Breaking Barriers: Advancing Ethnic Diversity in Higher Education Professional Services

A message from Andrew Young, Project Sponsor, AHUA

Read the research report here

University Registrars, Chief Operating Officers and Secretaries remain, quite frankly, predominantly white. Senior professional leadership teams across UK universities have not diversified in the way other parts of the sector have. We have seen increasing diversity among our governors, students, the specialist staff who report into us, and among the Vice-Chancellors and Chairs of the boards we serve. Yet the colour of our own professional cohort has remained stubbornly uniform. Despite the diversity of talent we support, we have not reflected that same breadth of experience, culture and perspective within our own ranks.

It was for this reason that I strongly supported the proposal for AHUA to commit a proportion of its reserves and time to commissioning research into this issue. I felt genuine frustration and embarrassment as I looked around the AHUA conference, reviewed our membership list and saw shortlists for senior administrative roles. Despite the goodwill and progressive intentions across our institutions, the reality is that people from ethnic minority backgrounds remain significantly underrepresented in senior professional service roles. This imbalance raises challenging but necessary questions about the structures, cultures and recruitment practices that determine who gets to lead within higher education.

Like many AHUA colleagues, I had my own theories about the barriers. Perhaps our recruitment language and models were unintentionally exclusionary; perhaps career pathways in professional services lacked the clarity found in academic or private-sector routes; perhaps our induction and support processes failed to create a genuine sense of belonging. These may each play a part, but I recognised that I could not presume to know the full story. As one of the privileged few who has navigated the pathway into these roles, it was clear that this problem demanded evidence, not assumption — and solutions shaped by those who have been historically excluded.

There is no silver bullet. We cannot do this alone. But it is a cause worth pursuing — one that requires sustained, collective effort across AHUA, recruiters, and sector partners. This research is not an end in itself; it is the beginning of change. Change built on listening, learning, and the shared will to deliver the step change our sector so urgently needs.

Read the report here