Non-white applicants less likely to win grants, suggest RCUK data

Diversity data released by the UK research councils detailing the gender and ethnicity of applicants and awardees have suggested that white applicants had a better chance of securing awards than black and ethnic minority colleagues in 2013-14.

Data gathered from the research councils’ online application system, Je-S, shows that, in 2013-14, applicants declaring themselves as white had a higher success rate for winning grants across all of the research councils than applicants declaring themselves “Asian/Black/Chinese/Mixed/Other”.

The trend has generally held up over the past three years, with some fluctuation. However, the success rates of applicants whose ethnicity was not disclosed, or was unknown, were often high (similar to those for white applicants) and have fluctuated over the years.