RaCE Research Projects

RaCE Research Projects

Report into the lived experiences of BAME students at the University of Sunderland

The Race, Class and Ethnicity (RaCE) interdisciplinary research network has completed a report based on a survey conducted with Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) group students at the University’s campuses in Sunderland and in London.

The survey aimed to understand BAME students’ lived experiences at the university including any experiences of racism. The survey was open between 22nd November 2019 and 3rd January 2020 and received responses from over 900 BAME students across both campuses.

This report by the RaCE research network confirmed some of the findings from the October 2019 Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) inquiry into racial harassment in publicly funded universities in Great Britain which revealed that racial harassment was a common experience for students and staff.

The RaCE report focused only on BAME students, comparing experiences between Sunderland and London campus.

The report found that 17% of students at Sunderland campus indicated that they had experienced racism on campus. Further, the majority of Sunderland campus BAME students (62%) had experienced racism outside the university campus in the local community, compared with 45% of London campus students. Other key findings from the RaCE survey included:

Overall, 53% of students across both campuses had not reported experiences of racism.

The three main reasons provided by students for not reporting incidents of racism were that they did not believe there would be any outcome; fear of repercussions; and lack of knowledge of who to report this to.

Nine recommendations emerged from the study, including the development of specific race equity training programmes for all students and staff along with members of the local Sunderland community, better reporting mechanisms for incidents of racism and greater communication with students about the measures that the university is implementing to tackle racism.

If you would like to receive a copy of the full report, please contact Professor Donna Chambers – donna.chambers@sunderland.ac.uk.