Minorities report
A year ago, the further education system was branded 'institutionally racist'. Caroline Haydon asks if enough changes are being made
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Your support makes all the difference.A year after a major report on the lack of black managers in further education colleges, there are still no black principals in areas with the highest numbers of ethnic minority students.
There is at least one more black principal than there was a year ago, when the chairman of the Commission for Black Staff in Further Education branded the sector "institutionally racist" because of its failure to appoint black staff.
But that last black appointment - of Sajinder Sangha as principal of Stockton and Billingham College in the north east - was in an area where there is only a one per cent ethnic minority population in all, and about three per cent in the college. In areas such as London and the Midlands, where the black student population is 39 per cent, there is still not a single black principal in a mainstream college.
The report, sponsored by the Learning and Skills Council and published in November last year, took three years to complete. It found that, despite being better educated than their white colleagues, many black staff failed to progress to senior positions. Fewer than seven per cent of FE staff were black, and even then they were more likely to work part time, be paid by the hour or work short-term contracts.
Now, although overhauling the system has been described as a marathon not a sprint, there is disappointment that there has not been more movement at the top of the profession, says Rajinder Mann, vice chair of the commission and director of the Black Leadership Initiative (BLI). "In areas where there are high numbers of ethnic minority groups we are still awaiting the appointment of a black principal and that is disappointing".
There is also concern that eight months after the commission published its findings, a separate study for the Commission for Racial Equality (the Schneider Ross report) highlighted the fact that only 42 per cent of colleges had set themselves aims for improving the situation, let alone achieved those aims.
It's clear that colleges need help, says Wally Brown, the principal of Liverpool Community College and one of only two black heads of colleges when work on the commission report began. "What the commission is trying to do with the Learning and Skills Council is to set up a framework to work with colleges so they can better deal with these issues," he says. At Liverpool, ethnic students number more than 15 per cent, while black staff make up eight per cent of the teaching body. "We are working on improving that with college action plans," says Brown.
"The key is to start at the top - the college board needs to be representative of the community. You also have to look at how you advertise, and make sure the organisation is presented in a way ethnic applicants will feel comfortable with. You also have to reach out into the local community, contact local black voluntary organisations or recruitment agencies. And you have to make sure your procedures are fair and open."
Further education has, however, led the way in one respect: with a new mentoring and secondment scheme. Run by the BLI, it aims to offer black staff the opportunity to develop the skills, knowledge and experience to apply for more senior posts, says Mann, who also chairs the Network of Black Managers. "A lot of black staff were very well qualified, but lack of experience meant they were hitting a glass ceiling at middle management level."
Fifteen mentoring schemes have already started, with another 15 due to follow soon. Secondment opportunities are also proving popular, with five people shadowing school inspectors in a groundbreaking scheme with Ofsted. Another five are seconded to managerial jobs in Canterbury, Lewisham, Grimsby, Hackney and Keighley.
"We didn't want the report to sit on the shelf - we needed to give the sector some tools to work with," Mann says, "although clearly there is no room for complacency."
The development of black managerial staff is not just a matter of appointing more black principals, although it is hoped that heads of colleges will soon reach a number which is fully representative of the sector, says an LSC spokesperson, Julian Burnell. "You can't create that situation artificially, but you can work to create proper representation at all levels so that numbers will eventually rise," he says.
Leadership and management development programmes offering black staff professional support, run by the Learning and Skills Development Agency alongside the Association of Colleges, have been successful in moving one-third of participants to higher posts, he adds.
A case in point
Heather Allison, a health and fitness lecturer at Hackney Community College, joined the Network for Black Managers to find support, advice and career opportunities. Through the network she found out about the BLI's secondment schemes, and last summer became the marketing manager for Lewisham College's Skills for Life development centre.
"It's been a really excellent opportunity and has given me additional experience so I don't feel I'm 'typecast' as a lecturer in health and fitness. It's been challenging and exciting fitting in to a new area," she says.
Heather now wants to push on to become a senior manager.
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