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IT WILL BE compulsory for third-level institutions to provide an annual breakdown of the ethnic diversity among Irish academia from December this year, the Higher Education Authority has said.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) said it would be requesting ethnicity data of staff members from higher level institutions each year from this December.
The categories of data that will be requested were chosen in collaboration with higher education institutions through the Athena SWAN Ireland Intersectionality Working Group.
The Group was established in 2019 with an initial goal to develop a way of collecting data on staff and student ethnicity in the Irish higher education sector.
The HEA said that it has also developed a national survey of academic staff “to develop a picture of race equality” across the Irish higher education sector.
This survey is scheduled to run in the final quarter of this year and “will provide important baseline data for planning future initiatives to support ethnic diversity” in the Irish higher education sector.
Report on diversity in Irish academia
Last week, a report published by the British Council in Ireland and the Royal Irish Academy emphasised the urgency of publishing figures on the ethnicity breakdown in Irish academia, in an attempt to highlight and tackle a lack of diversity in the sector.
In response to news that the figures would be collated and published, the Royal Irish Academy and the British Council in Ireland said: “We welcome the statement from the HEA and look forward to working further with them in the future on these important issues. It is really positive to see such progress being made.”
Up until now, Ireland has had no centralised source of a diversity breakdown of Irish professors and lecturers; the limited data available is from university websites and the Higher Education Authority.
Based on that limited data, however, the report says that there appears to be just one full-time black female academic professorial post-holder in Irish academia, and several post-holders from other minority ethnic backgrounds.
The authors of the study highlighted how Ireland has much less data on diversity in academia than is available in the UK.
Dr Ebun Joseph, a Nigerian-Irish lecturer and founder of the first Black Studies module in Ireland, said that the lack of data is a big problem, and can avoid dealing with any diversity issue within an institution.
“We can use data in the UK to show you the percentage, and you can see how big the problem is. It’s easy to capture that data, but [Irish universities could previously] hide behind ‘Oh, we don’t know’.
“They know there’s a problem and they know how powerful statistics are, how powerful data is. They know the number of students who are international students… because they need to collect international fees. So why are they not on top of foreign-born staff?”
Professor Brian Norton of the Royal Irish Academy said that the report is based on the “ad hoc” data available from Higher Education Authority reports, but there is no “systematic collection of data” the way there is in the UK.
Norton said there is no architecture to allow this data collection to take place, but that universities and other third-level institutions could ask their academic staff to self-report. It’s not clear what the exact methodology used by the Higher Education Authority will be.
The HEA said that it has been “actively working in this area” for the past year.
Up to now, this data has not been collected by HEIs for various reasons which can differ from institution to institution, often relating to privacy issues and the sensitivity of the data in question. For this reason, a national statement on the use of ethnicity categories in Irish Higher Education has been published and endorsed by HEIs.
The report
Figures from the UK indicate that 16% of the total UK academic staff identify as black, while there are 27 black female professors in the UK university system.
Figures of that cohort in Ireland aren’t collated. A 2018 study by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the ESRI found that the black non-Irish group are less than half as likely to be employed as the white Irish group.
Data on the representation of Irish Travellers or other minority ethnic groups within academic staff is not available at a national level but is thought to be extremely low.
The report also found that those from minority ethnic backgrounds feel an immense personal sense of responsibility to push for greater equality and diversity, but this was sometimes difficult to balance with progress to their academic and scholarly careers.
Campaigning for change was seen to detract from the time and energy they have available for their core academic and scholarly work and subsequent career development.
“Another key finding,” Professor Nolan said, “is a view that the problem is seen to be a problem of those groups themselves rather than a problem of the system.”
There is some data available on the gender breakdown in Irish universities; research by the Higher Education Authority showed that in 2017, although 51% of lecturers were female, only 24% of professors were women.
In January this year, it was announced that 45 female-only professorships would be created in an attempt to tackle this, with 20 female-only professorships are expected to be in place by September.
The process for becoming a professor
Dr Joseph says part of the reason why people from minority ethnic groups aren’t reaching the level of professor is due to the quality of work and time that they are given.
“It’s the pipeline. So in Ireland to become a professor, you have to have a full-time job either as a lecturer, or as an assistant professor or as an associate professor.
“Most of the black academics I know are on temporary precarious contracts, where they bring them in to teach one module.
