Race Equality in the Higher Education Sector Implementation Plan

Rac

Today sees the launch of the Higher Education Authority Race Equality in the Higher Education Sector Implementation Plan 2022-2024.
Lucy will be speaking about the work we did on the national survey of Race Equality in the Higher Education Sector and how our report informed recommendations.

We found:
More than one-third (35%) of minority ethnic third-level education staff say they have been subjected to racial or ethnic discrimination on campus.
Less than half of minority ethnic staff are on full-time contracts, compared to 38% of white Irish and 25% white other not on full time contracts.
Just over 17% of minority ethnic staff earn over €75,000, compared to 38% of white Irish and 25% of white other
Some 71% said they feel they are treated equally by their colleagues, irrespective of their background
69% said they are treated equally by students, irrespective of their background
Few white staff have reported experiencing racial or ethnic discrimination, but all groups reported witnessing racial or ethnic discrimination against minority ethnic staff
More than half of respondents (52%) said they had never seen or heard the use of racist language on campus or online, while 27% said they rarely have seen such instances. However, staff across all ethnic groups described witnessing racial or ethnic discrimination against ethnic minority staff.

We made recommendations in 8 key areas:

Leadership
Supporting Diversity in Staffing
Making Race/Equality Policies Transparent
Reporting Mechanisms
Awareness and Training
Fostering Diversity in HEIs
Supporting Diversity in Student Recruitment
Data Collection

Read the full research report here

We look forward to seeing how those are implemented from today.