Representativeness and diversity within the teaching profession in England, 2010–2020

Abstract

The focus of this paper is the ethnic representativeness of the teaching profession in England. The novel methodology does more than simply count how many ethnicities exist, but also takes into account the relative size of the different ethnicities and tracks changes in the diversity of the teaching workforce compared to that of the general population over the ten years between the 2011 and 2021 census. It finds that while the teaching profession is getting more diverse, it is becoming less representative of the general population, which is increasing in diversity more rapidly. The paper’s methodology shows the way forward for policy-makers and similar analyses in Developing and Global South economies where the collection of relevant data is less established.