White men dominate posts at university

SCOTLAND’S universities have been accused of a “shameful imbalance” between staff and students after new figures showed the vast majority of those in senior academic posts are white and male.

Despite an increasingly cosmopolitan student body, figures released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that 95 per cent of professors at Scottish institutions are white and more than 80 per cent are male.

The union representing Scotland’s lecturers said a “glass ceiling” continued to exist for female academics, while there was also work to do in increasing the number of senior staff from ethnic minorities.

The figures come at a time when Scotland’s universities are more international than ever, with growing numbers of students from the EU and further afield. Last month it emerged the number of Chinese students grew by 33 per cent in a year.

While the HESA figures showed a good mix between the sexes in Scottish academia as a whole, amongst the country’s professors both women and minorities were poorly represented.

Women account for 42 per cent of all academic staff and 63 per cent of non-academic staff. However, women make up just 18 per cent of the country’s 2,185 professors.

The picture is even more stark for those from minority backgrounds, with just over 10 per cent of academics and around 5 per cent of professors being black, Asian or from another non-white ethnic background.

Mary Senior, Scottish official for the University and College Union, said a culture which rewarded those working long, unsociable hours made it difficult for women with families to progress.

“The long hours culture, with an emphasis on research and targets, makes it difficult to balance with family life – that is a real concern for us,” she said.

Alastair Sim, director of Universities Scotland, said: “Scottish universities are working to level the playing field, and provide equal access to promotion, professional development and increased retention of talented staff.”