Nicola Rollock

Nicola Rollock is Professor of Social Policy and Race at King’s College London. Her appointment is part time. She also is Distinguished Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and Director of NIANRO Consulting, a bespoke research company specialising in innovative research and advice. Nicola is interested in how we think about and understand racism as a basis for fostering meaningful change.

She has held a number of advisory roles including as Senior Adviser to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Specialist Adviser to the Home Affairs’ Select Committee’s Macpherson: 22 Years On Inquiry. She was also a member of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Steering Groups for the Wellcome Trust and the British Science Association.

Nicola is probably best known for her research on Black female professors published in the report Staying Power and the related exhibition Phenomenal Women: portraits of UK Black female professors, which went on display at London’s Southbank Centre and the University of Cambridge in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

In 2020, she appeared as an expert contributor in the BAFTA-winning two-part Channel 4 documentary The school that tried to end racism which aimed to reduce racial bias in a group of Year 11 pupils through a range of specially designed activities.

Nicola’s work has been recognised both within and beyond the academy. She is featured in apolitical’s list of 100 most influential academics in government and, in 2020, was included in the Duke & Duchess of Sussex’s list of Next Generation Trailblazers for challenging prejudice and contributions to British society. In 2019, she was selected by Times Higher journalists as one of 11 scholars globally to have influenced the debate in higher education.

Her first sole authored book The Racial Code was published by Penguin Press in 2022.

PhD Supervision

Nicola welcomes students undertaking theoretical and empirical work on a range of themes around racial equity. She is particularly interested in work that challenges conventional norms and debates in relation to the outcomes and experiences of racially minoritised groups across different areas of policy.

Her current students and topics are:

Chloe Lewis, University of Cambridge - The experiences of Black British doctoral students

Sasha Henriques, University of Cambridge (mentoring support) - Race and ancestry in the genome scientific community

Publications

BOOKS & EDITED COLLECTIONS

Dixson, A.D., Gillborn, D., Ladson-Billings, G., Parker, L., Rollock, N. & Warmington, P. (2018) (Eds.) Critical Race Theory in Education (4 Vol set), Major themes in education series, London & New York: Routledge

Rollock, N (2022) The Racial Code: tales of resistance and survival, London: Allen Lane

Rollock, N., Gillborn, D., Vincent, C. & Ball, S. (2015) The Colour of Class: The Educational Strategies of the Black middle classes. London & New York: Routledge.

REPORTS & SCHOOL RESOURCES

Rollock, N. (2019) Staying power: the career experiences and strategies of UK Black female Professors, London: UCU https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10075/Staying-Power/pdf/UCU_Rollock_February_2019.pdf

Rollock, N. (2016) Independent review into the allegation of institutional racism in NUS, London: Runnymede Trust

Rollock, N. (2009) The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: 10 Years On, London: Runnymede Trust https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/StephenLawrenceInquiryReport-2009.pdf

Rollock, N. (2009) School governors and race equality in 21st century schools, London: Runnymede Trust https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/SchoolGovernors-2009.pdf

Rollock, N. (2007) Failure by any other name? Educational Policy and the continuing struggle for Black academic success, London: Runnymede https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/FailureByAnyOtherName-2007.pdf

Maylor, U, Ross, A., Rollock, N. & Williams, K. (2006) Black teachers in London, London: Greater London Authority http://www.blackeducation.info/upload/docs/Black%20Teachers%20in%20London%20- %20GLA%20report.pdf

Rollock, N. (2003) (ed.) Complementing Teachers: A practical guide for promoting race equality in schools. London: Letts Education

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Rollock, N. (2021) ‘I would have become wallpaper if racism had its way’: Black female professors, racial battle fatigue, and strategies for surviving higher education, Peabody Journal of Education, Special issue, Education Policy Implications Across the African Diaspora

Gillborn, D., Demack, S., Rollock, N. & Warmington, P. (2017) Moving the goalposts: education policy and 25 years of the Black/White achievement gap, British Educational Research Journal, 43(5): 848-874. DOI: 10.1002/berj.3297

