Witness: unconscious bias
This video is only two minutes and twenty-seven seconds, and Dr Josephine Kwhali makes poignant and compendious points on ‘unconscious bias’ and how it is placed as a “get-out-of-jail-free card” for many. As a black woman, the video was neither shocking nor surprising to hear her comments. Unconscious biases are learned stereotypes about certain groups of people that are formed outside of our conscious awareness. They are created automatically and unintentionally, deeply ingrained in our beliefs, universal and can affect our behaviour. Dr Kwhali’s point is that we as a society can and should make a conscious effort to change our mindsets to change the narrative that has been created. She also points out that if society can change the unconscious bias for certain members, what will it take to change for others? Not having an intervention, it’s a way of allowing systemic racism to occur and continue to flourish.
UAL has anti-racism strategies and decolonising curriculum policies, but sometimes it feels like courageous and inspirational words on ink on paper. From a classroom context, unconscious bias may affect curriculum delivery. With the course I was teaching, the curriculum and reading list was 100% Eurocentric driven despite more than 60% of the students being international students. My point is unconscious biases in an educational setting, and it is imperative to include them from a specific cultural perspective as having it ignores highlights them as irrelevant or not essential.
“The current attainment gap for BAME students at UAL is they are 21 per cent less likely to get a 1st or 2:1 compared to white students, while 45 per cent of International UAL students graduate with a 2:2 or 3rd.”
The lack of an inclusive curriculum stems from the need for BAME representation in curriculum development and senior teaching staff/academics. According to Dr Nicola Rollock, just twenty-five British female professors are in UK universities. By far the smallest group of professors in terms of race and gender.
“Most worryingly, only 126 of the academic staff were BAME compared to 1,333 white academic staff – although UAL attracts a diverse student population, they are failing to foster the same inclusivity in academic job roles.”
The question is how do we address unconscious bias. It is essential to acknowledge that everyone has biases. But as a university, we need to be accountable. All the figures suggest that UAL is institutionally racist, and the figures highlight that it could hinder the academic success of BAME and international students if it doesn’t put active effort and structure for change in place.
References
Magazine, A. (2016). Is UAL too white? [online] Artefact. Available at: https://www.artefactmagazine.com/2016/06/21/is-ual-too-white/ [Accessed 12 Junel. 2023].
Rollock, N. (2019). We Urgently Need More Black Female Professors In UK Universities. [online] British Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/black-female-professors-uk-universities.
Shades Of Noir. (n.d.). Shades Of Noir. [online] Available at: https://shadesofnoir.org.uk.
www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Witness: unconscious bias. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6XDUGPoaFw.