U.K. Academic Pipeline Fails To Retain Ethnic Minority Chemists

An analysis by the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Inclusion and Diversity team indicates the U.K. chemistry pipeline loses the majority of its ethnic minority students after they complete their undergraduate studies, according to an article from Chemistry World. The number of ethnic minority students pursuing chemistry degrees initially mirrors the general population; however, it reportedly plummets at more advanced levels of academia.

According to the article, undergraduate Asian students make up about 14% of the population, before dropping to 7% at postgraduate. The drop-off for Black students is even more precipitous. Black students reportedly comprise 5% of the population at the undergraduate level before falling to just over 1% at postgraduate. The article notes that the RSC is conducting research to identify the causes of chemistry’s retention problem and the group will work with the U.K. chemistry community in response.

Read the entire article here.