Warmington, P., Gillborn, D., Rollock, N. & Demack, S. (2017) “They can’t handle the race agenda”: stakeholders’ reflections on race and education policy, 1993–2013, Educational Review, DOI: 10.1080/00131911.2017.1353482

Skinner, D., May, V. & Rollock, N. (2016) Self-Identity and Its Discontents: Sociology in the 1990s, Sociology E- Special, 50(6), pp13-23 https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038515621245

Rollock, N. (2014) Race, Class and the ‘Harmony of Dispositions’, Sociology, 48 (3), pp445-451 https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038514521716

Rollock, N. (2013) A political investment: revisiting race and racism in the research process. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 34 (4), pp492-509 https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2013.822617

Ball, S.J., Rollock , N., Vincent, C. & Gillborn, D. (2013) Social mix, schooling and intersectionality: identity and risk for Black middle-class families, Research Papers in Education, 28(3): 265-288 https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2011.641998

Rollock, N., Vincent, C., Ball, S. & Gillborn, D. (2013) ‘Middle class by profession’: Class status and identification amongst the Black middle classes. Ethnicities, 13(3), pp253-275 https://doi.org/10.1177/1468796812467743

Vincent, C., Ball, S.J., Rollock, N. & Gillborn, D. (2013) Three generations of racism: Black middle-class children and schooling, British Journal of Sociology of Education, Special Issue on Education & Social Mobility (Eds. Phillip Brown, Diane Reay & Carol Vincent), 34(5-6), pp929-946 https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2013.816032

Vincent, C., Rollock, N., Ball, S.J. & Gillborn, D. (2013) Raising Middle-Class Black Children: parenting priorities, actions and strategies, Sociology, 47(3), pp427-442 https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038512454244

Gillborn, D., Rollock, N., Vincent, C. & Ball, S. (2012) ‘You got a pass, so what more do you want?’ race, class and gender intersections in the educational experiences of the Black middle class. Special issue: Critical race theory in England, Race Ethnicity & Education, 15 (1), pp121-139 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.638869

Rollock, N. (2012) The Invisibility of race: Intersectional reflections on the liminal space of alterity. Special issue: Critical race theory in England, Race Ethnicity & Education, 15 (1), pp65-84 https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2012.638864

Vincent, C., Rollock, N., Ball, S. & Gillborn, D. (2012) Being strategic, being watchful, being determined: Black middle-class parents and schooling, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 33 (3), pp337-354 https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2012.668833

Rollock, N. (2011) Unspoken rules of engagement: navigating racial microaggressions in the academic terrain. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 25 (5), pp517-532 https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2010.543433

Rollock, N., Gillborn, D., Ball, S. & Vincent, C. (2011) The public identities of the Black middle classes: managing race in public spaces. Sociology, 45 (6), pp1078-1093 https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038511416167

Rollock, N. (2007) Why Black girls don’t matter: deconstructing gendered and racialised discourses of academic success in an inner-city school. British Journal of Learning Support, 4, pp197-202 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9604.2007.00471.x

Rollock, N. (2007) Legitimising Black academic failure: deconstructing staff discourses of academic success, appearance and behaviour. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 17 (3), pp275-287 https://doi.org/10.1080/09620210701543924

CHAPTERS IN BOOKS & EDITED COLLECTIONS

Rollock, N. (2020) Pursuing racial justice in UK higher education: is conflict inevitable? In A. Brown & E. Wisby (Eds.) Knowledge, Policy and Practice: the struggle for social justice in education, essays in honour of Professor Geoff Whitty, London: UCL IOE Press

Rollck, N. (2018) The Heart of Whiteness: Racial gesture politics, equity and higher education, in J. Arday & H. Mirza (Eds.) Dismantling Race in Higher Education: Racism, Whiteness and Decolonising the Academy, London: Palgrave Macmillan pp. 313-330 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60261-5.