We’ll teach one module, so 12 hours and 12 lectures with grades, but you’re not even a part of the university, you’re a contractor. You don’t have a profile, you’re not technically staff. If you’re lucky, you’ll teach two modules.
But if you’re on that path, you’ll never be an assistant professor. And if you’re not an associate professor, or lecturer full time, you cannot be in a position to become a professor.
She said this type of work means that black academics don’t have the same amount of time to do the research necessary that leads to numerous publications, which would be counted in any consideration to becoming an associate professor or a professor.
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What is the point? If someone is going to college to earn a qualification in a particular subject or area why does it matter if the person (lecturer or Professor) is male or female, black or white, tall or small, fat or skinny, a snappy dresser or a hopeless one. Surely the only thing that is important is that they are qualified for their job. If I earn a degree in something is it’s value suddenly better if a white people taught it to me as opposed to whoever? I am sick to death of this PC madness. There are so many more important things going on.
@Carm(Orange Vampire): funny, same people said the same thing against Health&Safety regs in the building trad when they came out but with the massive drop in accidents and deaths put paid to their whinging. World didn’t end.
@Brendan Cooney: That makes no sense whatsoever.
@Brendan Cooney:
Are you commenting on the right article?
The point you’ve made has nothing whatsoever got to do with the topic.
@Brendan Cooney: Cooney the looney.
@Luke walkee: That’s the point: By using reason & logic to make decisions we end up discriminating against nonsense. But the religious dictates of Diversity & Equality teaches us that nonsense is equal to reason.
@Brendan Cooney: How many will die before we bring in diversity quotas Brendan?
You analogy is nonsensical.
@Carm(Orange Vampire): l agree PC madness The good Dr. can go on an anti Irish racist rant
@Carm(Orange Vampire): Because it would appear that black people are discriminated against? Reason enough. The best person for the job doesnt always get it you know.
@Anne Busher Collins: have you any evidence whatsoever to suggest discrimination in the case of third level academic staff?
More PC madness!!
@Shinners Abú: If I’m getting work done, which I was recently, I look for references, either by word of mouth or other means. In short, I look for someone competent and trustworthy, I don’t care where they were born, their religion or who they love. And this is basically what an employer seeks to do, interview prospective employees in order to hire the best person for the role, usually, but not always, the best qualified.
If I were to say to someone, sorry, while you do great work I need to find someone more ‘ethnically diverse’ to work for me. It’s not you, it’s me. Or, supposing I’d hired my quota of ethnically diverse people for that month/year, do I then say “goodness I have to hire an ethic Irishman/woman or I’ll be breaking the law”.
However well meaning it may be, it’s absurd to force any discrimination upon any aspect of society, it will have a very strong and very negative backlash, these things should be expected to happen over time.
This is madness.
@Finnster: Ebun Joseph’s toxic racism is a stain on Irish society.
She should be ignored
@Finnster: Madness? THIS IS SPARTA!
Affirmative action does not work, you need the best person for the job.
@Richard Casey: But the best person sometimes doesn’t get the job because they are black.
@Anne Busher Collins: “But the best person sometimes doesn’t get the job because they are black.”
And you know this because…..you read it in the Journal?
Job discrimination in Ireland tends to be based on who you know rather then who you are and this means the native Irish have a distinct advantage or at least the ones who move in the right circles do.
Foreigners (of all colours) are discriminated against in the Irish job market except, of course, at the lower end of the job market (nobody cares about those jobs or those that fill them)
More identity politics nonsense. Be far better if they concentrated on working class representation at third level regardless of race or creed.
@Valthebear: no it wouldn’t. It would be much better if they focused on employing people qualified for the job irrespective of where they came from, race, creed etc.
All this reporting of who came from where, what they look like and what sex they are is utter nonsense!
@Joe: missing the point. Concentrate on extending educational resources to disadvantaged areas rather than engaging in toxic identity politics. Is the likes of Ebun Joseph more disadvantaged than someone from Darndale or Moyross?
What was wrong or is wrong with a person securing a job on merit? What is needed is total transparency in the interview and hiring process. Are we going down the road like the ‘old’ days. There was a time when it wasn’t what you knew but who you knew… If a person ticks all the boxes, hire them, if not, don’t.
@Tom Kennedy:
Agree 100%
It’s nonsensical. The person should be able to fit the actual job spec not the other way round.
