Imagining a More Inclusive University

Abstract

What are the factors that encourage or discourage a successful university experience and how is this subjectively understood by Black (African, Caribbean and Asian) students? How might university cultures and subcultures better enhance the development of Black students and staff, particularly Black women in the UK? This will be considered by imagining what a more inclusive academy might look like, in the light of associated theorizing. There is, as part of the above, an interrogation of what being a university is and might be. There can be emptiness in policy statements, as well as avoidance, on the one hand; on the other, moments of courage, and struggle, to remind us of what a university can be; a place where difficult issues are addressed, in reflexive, intellectual yet also humane ways. A critical race theory framework is used to theorize and examine the way race and racism implicitly and explicitly impact on social structures, practices and discourse, and asserts itself within the corridors of higher education. It paints a picture of what the more inclusive university might be like, alongside an understanding of how difficult it is for humans to engage with the complexity, of race, stereotyping and discrimination.

Citation

Andall-Stanberry, M. (2020), "Imagining a More Inclusive University", Sengupta, E., Blessinger, P. and Mahoney, C. (Ed.) Leadership Strategies for Promoting Social Responsibility in Higher Education (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 24), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 77-92. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120200000024008