: I saw how the white (French), superior, plutocratic, civilised world founded its power on the repression of populations who had suddenly become ‘invisible’, like proletarians, immigrant workers, minorities who are not the right ‘colour’, women. Invisible as human beings. But, of course, perceived as tools – dirty, stupid, lazy, underhanded, etc. Thanks to some annihilating dialectical magic, I saw that the great, noble, ‘advanced’ countries established themselves by expelling what was ‘strange’; excluding it but not dismissing it; enslaving it. A commonplace gesture of History: there have to be two races – the masters and the slaves. (Hélène Cixous, quoted in Young, 1990, p1) Inequality, oppression and western enlightenment culture

6. Where we are … Is global warming taking place? Is there an explanation for BME underachievement other than institutional racism? Where we need to be … Global warming is an undisputable fact, the nature of which is not fully understood. The sum of our collective human experience indicates that institutional racism is the norm. What is the essence of the paradigm shift?

7. Stage 1 – Critical Unconsciousness Stage 2 – CriticalComplacency • Personal and organisational • growth/change/transformation • Challenge welcomed • Emphasis on transparency • Monitoring a means not end Stage 3 – Critical Consciousness • Stage 1 - Racism is a fiction or occurs elsewhere • Analogous to global warming being a fiction or • ‘not my problem’ • I am a very intelligent rational cosmopolitan person • Nobody complains • I treat all my students alike. • BME underachievement = WP = lowering standards • Cultural deficit • Dehumanisation • Stage 3 – Racism is a fact, analogous to • accepting the reality of global warming • There are no easy solutions • We need knowledge/technology • We are on a journey • It involves reframing • Transformation – life style change • Two way dialogue • Rehumanisation Developing an Anti-racist Mind Set • Critical Incident • Scandal • Challenge • Audit • Little change • Growing frustration • Paralysis • Resentment • Conflict • Stage 2 – Racism is an issue for some. • Analogous to accepting the hypothetical • possibility of global warming • We need information • We must be seen to do something • We need a policy statement. • We need to become PC • We need new words and cultural awareness • We need to provide remedial support • for underachieving students

8. Need a develop an analysis/understanding of racism which is neither simplistic, convenient or politically palatable. To do this we need to have a historical perspective, not least to appreciate the scale of the challenge. Need to break the link between BME underachievement and cultural pathology however tempting and convenient this may be. Need to establish the link between BME underachievement, racism, power and professional/institutional practices and pedagogy. Need to understand the social production of human identities is not benign – represents conflicting interests and motives i.e. to exploit, control, regulate, manipulate, label, resist, organise, mobilise, self-empowerment etc. Shifting the paradigm developing an anti-racist mind set/common sense – 10 point plan

9. We need to realise that categories we use to compare/measure student achievement are themselves descriptive and contingent and therefore incapable of explaining the totality of ones experience. We need to provide support for students that is empowering in ways that is neither tokenistic, stigmatising nor paternalistic. We need to develop creative solutions and need to remember that intellect alone does not guarantee imagination. We need to stop rewarding failure/inaction and start supporting risk taking and courage We need to listen to and hear the stories of BME students, their experiences and ideas about solutions. Shifting the paradigm developing an anti-racist mind set/common sense – 10 point plan continued …

10. 'Until the lions tell their own history, history will always glorify the hunters'. (African Proverb) Importance of the Black Student Voice