The proportion of non-white college principals has almost halved to 5 per cent this year, data suggests.
It means just 10 of the Association of Colleges’ 218 member colleges are from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background.
The membership body found the proportion of BAME chief executives and principals was down from 9 per cent in 2023-24.
AoC admitted the decline was “obviously disappointing” and chalked it down to colleagues leaving the sector.
Equality, diversity and inclusion experts said the fall could be due to non-white staff having poorer access to continued professional development (CPD) and “sketchy” data collection at a college level on BAME progression and participation.
The AoC has been collecting data on principals since 2018-19 when it recorded 7 per cent of principals were non-white at 257 colleges, rising to a high of 11 per cent from 244 colleges in 2019-20.
A partnership agreement between the AoC and Black Leadership Group was signed in 2022 which committed the organisations to “work to see a rise in the appointment of principals/CEOs and other senior leaders in closer correlation to the student profile”. Yet the proportion continues to fall.
Lack of ethnic diversity among top bosses is not unique to colleges.
In the higher education sector the number of non-white vice-chancellors also remains low. There are currently six non-white vice-chancellors at 165 UK universities.
Numbers of black, Asian or minority ethnic leaders of academy trusts is even lower – the proportion rose from two (1.7 per cent) in 2021 to four (2.3 per cent) in 2024.
Palvinder Singh, principal at Kirklees College, said taking up senior leadership positions isn’t “massively appealing” to everyone.
He said: “You can’t merge into the wallpaper, your name stands out.
“That is what a lot of our black principals have had to experience. The way that the system has treated them has just spat them out. And therefore, that has created an environment which makes people feel, why should I put myself forward?”
Jeff Greenidge, director for diversity and governance at the AoC, said: “It is obviously disappointing to see that the number of principals from black and ethnic minority groups has decreased over time as colleagues have left the sector.”
Data collection
Department for Education guidance states that FE colleges should publish an annual equality, diversity and inclusion review, including data on protected characteristics at the board, executive leadership, staff and student level.
However, Arvind Kaushal, equality, diversity and inclusion manager at Milton Keynes College Group, said not every college reports as they’ve been asked to.
“I think the data is quite sketchy,” he said. “The challenge is not all colleges collect data in the same robust way.”
Kaushal added that poor data means it’s difficult to see whether low numbers are a “symptom” of a lack of progression within the college or because people from minority backgrounds are not being attracted to a college.
He said: “There is a challenge, and the challenge seems to be greater now than it was three or four years ago. The numbers are still not great.”
Training opportunities
The AoC launched an equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) charter in April and 77 colleges have so far committed to “taking action on inequalities and build an environment of belonging”.
Greenidge said: “We take representation seriously and we are investing significant time and resource into supporting colleges to address inequalities and create an inclusive, open and diverse culture right across the sector that ensures that staff and students from underrepresented communities thrive in FE.”
To support middle and senior managers to embrace EDI, the AoC runs the inclusive leadership programme and coaching, commissioned by the Education and Training Foundation.
The ETF said it reserves 50 per cent of places for people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds for coaching. In 2023-24, 58 per cent of participants identified as black, Asian and minority ethnic.
For its Preparing for CEO programme delivered by Saïd Business School, just 38 per cent of the free places were taken up. The remainder of free places were occupied by people with other protected characteristics.
Kaushal said colleges must fund staff in frontline roles to give them the opportunity to develop.
He added: “Colleges are not able to release people as much as they’d want to because they’re in high-demand roles on the ground.”
Singh revealed his breakthrough into senior leadership came after white college leaders pushed him forward.
“You need CPD, the opportunity and the right people supporting, championing and recognising that some people do need a leg up,” he said.
“From my own lived experience, from people that I have spoken to, there is a very clear confidence issue, not a competence issue.”
The Black Leadership Group declined to comment.
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