Nicola Rollock Explained

Nicola Rollock
Alma Mater:University of Liverpool
Birkbeck, University of London
UCL Institute of Education
Thesis Title:Legitimate players? : an ethnographic study of academically successful Black pupils in a London secondary school
Thesis Url:https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10007456/
Thesis Year:2006
Workplaces:London Metropolitan University
UCL Institute of Education
Goldsmiths, University of London
University of Birmingham
University of Cambridge
King's College London
Birth Place:South West London, England

Nicola Rollock is a British academic, writer and activist. She is professor of social policy and race at King's College London, having previously been reader in equality and education at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and has written several books, including The Colour of Class: The educational strategies of the Black middle classes (2014). She has been included in the Powerlist of the most influential black Britons and has received the PRECIOUS award for her work in racial equality.

Early life and education

Rollock was born in South West London, England, to parents from Barbados.[1] Her father encouraged her to focus on her education; she enjoyed reading as a child, and eventually studied English literature. She studied psychology at the University of Liverpool and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1994. Rollock's further education included a Postgraduate Certificate in Family and Couple Therapy at Birkbeck, University of London. She was appointed head of education at the Runnymede Trust in 2001. For her doctoral studies she moved to the UCL Institute of Education, where she researched the educational attainment of black students in British secondary schools.[2]

Research and career

After completing her doctorate in 2006, Rollock was appointed a postdoctoral fellow at London Metropolitan University, where she spent three years, before returning to the UCL Institute of Education as a research associate. Her research revealed that black children still faced an attainment gap, even if they were as rich as their white counterparts.[3] She has presented her research as evidence to parliament on the attainment of black pupils. Together with the Runnymede Trust, Rollock published The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 10 Years On, which looked at how British policing must evolve to support the diverse British population.[4] The recommendations included sharing effective practice on recording racist incidents across the criminal justice system, improving the monitoring of racially motivated crime, increasing public scrutiny, addressing the retention and progression of black staff and reviewing the effectiveness of Stop and Search. The report was presented to the Home Office and Ministry of Justice in 2009.[5]

In her 2019 report Staying Power (the title of which pays homage to Peter Fryer's 1984 book of the same name that documents the history of Black people in Britain), Rollock identified that there were fewer than thirty black British women professors in the United Kingdom, as of February 2019.[6] [7] This shockingly low number (there are 18,000 professors, more than 14,000 of whom are white men)[8] was covered in The Guardian, Vogue and Stylist.[9] [10] [11] Rollock identified that the underrepresentation of black women was due to explicit bias, bullying and racial stereotyping. Rollock is committed to making the black women professors more visible, as well as encouraging and supporting more women in to academia.[12] The Black Female Professors Forum was established by Iyiola Solanke in 2019.[13]

In 2019, Rollock was appointed to the Home Affairs Select Committee Macpherson Report: Twenty Years On inquiry, which will examine progress in the two decades since the Murder of Stephen Lawrence.[14] She was appointed lead on the black and minority ethnic (BAME) attainment gap at Goldsmiths, University of London.[15] [16] In this role, she leads a working group that engages academic and professional services staff as well as students to understand the origins of the achievement gap, and implement various solutions. The efforts are part of a wide Government of the United Kingdom initiative to end inequalities between different ethnicities in higher education.[17]

Rollock serves on the Wellcome Trust Diversity & Inclusion Steering Group[18] and the British Science Association Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group.[19] She is a member of the BBC Academy.[20] Rollock provides regular comment on racial inequality to the media.[21] She has criticised universities for engaging "with race in superficial ways".[22]

Related to her research, Rollock curated the touring exhibition Phenomenal Women: portraits of UK Black female professors, aiming "to challenge perceptions of what a professor looks like, to highlight the intersectionality of race and gender and to showcase the achievements of this under-represented group of academics."[23] Featuring photographs by Bill Knight,[24] [25] Phenomenal Women was displayed at locations including in 2020 at London's Southbank Centre[26] [27] and at the University of Cambridge in 2021.[28]

Rollock is a Distinguished Fellow of the Faculty of Education of the University of Cambridge.[29] In September 2021, she was appointed Professor of Social Policy and Race at King's College London.[30]

Rollock is the founding editor of the Routledge journal Whiteness and Education.[31] She has written for The Conversation[32] and the Financial Times.[33]

Awards and honours

Rollock's awards and honours include:

