Universities ‘oblivious’ to scale of racial harassment

Around three in 20 staff members who have experienced racial harassment report leaving their job because of the abuse

Universities are overly confident in their ability to handle racial harassment on campus despite staff reportedly leaving their jobs because of abuse, the Equality and Human Rights Commission has reported.

Around a quarter of staff surveyed by the government’s equality watchdog for its report into racial harassment at universities said they had experienced racist name-calling and other insults, and more than half said they had been excluded in some way because of their race. The commission also found that about a quarter of minority ethnic students said they had experienced racial harassment since beginning their course.