Gender inequality in the workplace remains a persistent issue that impacts upon women from their first point of entry into the labour market. In this paper, we explore the experiences, of 20 women in the UK as they take their initial steps onto the career ladder upon graduation. Adopting an interpretive methodology that uses a Bourdieusian…

This critical autoethnography is an account of my experiences as a woman of color (WoC) academic at a predominantly White institution in the times of COVID-19 and the consequential turn to online teaching and learning. It reflects on how the pandemic has exacerbated my experiences of discrimination, marginalization, isolation, and the struggles to…

A recent UK Government commissioned study found concerning levels of unemployment among computing students from disadvantaged, black and minority ethnic backgrounds. The study highlighted that work experience was a factor in increased levels of graduate employment. As such, it is vital that students have equal access to such work experience. This…

This article critically interrogates East Asian academics' positional identities in UK universities, internationalisation and diversification against the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework. Contemporary UK policy promoting racial equality and diversity is often over-generalised, while the critical race…

This article uses case study interviews to examine women's experiences in higher education. It focuses on career progression, support available for promotion and particular initiatives for staff retention. The findings suggest that whilst some progress has been made to support White and Black and minority ethnic women in their career trajectories,…

The disturbances that took place across English towns and cities in 2011 raised significant debate and discussion about their causes and the motivations of the "rioters". Media and official explanations citing criminality and opportunism, repeated the now familiar narratives of cultural deficit, blaming absent fathers, poor parenting and…

This paper discusses the findings from a one-year ethnographic study of young people attending Entry to Employment (E2E) programmes in two local authorities in the north of England. The paper locates E2E within the broader context of provision for low-achieving young people and of UK government policy on reducing the proportion of young people who…

An examination of gender discourses within New Labour education policy on the preparation of students for a career in teaching in the UK reveals a contradictory yet, at the same time, complementary position. In the guidelines outlining the Standards that a prospective teacher has to achieve, the ways in which gender informs pupils' educational…

National policy discourses imply rational and positive pathways to greater equality and inclusion for public sector workers, including those in education. However, radical feminist and critical race theory suggests that whatever measures are undertaken to disassemble systems which impact negatively on those who are minority or excluded, systems…

This book contains the findings of a British project studying the employment experiences of a sample of Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) graduates for the year 1982. Chapters One and Two describe the project and the context for the project. Chapter Three presents an overview of the employment experiences of the sample from graduation in…

The British government's Green Paper on teaching was drafted at such a level of generality and abstraction that opportunities to help ensure equity for minority teachers were generally ignored. Identifies shortcomings of this policy statement and presents recommendations for equitable implementation of the Green Paper. (SLD)

Following the 1998 Green Paper on teachers' work, the UK government introduced Threshold Assessment of teachers in England and Wales in 2000. Teachers who met the Threshold standards were rewarded with a pay rise and access to an upper pay spine. At the time ministers gave assurances that equal opportunities would be taken very seriously in the…