By Natricia Duncan From The Voice

Out of more than 18,000 professors, less than one per cent comes from African or Caribbean background

The only way to address the “frustrating” under-representation of African Caribbean academics is through forceful activism, according to leading black academics.

Calls for concerted action come in the wake of a race equality survey conducted by Black British Academics, which revealed ethnic minority students wanted more lecturers who reflect their ethnicity and culture.

The report also highlighted that only 0.3 per cent out of 18,510 professors in the higher education sector were Black African and 0.1 per cent Black Caribbean.

Author of the report Deborah Gabriel, who is also founder of Black British Academics, said: “Our survey shows that black and minority ethnic staff are frustrated by racial inequalities that block their path to senior positions.

Nathan Richards, a history PhD student at Goldsmith University, believes the current system of academia is skewed to the perspective of the white male.

He explained: “It limits the understanding of so many things, from gender issues to different cultures and issues of race. We are not getting other people’s experiences coming through institutions to inform structures like governance and policy.”

Richards added: “My area is primarily history and the historical narrative. What I see coming through is that African culture has not contributed to anything significant in human civilisation. This impacts how young people see themselves and their cultures and it creates self-esteem issues.”

Oxford PhD student and lecturer Adam Elliott-Cooper, 27, said: “I have never had a black lecturer. I’ve never been taught about the politics of race and racism, despite doing a degree in politics and globalisation.”

Birmingham criminologist Dr Martin Glynn, who has two decades of experience, stressed the importance of having a “visible” black academic presence.

He said: “I come from a street background and I have a PhD, so my students see someone with the same kind of cultural context. I still live in the community. That creates a tipping point for the aspirations of young students, those from the streets and the ex-offenders I work with.”

The solution to the problem, Gabriel suggested, is positive action.

She said: “Positive action does not mean shortlisting or hiring people who are not equipped to do the job. As a matter of fact, past research shows that people from BME backgrounds are actually more qualified than those from the white majority population.”

Glynn went further in recommending that the “attack” on the issue must be multipronged. “Students have a role to play in demanding a more reflective world view in academia,” he said.

Elliott-Cooper agreed: “We can’t rely on the Government to change things. If you look at the US, the only reason there is better representation, African American and ethnic studies departments and affirmative action programmes is because black people and black communities came together and demanded change with their activism. They occupied campuses, they protested and they went on strike.

“Similarly in the UK we need to organise ourselves to pressure these organisations to change. It is not going to happen unless it is forced upon them.”

PHOTO: BLACK, FEMALE AND LECTURING: Dr Nicola Rollock, of Birmingham University, is one of the few high-profile academics

For more on this story go to: http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/occupy-campuses-over-shameful-statistics-academics-say