Reading the resources made me reflect not only on how racism is addressed in higher education today, but also on my own experiences and how they shape my perspective as an educator. As someone from a mixed ethnic minority background who grew up in London during the 1970’s and 1980’s, I recognise that my positionality influences how I interpret these readings. Race often intersected with class, with many non-white pupils, including myself, coming from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. One memory that has stayed with me is school nativity plays, where the White, blonde girls were always chosen as angels while I was consistently cast as a Roman soldier. At the time this felt normal, but looking back it reflects how ideas about identity and belonging can become embedded in education.
Campbell (2022) reminded me that these experiences do not disappear in higher education. Through the voices of racially minoritised students, Campbell shows that many still question whether their work will be assessed fairly. This challenges the belief that assessment is entirely objective and highlights how institutional practices can unintentionally privilege White, Eurocentric norms.
Bradbury (2020) provides a useful Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework for analysing education policy. Drawing on Gillborn’s (2005) questions, who drives policy, who benefits from it, and what are its effects? Bradbury encourages us to look beyond policies that appear neutral. Bell’s (1992) principle of interest convergence also suggests that progress for racialised groups often occurs only when it aligns with the interests of those already in positions of power. Together, these ideas made me question whether some equality initiatives create genuine change or simply demonstrate institutional commitment to diversity.
Garrett (2024) shows that these inequalities continue beyond graduation. Despite achieving doctoral qualifications, many racialised minority academics described exclusion from professional networks and uncertainty about career progression. This resonated with my observation of one university speaker featured in the resources. Although he appeared to be from an Asian background, he also represented middle-class privilege, reminding me that race intersects with class and other aspects of identity.
Kruse, Rakha and Calderone (2017) argue that developing cultural competency is an important step towards inclusion, while Sadiq (2023) promotes empathy and meaningful Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). These approaches are valuable, but without structural change they risk becoming superficial. Likewise, anti-racism training should move beyond a tick-box exercise to honest conversations grounded in lived experience. Although Orr’s (2022) documentary questions DEI initiatives, the evidence presented by Bradbury, Campbell and Garrett suggests that structural inequalities remain a reality. The School That Tried to End Racism (Channel 4, 2020) also demonstrates that recognising unconscious bias is an important starting point, but awareness alone is not enough.
These resources have encouraged me to think about how anti-racism can be embedded within my own teaching. This includes continuing to decolonise the curriculum, using research and industry examples from more diverse backgrounds, recognising cultural influences such as mehndi and afro and textured hair in contemporary fashion, including more ethnically diverse practitioners into teaching, encouraging students to share their own experiences, strengthening outreach in Stratford, and ensuring staff development focuses on meaningful reflection rather than compliance.
Overall, these resources reinforce that anti-racism requires both personal reflection and institutional change. Cultural competency provides a foundation, but genuine equity depends on universities critically examining who their policies benefit, whose voices are represented, and how education can become truly inclusive.
References
Bell, D. (1992). Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism. Basic Books.
Bradbury, A. (2020). A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: The case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(2), 241–260.
Campbell, P. I. (2022). ‘Pray(ing) the person marking your work isn’t racist’: Racialised inequities in HE assessment practice. Teaching in Higher Education, 29(5), 1–15.
Channel 4. (2020). The School That Tried to End Racism [Video]. YouTube.
Garrett, R. (2024). Racism shapes careers: Career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 1–15.
Gillborn, D. (2005). Education policy as an act of White supremacy: Whiteness, critical race theory and education reform. Journal of Education Policy, 20(4), 485–505.
Kruse, S. D., Rakha, S., & Calderone, S. (2017). Developing cultural competency in higher education: An agenda for practice. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(6), 733–750.
Orr, J. (2022). Revealed: The charity turning UK universities woke [Video]. The Telegraph. YouTube.
Sadiq, A. (2023). Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Learning how to get it right [TEDx Talk]. YouTube.