How Fair Is Fair?
By Freyja
Racial Diversity in Oxford University Admissions
As one of the UK's oldest and most prestigious institutions, the University of Oxford is understandably perceived as being outdated and pretentious; however, despite the universities many programmes to widen participation, these stereotypes are not entirely unfounded. Numerous studies have been conducted to explore the racial diversity of Oxford admissions, all demonstrating the prevalent, though decreasing, underrepresentation of ethnic minority students at Oxford University.
In the February of 2013, a Freedom of Information request granted The Guardian access to Oxford Admissions statistics, revealing the gap between BME and White applicants - only 17.2% of ethnic minority applicants were accepted, compared to 25.7% of white applicants. Additionally, the study also revealed that while BME applicants were more likely than white applicants to apply to the universities three most competitive courses, Medicine, Economics and Management, and Mathematics - with 44% of all Black applicants applying to one of these three degrees, compared to only 17% of all White applicants - they were less likely to be offered places, with White applicants twice as likely to receive an offer to study medicine than ethnic minority students.
Times Higher Education analysis of 2011 census and University of Oxford data Admissions race row: which groups are best represented at Oxford? | Times Higher Education (THE)
Discussion on the topic of racial diversity at Oxford continued after then Prime Minister David Cameron made comments on the disproportionate percentage of BME students at the university in 2016. In response to Cameron's concerns, Toby Young stated in The Spectator, "British BME students still make up 13 per cent of the total. Maybe the Prime Minister is right and that figure should be higher - the average at Russell Group universities is around 18 per cent - but it exactly reflects the percentage of the British population that's non-white - 13 per cent, according to the 2011 census". The 2011 census which Young references, however, demonstrated that the percentage of the British population of university age that were non-White was 20%, showing that ethnic minorities were still underrepresented.
Times Higher Education analysis of 2011 census and University of Oxford data Admissions race row: which groups are best represented at Oxford? | Times Higher Education (THE)
So, what does the university have to say? Admissions statistics by ethnicity for 2018, 2019 and 2020 have been made available on the Oxford University website, and serve to further evidence the established trend - BME students are underrepresented at Oxford University. However, the university has made attempts to justify these trends, arguing that applicants from ethnic minorities simply do not achieve the level of academic excellence which is expected of Oxford candidates.
Breakdown of students achieving AAA or better at A-level by ethnicity (all UK universities, 2018 UK intake) Ethnicity | University of Oxford
Though this argument does not eradicate the need for concern over the underrepresentation of ethnic minority students within the university, it does raise more issues which must be considered - why are BME students underperforming at A-level and, more importantly, what can be done to resolve this?
While it has been established that there is inequality between the admissions of White and BME students at Oxford University, the gap is decreasing. In 2016, of the 2,547 BME students who applied, 411 students were admitted, approximately 16%, this same year, of the 8,917 White students who applied, 2,194 students were admitted, approximately 25%. By contrast, in 2020, the number of BME applicants almost doubled, at 4,024 and with 684 students admitted, this was approximately 17%; however, in this same year, of the 9,509 White applicants, 2,214 students were admitted, approximately 23%, a 2% decrease, yet nowhere near equal.
The evidence demonstrates a pattern of underrepresentation that is undeniable and has proven to be prevalent at the University of Oxford, as well as many other Russel Group Universities; though the gap between White and BME admissions at Oxford has been slowly narrowing, it remains unfair. Is this underrepresentation the fault of institutional racism on the part of the university, or is it a consequence of systemic racism across all levels of education? If academic success is what is barring BME students from entering the top institutions, then we must consider the faults in the education system that are putting these students at a disadvantage.