Universities urged to diversify unrepresentative reading lists

Study finds white, male authors dominate science degree curricula

Women and ethnic minority researchers remain grossly underrepresented in university reading lists, according to a new study highlighting the slow progress being made to diversify learning content in the UK.

While academic communities in other parts of the world have been proactive in reviewing their degree content in recent years—work has taken place to “decolonise” the university curriculum in South Africa for example—researchers from University College London, Karen Schucan Bird and Lesley Pitman, say that there is still little evidence of diversification in UK institutions.