Diversity in the teaching profession has been at the front of the education news agenda this year, most notably when the NFER published its ‘Racial equality in the Teacher Workforce’ research. The report highlighted significant issues from ITT application and all the way through their careers for people of non-white backgrounds.
The most significant disparities, the report highlighted, occur at the very start, “where people from Asian, black, mixed and other ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to be accepted to an ITT course than their white counterparts”. Racial disparity manifests in retention figures too, with teachers from minority ethnic background less likely to stay in the profession or progress to leadership.
