Growing numbers of black academics quitting for private sector

The number of black academics quitting UK universities for the private sector has nearly tripled in recent years.

Seventy black academics left for the private sector in the 2021-22 academic year, compared with 25 in 2019-20, according to previously unpublished Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) data.

There has been a general rise in the number of academics of all backgrounds leaving for the private sector, from 1,500 in 2019-20 to 2,515 in 2021-22. While the number of black academics leaving the sector is small, diversity experts are concerned the exodus could be linked to a lack of career support for ethnic-minority scholars.

Ifedapo Francis Awolowo, a senior lecturer in financial and management accounting at Sheffield Hallam University, said black scholars too often saw white colleagues leapfrogging them on the career ladder.

“I know some [black] colleagues who have done some remarkable work and yet, when it’s time for promotion, they apply to be [a] professor and they don’t get it. So they feel if they go into industry at least that pays more money,” Dr Awolowo said.

“It’s a trend that I’m concerned about. As much as we’re trying to fix the broken pipeline, to attract more black scholars to come into the academy, it is sad to see that the few black academics in the sector are leaving.”

Nelarine Cornelius, professor of organisation studies at Queen Mary University of London, pointed out that ethnic-minority academics were often more likely to work in areas with greater potential industry crossover, such as business, accountancy, law and medicine.

But she said that discriminatory promotion processes could also be a factor in black academics’ decisions to quit.

“In a lot of universities, it’s still very partial. The processes are largely informal in terms of how you’re promoted and who supports you for promotion. And that can become very frustrating [for black academics],” Professor Cornelius said.

At the end of 2022 there were 7,295 black academics working in UK universities, up from 5,205 in 2020, according to Hesa data.

“It is worth noting the increase that we see in black academics, including a 25 per cent increase in black professors this year, and that at least some part of the jump in numbers [in black academics quitting] reflects this continuous increase in black academics, particularly in the lower stages of the pipeline, where attrition is most likely to be seen,” said David Bass, director of equality, diversity and inclusion at Advance HE.

rosa.ellis@timeshighereducation.com