Higher Education and academic research

White men dominate UK professoriate.

Just one in five professors at UK higher education institutions (HEIs) is female, although women comprise nearly half of other academic staff, according to a report. Black and minority ethnic (BME) researchers account for only 7% of professors, but 13% of other academics. Four times more men than women applied for professorial posts between 2008 and 2011, says The Position of Women and BME Staff in Professorial Roles in UK HEIs, released on 29 January by the University and College Union (UCU) in London and based on data from the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency. In its report, the UCU calls for universities to track recruitment and retention, create and monitor equality targets and investigate why so few women apply to be professors. - Nature 494, 139 (2013), 06 February 2013