‘Getting in, getting on, getting out’: Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff in UK higher education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research into the impact of neoliberalism has shown that institutional and individual pressure on staff working in Higher Education (HE), has changed over the last 30 years. Our first research study showed that the changes resulted in mostly negative experiences for White staff. In a second study we have investigated the impact of neoliberalism on Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff to investigate whether experiences matched those of their White colleagues. Drawing on narrative methodology, we undertook fourteen interviews, eight with BAME staff and six with White staff all with responsibility for equity in their institutions. We also drew on current and numerical data detailing employment patterns. While many of the negative impacts of neoliberalism were common to all staff, BAME staff offered a collective narrative focussing primarily on injustice, bullying and racism. Most striking was the pain resulting from simultaneous hypervisibility and invisibility of BAME staff, the continual questioning of their professional competence.