There are just 85 black professors out of nearly 20,000 in the UK and this number has barely changed in eight years. That’s 0.4%, which clearly shows a disparity with the proportion of black students.  This figure has increased steadily each year and now stands at 6%.

This petition highlights the need for change.  We need to be present in education, in the lecture theatres and in the curriculum.  Read the words in this video - we set the context and we make the case for change.  We need to do more to create a sense of belonging and have an open dialogue about universities acting as an agent for equality. Change cannot happen without you. We need 100,000 signatures for this statistic to be discussed in parliament.

The project links to a much wider debate on both education and race, but firstly we need the government to review its current educational policies and make a long term plan to address the fact that – there’s just 85 professors in nearly 20,000.