Why is there continued under-representation of Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff in senior professional staff roles?

Despite the growing strategic importance of university professional staff, Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff remain under-represented in senior professional leadership roles in UK higher education. Drawing on historical statistical data, this article challenges explanations that focus on individual deficits, pipeline weaknesses, or limited engagement with equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives. Instead, it reconceptualises professional staff careers as racialised trajectories shaped by institutional structures and systems of recognition. The analysis demonstrates how interventions centred on individual agency, such as mentoring and leadership development, can inadvertently reproduce inequality by shifting responsibility for progression onto individuals while leaving institutional standards of evaluation unchanged. By focusing on professional staff careers, the article offers a novel contribution to scholarship on race and inequality in higher education. It highlights the need for institutional accountability mechanisms that address the racialised foundations of career evaluation and leadership recognition.