Living Black at University 47 8 EXPERIENCES OF ACCOMMODATION STAFF 8.0 Experiences of 47 accommodation staff Living Black at University 46 The experiences and observations of accommodation staff provide a valuable analysis of the organisational issues that underpin the experiences of students described previously. Sixty staff completed responses to the staff survey, of which only four identified their ethnicity as Black (including mixed-race Black respondents). This was explained in the free-text comments. One respondent commented: “100% white workforce”, whilst three commented on the difficulties in recruiting staff of colour. One said: “I feel that we struggle to recruit a diverse and inclusive team. We have good representation from the trans and LGBT+ community, but we do not see many applicants from communities of colour, religious diversity, Neurodiverse, disabled communities and we have a huge gap in the socioeconomic diversity in our teams.” Two respondents made comments directly referencing colleagues who had racist attitudes, or did not confront them in others. “My manager has been openly racist and keeps stating she hates international students as they make her life harder because the lack of English.” and: “I have seen and supported colleagues of colour experience hostile work environment and have their experiences dismissed by HR and our management. When one case was brought to mediation, the management and HR determined that the victim should 'just wait it out' as the perpetrator was on a fixed term contract ending soon. Along with no training for staff, we lack procedures and resources for addressing racist bias incidents and hate crimes. These occur regularly in our community and are perpetrated by other students, staff, and broader community members. Students who try to report hit many barriers. I have heard upper management dismiss students’ reports repeatedly. I have been labelled argumentative for pushing this and for pushing for protocol/resources.” One staff member highlighted the impact of COVID-19 on racism: “Lots of [staff] conversations around Black & Muslim communities’ contribution to covid rates/spreading, often very negative and critical.” 8.0 EXPERIENCES OF ACCOMMODATION STAFF