Institutional inertia as a tool of institutional racism: understanding impediments to social change at an English university

Higher Education (HE) in the UK has recently been forced to confront the issue of systemic racism. Black and Global Majority (BGM) students and staff report experiences of overt and implicit racism. Gaps in achievement, employment and pay between White and BGM students and staff also remain persistent problems. In this qualitative study of an ethnically diverse university in England, we draw on focus groups with White and BGM staff to document the challenges experienced in discussing race and racism. We argue that institutional inertia is a manifestation of institutional racism that influences how BGM staff experience the institution. We examine a critical incident where institutional inertia was made visible to White staff and argue this resulted in racialised emotional labour as White staff grapple with directly experiencing institutional inertia as it relates to race. We consider how institutional inertia prevents the transformational change required for institutions to be anti-racist.