See My Academic FACE

Leadership and legal systems recognise only overt and witnessed racial slurs or overt and witnessed victimisation. Racism that is ingrained, covert, routine and longstanding, goes unaddressed

Black academics make up just 2% of the academic population (Adams, 2020) and are not recruited or progressed with the same keenness as white/non-minoritised colleagues. This study is hosted and initiated by Fashion Academics Creating Equality (FACE) and sponsored by Kingston School of Art (KSA) EDI Race and Ethnicity group

The information gathered from both minoritised and non minoritised educators, technicians and support staff will support drives for better recruitment, retention and progression of minoritised educators by white institutions.

The aim of this study is to capture the everyday experience of educators including technicians and support staff regardless of qualifications and/or position, in Higher Education Art and Design. We ask all Arts and Design institutions to encourage staff members of all races to complete. FACE remit within Higher Education Art and Design faculties includes, but is not limited to, fashion, photography, film, graphic design, interior design and fine art.

URL link to study here QR code below…

Please promote this study within your institution by downloading A4 promotional marketing with ethics statement and QR code direct to study here

The study will take between 5-10 minutes to complete dependent on participants desire to record descriptions/observations in the insights box.

Access study via QR code left. Or URL link here

Staff Statistical Report (Advance HE, 2020) observes inequalities persist, with lower proportions of both UK and non-UK minoritised staff than white staff on open-ended/permanent contracts, in senior management positions, and on higher salary bands. Leaving rates among minoritised academics were also higher than for white academics.

FACE has observed within its own membership the referencing of ‘silent quitting.’ This term describes the act of turning up everyday to teach, when all the passion for the job and resilience to withstand micro aggressions has been stripped away.

“I do often feel that I’m dismissed early on. I also don’t speak like a typical academic most of the time, I feel that adds to these quick judgements that people make based on my appearance.”

FACE colleagues also report the difficulty of progressing race grievance within white systems, through line management, HR protocol and union representation. Thus, we conclude leadership and legal systems recognise only overt and witnessed racial slurs or overt and witnessed victimisation. Racism that is ingrained, covert, routine and longstanding, goes unaddressed.

This study is for all educators across the arts and will investigate a missing aspect of valuable knowledge: the everyday experience of minoritised educators when compared to their white colleagues. Where and how is this discrepancy revealed? Are there any similarities between groups? We believe we will gain valuable knowledge when we ask white educators, technicians and support staff to observe their own racial experience.

Click on the picture to see Ricardo Barker’s film featuring the voices of Black and Brown academics.

The study will take between 5-10 minutes to complete dependent on participant desire to record descriptions/observations in the insights box. It closes end of May. URL link to study here QR code below.

Please promote this study within your institution by downloading A4 promotional marketing with ethics statement and QR code direct to study here

“I never imagined the level of struggle and trauma I would face as a person of colour in my first academic role

The film: Disclosure by Ricardo Barker of Leeds University opened the two-day FACE Summit, hosted by Central Saint Martins (13th & 14th Oct 2022) to expose numerous barriers for minoritised academics.

In addition, a recent Kingston School of Art (KSA) film for International Women’s Day celebrated the importance of it’s minoritised female academic staff. Produced by the Race and Ethnicity EDI group, it was a passionate declaration by minoritised academics of their belief in cultural competency and the importance of diverse perspectives for all students. However, on and off camera, conversation delivered testimonies of the isolation and discomfort experienced by some participants.

All anecdotal comments within this feature are taken solely from the film Disclosure by Ricardo Barker, commissioned for the FACE Summit 2022. Film link here

“You think…how come I’m doing all of this work and staying really late or working weekends and your peers are doing less but it’s not reflected in your pay scale or the opportunities that you are getting.”

Study Design and Marketing.

Thanks to FACE Member Sonia Sood for survey development and ensuing data analytics.

Likert Scale questions and additional qualitative questions are posted via a one drive form with a link to our GDPR statement. Time required 5-10 minutes dependent on responses. FACE will promote this study via its members representing 30 Art and Design institutions. FACE is also partnered with Council for Higher Education Art and Design (CHEAD), British Fashion Council (BFC), Graduate Fashion Forum (GFF).

Notes

FACE has over 80 members from approx. 30 different institutions including CSM, LCF, Edinburgh School of Art, Falmouth, Derby, MMU, UCA, Leeds, Westminster, RCA, Chelsea School of Art, Winchester, Ulster, Birmingham City, DeMontfort, Liverpool John Moores, Nottingham Trent. Disciplines represented are fashion, photography, film, graphic design.

The current study builds on a previous study See My FACE (2021) by FACE which drew 881 replies from over 50 institutions to report on student inequality in relation to the awarding gap.

FACE took the findings from See My FACE (2021) to the OfS to demand inclusion of race aware questions within the next reiteration of the NSS in 2023. FACE later tackled the tepid response from the OfS on the educational platform WONKHE

FACE were invited to present See My FACE (2021) findings at the annual conference CHEAD: Council for Higher Education Art and Design (March 22).

Report Caryn Franklin.