Posted 25 April 2025

The Race, Equity and Social Justice Conference, organised by Leeds Trinity University’s Race Institute, is always a highlight of the conference calendar. This year’s theme was ‘looking backwards to look forward’. But how can this be possible when research in the Higher Education (HE) sector demonstrates so many issues and challenges in the race, equity and social justice space?  

Professor Charles Egbu (Vice- Chancellor, Leeds Trinity University) summed up this quandary when he observed that he had witnessed ‘sluggish’ movement during his 35-year experience in the anti-racist space. However, he described it as a marathon, not a sprint, and that by embedding anti-racist policy and practice at all levels, real change can be affected. 

Keynote speaker 

Keynote speaker Prof. Heidi Safia Mirza (Emeritus Professor of Equality Studies in Education, University College London) spoke passionately about understanding the whole and nuanced story of global majority individuals and groups. She illustrated this with new research she had published for the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Deaton Review, which demonstrated the complexity of ethnic groups’ experiences in society. For example, Bangladeshi students may be from some of the poorest neighbourhoods but are the group most likely to attend HE.  

Understanding the context of ethnic groups’ history was also important. How and why migrant groups came to the UK, and what their social background was in their native countries before moving to the UK all played into trends seen in the IFS review.  

Prof Mirza also presented interesting data about the future population of the UK (Ethpop research, University of Leeds). She predicted that by 2061, the ethnic groups who are most likely to have children per capita will be Pakistani and White Other. Black Caribbean and White will be proportionally the lowest. This poses many interesting developments for education and society in general, showing that society will become more ethnically diverse. 

Other conference highlights 

Dr Arif Mahmud and Dr Maisha Islam discussed new research on how to support Muslim students and staff, drawing on their book Uncovering Islamophobia in Higher Education. Their recommendations were to develop service provision in HE to foster a sense of belonging and enable Muslim staff and students to bring their whole self to campus. An example of how to use the Race Equality Charter to empower Muslims and drive change as well as considering the whole academic lifecycle, provide targeted approaches, and to consider religion and faith more in EDI policies. 

Haris Ahmed’s poem ‘A stand against racism’ transcended academic conversations and lit up the conference with positivity and energy. It spoke to many of the key issues of the day with a call to action to those in the space to reflect seriously on why we are carrying out this work, what our intentions are, and how we will make the changes needed.

GHWY’s anti-racist manifesto for change 

Delegates were asked to think deeply and proactively about the changes needed when Go Higher West Yorkshire’s (GHWY) Race Equity Network led a collaborative session to co-design an anti-racist manifesto for change. The collaborative statement chosen by delegates read: “We commit to dismantling systematic racism and advancing equity by centering the voices, experiences, and leadership of marginalised communities. Through accountability, transparency, and transformative action, we strive to build institutions and systems where justice, opportunity and dignity are a lived reality for all.” 

This manifesto pledge, coupled by learnings from the conference, will underpin many aspects of our work going forwards. It will include our school and college outreach to enable underrepresented learners to make informed decisions about attending HE, our CPD in the sector and support for students once they are on programme.  

How GHWY supports anti-racism and social justice 

GHWY hosts the Race Equity Network, which brings together professionals and academics in the West Yorkshire HE sector to produce collaborative outputs. If you would like to know more about it, please contact ghwy@leeds.ac.uk 

 

Jenny Scannell, GHWY Project Manager and Officer, and Vicky Joseph, GHWY Uni Connect Outreach Officer