Decolonising in the Arts & Humanities: Student and Staff Views at the University of Leeds, 2023

‘Decolonisation’ has become a buzzword and many institutions, including the University of Leeds, feel that it is necessary to make changes to their ways of working in response to reports and campaigns highlighting the racial disparities that exist within higher education and beyond. The difficult question, however, is how we can effectively initiate such change. The aim of this report is to collect the understandings of and views on decolonisation of both staff and students from the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures to act as a foundation for creating evidence-based interventions and change. The study used an anonymous mixed-method survey and had around 300 student and 100 staff responses. Firstly, the study found that, while support for decolonisation initiatives across the Faculty is high, large numbers of students and staff have a superficial understanding of decolonisation, with many reducing it to adding diversity to reading lists and teaching content. Secondly, despite this broad support, the study also identified a number of sources of resistance to decolonisation within the Faculty. These ranged from denying the reality of systemic racism, to worries about free speech, to concerns about institutional performativity. Thirdly, the study found a clear trend that global ethnic majority students perceive their teaching and learning environment as less open than their global ethnic minority peers. Finally, the study identified a number of barriers that staff feel are preventing them from changing their practices to improve the learning environment, their research, and the institution more broadly. In response to these findings, the study concludes by developing, in conjunction with Faculty leadership, a concrete theory of change that could be used as a blue print for other areas of the University and beyond.