Selected publications

Her publications include:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Inspirational Women Dr Nicola Rollock Changing People Blog Changing People Blog. 28 February 2017 . 2019-10-27.
  2. Legitimate players? : an ethnographic study of academically successful Black pupils in a London secondary school. Institute of Education, University of London. 2006. Ph.D.. Nicola. Rollock.
  3. News: Dr Nicola Rollock: Black pupils still pay an ethnic penalty - even if they're rich. Rollock. Dr Nicola. 2007-07-03. The Guardian. 2019-10-27. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  4. Web site: The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 10 Years On. Rollock. Nicola. Runnymede Trust. 2019-10-27.
  5. Web site: Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 10 Years of Government Response. University of Birmingham. July 2009. 2019-10-27.
  6. Web site: Staying Power: The career experiences and strategies of UK Black female professors. Rollock. Nicola. February 2019. 2019-10-27.
  7. Web site: Still too few black female academics hold professorships. Nicola. Rollock. 11 May 2019. University World News. 2019-10-27.
  8. News: UK universities making slow progress on equality, data shows. Adams. Richard Adams . 2018-09-07. The Guardian. 2019-10-27. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  9. Web site: Black female professors offer advice to the next generation of academics. Shaffi. Sarah. 2019-03-22. Stylist. en. 2019-10-27.
  10. Web site: Black female academics 'face racism and bullying' on path to professorships. Goldsmiths, University of London. 4 February 2019 . en. 2019-10-27.
  11. Web site: We Urgently Need More Black Female Professors In UK Universities. Nicola. Rollock. British Vogue. 6 February 2019 . en-GB. 2019-10-27.
  12. Web site: Dr Nicola Rollock on: Black Female Academics, Balance & Well Being. Furaha. Asani. Black Ballad. en. 11 August 2019. 2019-10-27.
  13. Web site: About – Black Female Professors Forum. en-GB. 2019-10-27.
  14. Web site: The Macpherson Report: Twenty Years On inquiry. UK Parliament. en. 2019. 2019-10-27.
  15. Web site: Dr Nicola Rollock to lead work addressing BAME attainment gap. Morgan. Tom. Goldsmiths, University of London. February 2019 . en. 2019-10-27.
  16. Web site: Goldsmiths takes action to address race study findings. 2019-10-25. Voice Online. en. 2019-10-27.
  17. Web site: Universities must do more to tackle ethnic disparity. GOV.UK. en. 1 February 2019. 2019-10-27.
  18. Web site: Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group Wellcome. wellcome.ac.uk. 2019-10-27.
  19. Web site: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group. British Science Association. 8 July 2019 . en. 2019-10-27.
  20. Web site: Nicola Rollock. BBC Academy. en. 2019-10-27.
  21. News: 'Monolithically white places': academics on racism in universities. Gopal. Priyamvada. 2019-10-24. The Guardian. 2019-10-27. Rollock. Nicola. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  22. News: How much does your university do for racial equality?. Rollock. Dr Nicola. 2016-01-19. The Guardian. 2019-10-27. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  23. Web site: Phenomenal Women: Portraits of Black Female Professors at UCL. UCL. 10 March 2020. 26 July 2023.
  24. News: Portraits of UK black female professors – in pictures. Bill. Knight. The Guardian. 9 March 2020.
  25. Web site: Portraits of Black Female Professors. BBC News. 9 March 2020. 26 July 2023.
  26. Web site: Phenomenal Women: Black Female Professors (part of the Inside Out Series). Southbank Centre. 15 October 2020. 26 July 2023. YouTube.
  27. Web site: The Southbank Centre presents an outdoor exhibition celebrating Britain's Black female professors. Istoria Lit. 6 October 2020 . 26 July 2023.
  28. Web site: Public portrait exhibition honouring Britain's Black women professors arrives in Cambridge. University of Cambridge News. 6 October 2021. 26 July 2023.
  29. Web site: Dr Nicola Rollock to join Faculty as Distinguished Fellow. Faculty of Education News. University of Cambridge. 2021. 26 July 2023.
  30. Web site: Dr Nicola Rollock appointed as Professor at King's College London. King's College London. 29 September 2021. 31 December 2021.
  31. Web site: Whiteness and Education. www.tandfonline.com. 2019-10-27.
  32. Web site: Nicola Rollock. The Conversation. 24 October 2014 . en. 2019-10-27.
  33. News: Rollock . Nicola . 12 October 2017 . Theresa May's racial disparity audit lacks historical context . en-GB . . subscription . 2019-10-27.
  34. Web site: Dr Nicola Rollock attends the Women of the Year Council. www.birmingham.ac.uk. 22 October 2015. 2019-10-27.
  35. Web site: Winners Announced of the 10th Annual PRECIOUS Awards Family Friendly Working. www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk. 6 November 2016. 2019-10-27.
  36. Web site: The Global University: Ethnic and Race Diversity in Higher Education & Research. www.ucd.ie. University College Dublin. October 2019. 2019-10-27.