Trained to Intimidate: The Racialised Logic of ‘Difficult Employees’ in Academia
Higher education institutions often pride themselves on being bastions of progressive thought and inclusivity. According to a recent report, UK universities have substantially increased their spending on EDI programs, with staff costs for EDI initiatives doubling over a three-year period to approximately £28 million per year, as mentioned in a February 2025 article in The Scotsman discussing university funding challenges. Beneath this veneer lies a troubling reality: the perpetuation of racist and sexist structures through multiple techniques that have already been thoroughly discussed on diverse platforms. I want to focus on one of those techniques today: management training programs, particularly those focused on handling “difficult employees.” Such training programs reproduce racism in junior management positions within higher education, creating institutional environments where employees from diverse backgrounds experience persistent marginalisation, display feelings of worthlessne...
