Staff equality, diversity and inclusion report 2019 Population by ethnicity

In the 2011 census, 14% of the population of England and Wales identified as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and 86% identified as White (including ‘Other White’). In the Scottish census, 4% of the population reported their ethnicity as BAME, whilst 96% of the population reported their ethnicity as White (including ‘Other White’).

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) reported that in the academic year 2018-2019, where ethnicity was known, 14.5% of staff identified as BAME (aggregate of UK and non-UK nationals who were BAME staff) and 85.5% of staff identified as White. Within Scotland, 9.5% of staff identified as BAME and 90.5% identified as White.

HESA (2018-2019) reported that of UK nationals working in UK higher education, 10.3% identified as BAME and 89.7% identified as White. This proportion varied by nation. In Scotland, of UK nationals working in higher education, 4.1% identified as BAME and 95.9% identified as White.

Of those non-UK nationals with known ethnicity working in UK higher education, 30.7% identified as BAME and 69.3% identified as White. In Scotland, 28.3% of non-UK nationals working in HE identified as BAME and 71.7% identified as White.

Findings

At the University of St Andrews in 2018-2019 and where ethnicity was known, 6.6% of salaried staff identified themselves as BAME (this includes UK and non-UK nationals), and 93.4% of salaried staff identified themselves as White.

Whilst the St Andrews BAME staff population is 7.9 percentage points lower than the UK HE BAME staff benchmark (14.5%), this should be understood in the context of the overall smaller BAME population of Scotland.

Similarly, the St Andrews BAME staff population (6.6%) is 2.9 percentage points lower than the Scottish HE BAME staff population (9.5%). This should be understood in the context of the smaller BAME population of Fife (2.4%).

Staff by ethnic group

A bar graph depicting percentages of staff by ethnic group, for St Andrews, Scotland and the UK.
A bar graph depicting percentages of staff by ethnic group, for St Andrews, Scotland and the UK.
  • 6.6% of St Andrews staff are BAME, 9.5% of Scottish HE staff are BAME and 14.5% of UK HE staff are BAME. St Andrews therefore has a lower representation of BAME staff than Scottish and UK HE.
  • 93.4% of St Andrews staff are White, 90.5% of Scottish HE staff are White and 85.5% of UK HE staff are White. St Andrews therefore has a higher percentage of staff who are White than Scottish and UK HE.

UK/non-UK staff by ethnic group

A bar graph depicting percentages of staff by ethnic group for St Andrews, Scotland and the UK, by UK/Non-UK nationality.
A bar graph depicting percentages of staff by ethnic group for St Andrews, Scotland and the UK, by UK/Non-UK nationality.

UK nationals

  • BAME staff represent 2.7% of St Andrews staff, 4.1% of Scottish HE staff and 10.3% of UK HE staff.
  • White staff represent 97.3% of St Andrews staff, 95.9% of Scottish HE staff and 89.7% of UK HE staff.
  • St Andrews therefore have a lower percentage of BAME staff than is the case in Scotland and the UK and have a higher percentage of White staff than Scottish and UK HE.

Non-UK nationals

  • BAME staff represent 19.1% of St Andrews staff, 28.3% of Scottish HE staff and 30.7% of UK HE staff.
  • White staff represent 80.9% of St Andrews staff, 71.7% of Scottish HE staff and 69.3% of UK HE staff.
  • St Andrews therefore have a lower percentage of BAME staff than the Scottish and UK HE average and a higher percentage of White staff than the Scottish and HE average.