What is Imperial doing well to make the institution a welcoming place for students/staff of Black heritage?

Wayne: I think greater exposure to the reality that things need to be done is a good start. Then there are initiatives like the Provost’s Visiting Professors Programme and the President’s scholarships for students of Black heritage which show that the institution is interested in creating opportunities that address barriers. 

It’s great to put initiatives like these in place, but alongside that, we need to build a sense of belonging. For example, how many people who have entered this space feel like they belong within it? And are they staying? Are they seeing themselves here for ten years, fifteen years, because they feel embedded and part of this institution? And importantly, an institution that isn’t asking them to assimilate, but celebrating their culture and cherishing who they actually are. That’s the difference. 

Lesley: Absolutely. I have to say, I’ve been at Imperial for over thirty years, and I’ve seen amazing changes. For starters there has been much greater visibility of minorities, such as on the website and at events. It’s clear Imperial is making a major effort to appear to be welcoming. And I think the institution signing the Race Equality Charter – thanks to the work of our predecessor and the work of the entire Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Centre – means there are action plan items that Imperial is committed to delivering. 

What could Imperial do better for its Black communities? 

Lesley: A lot of this is to do with retention and support. We’re clearly hampered by a lack of role models of significant numbers to make a difference. And this comes to one of our key areas of focus in our roles as Associate Provosts for EDI: recruitment at all levels. This is the largest barrier to making real change – to make sure there is proper representation for all staff and student groups.  

Wayne: Yes, this links back to the challenge of what happens once people get here. There was a report about five years ago which highlighted the awarding gap for students of underrepresented backgrounds in UK higher education. It showed a gap in what a White student and Black student could expect to attain in the final year of their programmes – even though they’ve all entered with the same A-Level grades. The suggestion was that this was something to do with the structure of higher education institutions itself.  

So we’re left to ask – what are the steps we can put in place to remedy this? It’s early in our tenure as Associate Provosts, but one of the things that will be key to our time in post is that we are here to listen to the voices. Yes, we want to gain statistics and data, but we also need to hear the lived experiences of what it’s like to work and study at Imperial. If we don’t have that insight, we will only be developing solutions that we think will work – not solutions that are developed in collaboration with our community. 

As you say, you’ve only recently stepped into your roles as Associate Provosts of EDI, but could you share any of your other key priorities going forward? 

Lesley: I would say embedding EDI throughout the College is one of our main priorities. ‘Mainstreaming’ is the current trendy word for it. For example, this means embedding EDI recruitment principles throughout the institution that will allow the statistics to change. 

Wayne: I would add to that ‘don’t deny it until you’ve tried it’. Some people might see such activities as being for someone else to do. But we need people to be willing to try something slightly different. Business cases show time and again that, when we work together in more diverse teams, we’re more productive. Having people with different viewpoints to you can make the overall objective much better than when you simply think ‘my idea is the best idea’.