Survey launched for Ethnic Equity in Education campaign

A sector-wide survey launched today aims to gather the views of educators and FE leaders on key issues affecting ethnic representation and student attainment in further education.

Black Leadership Group (BLG) has teamed up with FE News to launch the poll as part of  Ethnic Equity in Education (EEE), a new campaign sponsored by BLG and supported by key stakeholder organisations.

It comes after a crisis summit in July, convened by BLG and attended by bodies including the Department for Education (DfE), Association of Colleges (AoC), Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), Education and Training Foundation, Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), and Ofsted, addressed ethnicity gaps in recruitment, representation and the attainment of students in FE. 

Since the summit, the DfE’s Workforce Data Survey has revealed that just over 7% of leaders in the wider FE sector in England are Black* and that there severe minority ethnic under-representation at all levels in the workforce.

BLG Director Robin Landman OBE said:

“We are seeing clear evidence that an ethnically unrepresentative workforce in further education is damaging the attainment levels of Black students at college and as they enter the workforce. Today we are asking you to take part in our survey, in partnership with FE News, as part of our campaign to create a fairer FE for everyone.”

Survey participants are asked for their views on the creation of an ‘ethnic representation index’ for FE and initiatives to enhance the pipeline for Black leaders in FE.

Following the summit, leaders in FE gathered in September for the first Consultative Group meeting of the EEE campaign. The group, including representatives from a broad cross-section of the FE system, will now meet twice a month online to drive forward three work streams:

• Black staff representation – addressing the chronic under-representation across the further education colleges sector, and the system as a whole and in leadership positions in particular
• *Black student attainment levels – action on the important relationship between staff representation and student success
• Promotion and publicity – raising awareness of the issues through a coordinated, collaborative campaign to ensure sector-wide support and engagement 

You can take part in the EEE survey here.

For more information on the campaign, view our report on the BLG website.

Robin Landman will lead a session at the AoC Annual Conference on Tuesday 14 November called Achieving ethnic equity in further education. Register for the event here.

• BLG uses ‘Black’ as an inclusive definition for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds who share a lived experience of the effects of racism.