In this writing, I aim to tackle the existing contradiction rooted in academia where, on the one side, it positions itself as an inclusive environment different from hyper-competitive corporativism. On the other side, as pointed out by Garrett, academia lies on a whiteness invisible structure that shapes a “correct” or “polite” behaviour that usually favours the status quo of white privileges [1].
While it is true that university – in its “universal” spirit – embraces the inclusion of different cultures and ideas, it has been inevitable, since its inception, that it focuses on some ideas than others. The examples are obvious: from Newton to Darwin, from Shakespeare to Da Vinci, they were all white male European centred on the Enlightening or Renascence values. Today, that spirit, although contested, is still hegemonic. While lecturers are commonly “open-minded” or try to challenge structures through decolonised or deconstructive studies, the structure is still there, and we are all standing on it.
The university lies on a delicate middle point. It is the place for new ideas, but it is also the place that shapes the “professionals from the future”. And when the future is so uncertain, so hyper-competitive, and sometimes not particularly promising, the place of university becomes a simple servant for accomplishing some higher structural ends.
In its worst manifestations, universities could become a dangerous place for filtering. Elite universities, though a series of structural devices – like white middle-class favouring selection processes, or the geographical location of these elite institutions in rich towns or areas – can become effective places to replicate privileges, where recruiters and head hunters looking for “well-educated” people can easily find the ones they look for to take them to corporate or other jobs high in the power hierarchy.
As lecturers, therefore, our power to challenge these structures is limited. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t challenge them, but for a successful integration that relies not only in inclusion but in an intersectional view and sense of belonging, we need to ask for more radical structural changes in academia, where they become true plural spaces.
References
[1] Garrett, R. (2025). Racism shapes careers: career trajectories and imagined futures of racialised minority PhDs in UK higher education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 23(3), 683-697.
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