Investigating the recruitment and retention of ethnic minority teachers, and its relationship to school outcomes

England has the most ethnically diverse population in the United Kingdom, and the schools are no different. While it is estimated that 31% of the student population is from ethnic minority background, the majority of school leaders (93%), teachers and teaching assistants (86%), and other staff (87%) are White British by ethnic background. Addressing this mismatch between the teacher workforce and student populations matters for several reasons:

It can help address the low attainment of ethnic minority pupils, and second to create a more inclusive and diverse school community that reflects the wider society. In national exams, such as the GCSE in England, the lowest attaining pupils are the Gypsy/Roma and Irish travellers, followed by those from Black Carribbean background (DfE 2021). International evidence suggests that exposure to teachers from a similar race/ethnicity provides minority ethnic students with a role model that can help raise their aspiration and close the achievement gap. There is also evidence that increasing the proportion of minority teachers in schools also leads to increased representation of ethnic minority students in gifted programmes, reduced exclusion and lower drop-out rates.

Minority ethnic teachers bring different perspectives and life experiences, exposing our children to cultural diversity, which reflects the languages, cultures and ethnic background of the local community and society at large. To foster a diverse and inclusive society, it is imperative that staff of ethnic minority heritage should be represented across our schools, regardless of the demography of the school population, as this brings a rich cultural diversity to the school community, and fosters better understanding and tolerance among different groups of children.

There is currently no robust comprehensive research into understanding how we could raise the number of ethnic minority teachers in schools. Previous research tended to be small-scale or based on case studies, which are reliant on the evidence of a self-selected group of individuals. Such findings can be biased as they are based on the voices of volunteers. This new study will:
1. Map the demographic trends of recruitment and retention of minority ethnic teachers and pupils in England (for which good quality data is available) over the past 10 years. This will give us a clearer picture of the growth of minority ethnic student population vis-a-vis that of teaching staff
2. Establish the relationship between the ethnic composition of the teaching staff and the attainment of ethnic minority pupils at KS2 and KS4,
3. Examine the factors that influence the supply and attrition of ethnic minority teachers from international research that is relevant to England
4. Identify the barriers to recruiting and retaining ethnic minority teachers in schools in England
5. Identify those factors that facilitate the recruitment and retention of ethnic minority teachers in schools in England
6. Determine promising approaches from international evidence to attracting and recruiting ethnic minority teachers, relevant to England
7. Make recommendations for policy and practice on best practice and effective programmes to adopt
The study will analyse official government data from the School Workforce Census. UCAS and the NPD. It will systematically review and synthesise international evidence on effective measures to attract and retain teachers. It will also conduct a nationwide survey on barriers and facilitators faced by schools in recruiting and retaining teachers. This will be supplemented by in-depth case studies of schools that have been known to be effective in recruiting and retaining ethnic minority staff.

The research themes together will provide a more complete and holistic understanding of the issue relating to the supply and retention of ethnic minority teachers in England.