Non-EU academics outnumber EU staff on UK campuses for first time

More UK academic staff come from outside the European Union than from inside the bloc for the first time, new figures reveal.

Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) show that 240,420 academic staff were employed at UK higher education providers on 1 December 2022 – 17 per cent (40,195) of whom were from outside the EU.

Whereas this was a rise of 11 per cent on the number of academic staff from outside the EU the year before, the number of academics from the EU fell for the third year in a row, to 37,585.

With people from the EU making up 16 per cent of the academic workforce, it is the first time since comparable figures began that they have been outnumbered by non-EU staff.

However, Giulio Marini, a senior assistant professor at the University of Catania who has collected data on this issue for years, said it is the first time that non-EU staff have outnumbered those from the EU since 2010.

Academics from mainland China are the biggest contributor to the rise in non-EU staff, while the exit of many Italians is helping drive down EU numbers, he said.

“In absolute terms, we are witnessing a demise of Italians, one of the most representative presence within academic staff in recent years.”

With a surge in non-EU migration, Colin Talbot, emeritus professor at the University of Manchester, said the Hesa figures followed the same pattern as overall migration levels, but there were some factors specific to academia.

“The UK’s decision to leave Horizon Europe – the EU’s biggest research programme – had a big impact,” he said.

“Lots of projects involved EU academics moving to the UK, and vice versa, as part of Horizon projects.”

Professor Talbot, who is also a research associate at the University of Cambridge, said his research had shown that many EU scholars felt less welcome in the UK, and that leaders of research teams were considering relocating to the EU to ensure they could recruit from a wider pool of talent.

“We have now rejoined Horizon, but I think it’s done immense damage being out of it,” he added.

The Hesa data, which excludes those on atypical contracts, reveal that junior academics are responsible for the diminishing number of EU academics. While the number of EU professors and other senior academics increased by 6 per cent and 8 per cent respectively, there was a 2 per cent fall year on year in the number of more junior academics.

By contrast, there are 37 per cent more junior academics from outside the EU now than there were in 2018-19.

David Menéndez Alvarez-Hevia moved back to Spain two years ago after more than a decade in the UK, leaving behind his role at Manchester Metropolitan University in the process.

“Brexit was not the only reason to take this decision, but it contributed significantly. UK academia is a very attractive place to work for multiple reasons, but life happens outside the university buildings,” he said.

“To some extent, I started feeling that the socio-political environment had changed and I was not as comfortable as before.”

Dr Alvarez-Hevia, who now works at the University of Oviedo, said he was grateful for his experience in the UK, but felt it was no longer his home.

Vassiliki Papatsiba, a reader in social sciences at Cardiff University, said Brexit inevitably brought significant changes to the university landscape. Dr Papatsiba said the top-performing institutions in REF2014 and Horizon 2020 also had the highest number of EU academic staff, and EU academics were more likely to have their work submitted for REF evaluation.

“While it’s encouraging that UK universities remain attractive post-Brexit, the key question revolves around whether they can continue to attract the calibre of staff they deserve,” she added.

“It is a question of excellence and quality rather than mere numbers and flows.”

The Hesa figures also showed that the number of black academics rose by 18 per cent year on year, and the number of black professors by 27 per cent. However, black professors still make up less than 1 per cent of the total.

Meanwhile, the proportion of professors who were female increased slightly to 31 per cent.

“The sector still has much to do to address gender and racial inequalities,” said Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and College Union. “The pace of change remains far too slow and university leaders need to work with the UCU and remove the obstacles that stop women and black staff from progressing into senior positions.”

In total, 22.4 per cent of academics whose ethnicity was known were non-white in 2022-23, up from 16.8 per cent in 2018-19.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com