§ 57. Mr. Harry BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will take steps to increase the proportion of academic staff in each of the following categories(a) women, (b) blacks, and (c) those from a working class background; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. JacksonThe Government are not involved in the recruitment of staff. That is a matter for the employers. Between 1982 and 1986 the number of women academic staff employed full-time in universities, polytechnics and other colleges of higher and further education increased by about 20 per cent., or some 5,000 teachers. The overall proportion of full-time academic staff who were women increased during this period from 19.2 per cent. to 22.3 per cent. Statistics on the ethnic origins and social background of academic staff are not collected centrally.