Critical Race Theory (CRT) originated from critical legal studies and radical feminist scholarship. It posits that race is a social construct and that society is structured through systems of racialised power. CRT prioritises the lived experiences and insights of racialised communities. It challenges the idea that racism is only found in extremist acts, instead revealing how it is integrated into everyday institutional practices (Delgado and Stefancic, 2017; Ladson-Billings, 1998; Gillborn, 2015; Lander and Santoro, 2017). Garrett (2024) further argues that CRT also shapes the work of critical geographers, who explore how racism operates across spatial and social contexts (Price, 2010).
In Racism Shapes Careers (2024), Garrett highlights the overwhelming dominance of white individuals in academia and the lack of racial diversity, especially in senior positions. There is no clear or reliable data on the employability of PhD graduates from minority backgrounds. His case study illustrates how racialised PhD candidates experience career-related stress, anxiety, and feelings of isolation—often triggered by microaggressions and differential treatment. Garrett emphasises that the absence of visible role models from minoritised backgrounds makes it difficult for emerging scholars to envision a future in academia.
This reading resonates with me personally. I have often found myself adjusting to predominantly white academic environments. However, my discomfort has not been solely due to racial difference. As a foreigner, I’ve often felt out of place when norms are shaped by any tightly knit group, whether white, Black, or otherwise, if those norms exclude or overlook my presence and perspective. That said, it is clear that whiteness remains the most privileged and institutionalised identity within these spaces.
The video on diversity training (Sadiq, 2023; Orr, 2022) raised an important point: such training often fails because it is performative and imposed, rather than engaged with meaningfully. When my colleague openly described diversity and equality training as “meaningless, dull, and fake,” it reflected a wider cultural resistance and an “allergic” reaction to confronting these issues seriously. This attitude reveals how box-ticking becomes prioritised over real change, especially in institutions like UAL. While these efforts may be superficial at times, I still see them as a step forward, particularly compared to my experience in countries like Italy, where whiteness is even more dominant and anti-racist legislation less developed.
A final thought: although research like Garrett’s advances our understanding of institutional racism and aims to push society toward equity, the broader political and social landscape often moves in the opposite direction. The backlash against diversity initiatives in the US and across Europe underscores the disconnect between academic critique and public sentiment. This gap between academia and the real world should not be dismissed.
Reference
Bradbury, A. (2020) ‘A critical race theory framework for education policy analysis: the case of bilingual learners and assessment policy in England’, Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(3), pp. 319–337. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2019.1636383
Delgado, R. and Stefancic, J. (2017) Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. 3rd edn. New York: NYU Press.
Garrett, P.M. (2024) Racism Shapes Careers: A Critical Race Theory Analysis of the Social Work Profession. [PDF]
Gillborn, D. (2015) ‘Intersectionality, critical race theory, and the primacy of racism: Race, class, gender, and disability in education’, Qualitative Inquiry, 21(3), pp. 277–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414557827
Ladson-Billings, G. (1998) ‘Just what is critical race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like education?’, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 11(1), pp. 7–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/095183998236863
Lander, V. and Santoro, N. (2017) ‘Invisible and hypervisible academics: the experiences of Black and minority ethnic teacher educators’, Teaching in Higher Education, 22(8), pp. 1008–1021. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1332029
Orr, J. (2022) Revealed: The charity turning UK universities woke. The Telegraph [Online]. Youtube. 5 August. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRM6vOPTjuU
Price, M. (2010) ‘At the crossroads: Critical race theory and critical geographies of race’, Progress in Human Geography, 34(2), pp. 147–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132509339005
Sadiq, A. (2023) Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Learning how to get it right. TEDx [Online}. Youtube. 2 March. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR4wz1b54hw