A radical shift in policy and practice is taking place in UK Higher Education. Higher education institutions and UKRI Research Councils are now advertising student opportunities with race in the eligibility criteria. To be eligible for such schemes, students must meet a requirement that is based on the immutable characteristic of race, as opposed to socioeconomic status or first-generation university student status.
No doubt some individuals will benefit from such opportunities. But has due consideration been given to some of the issues and implications of such a change in practice?
There are some obvious issues with using race in eligibility criteria. They necessarily imply that being black or falling within some other racial minority category is a disadvantage, and that those who do require targeted support and opportunities - regardless of socioeconomic circumstances. While some people believe this and are entitled to, others do not and would strongly contest such an assertion. But the practice of race eligibility requirements on opportunities suggests that this view is the correct one and imposes it on students.
Not all students, including those they are aimed at, will welcome such schemes. Some students will find them patronising or stigmatising, and will want to be in fair competition with all their peers for opportunities - not just ones of the same racial background. Many students will feel instinctively uncomfortable about the use of race in eligibility criteria, as they do not routinely think of themselves or others in terms of racial categories with social significance.
Race eligibility requirements also present challenges for families. In the case of some families, one sibling would be eligible whereas another sibling would not – as one is mixed-race, or falls under another racial minority category, and the other is white and does not. And this would be the case despite them having had the same upbringing and the same access to social and material resources or lack thereof. Not all families will welcome race requirements on student opportunities, and nor should they have to.
The family situation can easily be extended to peer groups, schools, other educational settings and communities. Britain is a diverse country (and incidentally mixed-race is one of our fastest growing demographics). There are plenty of students from less affluent backgrounds who would be ineligible for such opportunities because of their race, and vice versa. It is easy to see how race requirements on student opportunities could provoke animosity, as they will understandably be perceived by some as grossly unfair and even racist.
Personally, I do not support race requirements on education and training opportunities in the UK under any circumstances. I believe that a more acceptable and proportionate approach, if the goal is to widen participation, would be to target students from areas of socioeconomic deprivation (a better proxy of disadvantage than race). This might disproportionately benefit those from non-majority racial backgrounds, and it avoids unnecessary differential treatment by race.
Higher education institutions and Research Councils in the UK are choosing the path of race eligibility criteria on student opportunities. For those of us who are concerned by this, here are some questions we might ask our politicians and policymakers:
Have students and the wider public been surveyed about how comfortable they are with the use of racial categories as eligibility criteria for certain opportunities, or whether they would prefer an emphasis on socioeconomic background (regardless of race)?
Have the possible consequences been considered of such policies on community cohesion and on attitudes toward different racial groups, especially in areas with less opportunity?
Has research been conducted to provide an estimate of how many eligible students may be excluded from such opportunities because they do not wish to disclose their racial background or simply will not apply because the criteria include race?
Is there high-quality evidence that targeting individuals by race rather than by socioeconomic status is a more successful strategy for recruiting and retaining first-generation university students?
Originally posted on 12th December 2022, this piece was amended to make it shorter and then re-posted in its current form.
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