Dr Joseph is conflating, rather ingeniously, several issues. First of all, as a foreign academic working in an Irish university, I can assure her we are extremely ethnically diverse bunch – just maybe not the ethnicities she cares about. Plenty of Eastern Europeans in physics, to give one example. Secondly, the bit where people “are brought in” for one module – is she perchance just finished her PhD and being given a few hours to teach to gain experience, and asking why is she not considered for a professorship? If she was an intern for Google would she expect to be considered for a CEO? Precariosness in academia is a big problem, people on short term contracts for years, moving from place to place, but what is she suggesting?
She will go far though. Pushing all the right buttons.
This identity politics nonsense is really going too far. The only people systematically discriminated against in this country down through the centuries were the natives, now we are going to do that to ourselves. In the modern world, people from ‘minority’ backgrounds know that playing the race card is the most effective way to progress now.
Genuinely ludicrous and completely against the ethos of skin colour not mattering. In the US, this resulted in people pretending to be black or native American, while Asians were discriminated against. Where does it stop, can I use my 2% Middle Eastern on my Ancestry DNA test to get a job now?
@Ned Gerblansky: 2% cutting it tight. Get onto your local TD… Brown envelope in hand and you’re sorted…
@Tom Kennedy: that’s still 20x more than Elizabeth Warren was Native American, and she was given all kinds of benefits.
Best fit for the job should get the job.
@Carol Oates: Yes but often they don’t, maybe because it’s a woman, it’s a black person, it’s a fat person, it’s an older person; all sorts of prejudice goes on in job selection.
@Anne Busher Collins: then legislate to make the process more transparent?
@Anne Busher Collins: make the ‘diversion list’ compulsory doesnt help that.
Why are we listening to ‘the British Council in Ireland’ and ‘the Royal Irish Academy’?
We as a nation did not colonise any part of the world, we did not enslave people from anywhere. If people come here to work fine but why should they be entitled to top posts being assigned to them because of their race?
How many profferships in Nigerian or Chinese universities are set aside for Irish people?
Cognitive diversity is absolutely something universities should be striving to achieve. People cannot solve societies most complex problems if they think in silos…yet that’s exactly what’s happening here. The government wants universities to appoint people who look differently, not necessarily ones who think differently…And if you think that someone thinks differently to you based on how they look… that’s the fundamental racist idea (also applies to sexism, homophobia etc). Open up universities to diverse ideas (and yes, even ones that make students ‘uncomfortable’) and rid recruitment processes of any potential biases and you will find a more cognitively diverse and innovative faculty.
@David Law: Fully agree
I’d like to know what topics are being thought by the ethnic minority staff? And how many attend these classes and what is the ethnic diversity within the class attendents?
Has ribenagate taught us anything? A dangerous individual.
Ireland is a country whose indigenous population indured centuries of colonisation, oppression and ethnic cleansing; so I find it ironic that it’s the British Council that are questioning diversity.
While I agree with inclusion and diversity, this is over-ridden for the need to be properly qualified for the job. Gender quotas are the opposite of inclusion in some ways.
I would much prefer to be given a job on my own hard work and merits, than because of 1 gene, or what I choose to wear on my head.
Surely it would restrict the education needs of the students if there was no professor to teach the role – due to none of the applicants being traveller/black/female/LBGT…
@ismiijill: Totally ageee with you. The issue to me is not ethnic diversity but gaining permanent employment as per the above article.
If you don’t meet the criteria for the job you should not be appointed.
Evergreen comes to Ireland.
Has ribenagate taught is anything? A dangerous individual.
Good and more fat gym instructors too.
This is ridicuolous. People shopuld be chosen, anywhere -from a uni professor to the house leaner- for their skills and merit on that job. Regardless of race, gender, hair, whatever….
@Stephen O’Neill That woman will make everything about race to get her face on camera and be relevant.
I’m all for this as long as they include “Culchie” as an ethnic moniker.
Why?
This is racist, pure and simple.
I wouldn’t be fond of the fry now but when I go at it I do go awful and very hard. I do have 45 rashers in about 2 hours, and then I’d have a sausage or an aul black pudding. Well anyway then I’d have 10 more sausages. There be no shtopping me. Bashterds.
When will the political parties and RTE have to provide details of their ethnic diversity?
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