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‘Blood, sweat and tears’: Building a network for Black scientists

The UK BBSTEM initiative hopes that helping Black researchers to connect and support one another professionally will boost their representation in academia and industry.
By
  1. Virginia Gewin

    1. Virginia Gewin is a freelance writer in Portland, Oregon.

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Black people are seriously under-represented in UK academia. Of more than 21,000 professors across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2018–19, just 0.7% identify as Black. There almost 10 times as many Asian professors as Black ones, and white people hold 83% of the positions, according to an analysis by the Higher Education Statistics Agency in Cheltenham.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03279-0

These interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Updates & Corrections

  • Clarification 24 November 2020: An earlier version of this article did not name Nicola Rollock as the author of the 2019 report funded by the UK University and College Union.

  • Correction 01 December 2020: An earlier version of this article misstated Nicola Rollock’s research focus and affiliation. As an academic, Rollock advises and teaches, and she has several affiliations.

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