Gillborn, D., Rollock, N., Vincent, C. & Ball, S.J. (2016) The Black Middle Classes, Education, Racism, and Dis/ability: An Intersectional Analysis, in David J. Connor, Beth A. Ferri & Subini A. Annamma (Eds.) DisCrit: Disability Studies and Critical Race Theory in Education. New York: Teachers College Press, pp. 35-54

Rollock, N. & Dixson, A. (2016) Critical Race Theory in N. Naples, R.C. Hoogland, M. Wickramsinghe & A. Wong (Eds.) The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies. Wiley-Blackwell

Rollock, N. (2016) Letter to my Unborn Daughter, My career in the academy – reasons for my mental breakdown, in G. Ladson-Billings & W. Tate (Eds.) Covenant Keeper: Derrick Bell’s Enduring Education Legacy, New York: Peter Lang pp.111-128

Gillborn, D., Rollock, N. Vincent, C. & Ball, S.J. (2014) ‘You got a pass, so what more do you want?’: race, class and gender intersections in the educational experiences of the Black middle class, in Namita Chakrabarty, Lorna Roberts & John Preston (Eds.) Critical Race Theory in England. London: Routledge, pp. 121 – 139. Nb. this is a special issue of the journal Race Ethnicity & Education (15, 1 - 2012) reprinted as a hardback book and sold separately.

Gillborn, D. & Rollock, N. (2010) Education. In A. Bloch & J. Solomos (Eds.) Race and Ethnicity in the 21st Century. London: Palgrave Macmillan pp138–165
260 pages

Rollock, N. (2009) Educational Policy and the impact of the Lawrence Inquiry: the view from another sector. In N. Hall, J. Grieve & S. P. Savage (Eds.) Policing and the Legacy of Lawrence. Cullompton, Devon: Willan Publishing pp 234-248 320

ARTICLES IN NEWSPAPERS & ONLINE MEDIA

Rollock, N. (2020) It's time for white people to step up for Black colleagues, Financial Times, 4 June, https://www.ft.com/content/beadaf00-a4f8-11ea-a27c-b8aa85e36b7e

Rollock, N. (2019) Universities engage with race in superficial ways, The Guardian, 24 October, https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/oct/24/monolithically-white-places-academics-on-racism-in- universities

Rollock, N. (2019) Still too few Black female academics hold professorship, University World News, 11 May, https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190506150215740

Rollock, N. (2019) We urgently need more Black female professors, British Vogue, 6 February, https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/black-female-professors-uk-universities

Rolock, N. (2018) A hostile environment? British Sociological Association online blog, https://www.britsoc.co.uk/about/latest-news/2018/may/a-hostile-environment/ (

Rollock, N. (2017) Theresa May’s racial disparity audit lacks historical context, The Financial Times, 12 October, https://www.ft.com/content/47433a4e-ae8c-11e7-aab9-abaa44b1e130

Rollock, N. (2016) How much does your university do for race equality? The Guardian, 29 January, https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2016/jan/19/how-much-does-your-university-do- for-racial-equality

Rollock, N. (2015) Why is it so hard to talk about race in UK universities? The Conversation, 9 February, https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-hard-to-talk-about-race-in-uk-universities-37299

Rollock, N. (2014) The racism talk: how Black middle class parents are warning their children, The Conversation, 27 October, https://theconversation.com/the-racism-talk-how-black-middle-class-parents-are-warning-their- children-33221

Rollock, N. (2009) No objectivity in stop and search, Comment is free, The Guardian, Wednesday 17 June www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jun/17/stop-and-search?INTCMP=SRCH

Rollock, N. (2009) A success rate of one in 1,000 shows stop and search doesn’t work. Comment, The Guardian, Wednesday 6th May www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/06/nicola-rollock-stop-and- search

Rollock, N. (2009) Searching questions about race, Comment is free, The Guardian, Wednesday 18 February, www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/feb/18/police-race?INTCMP=SRCH

Rollock, N. (2007) Black pupils still pay an ethnic penalty – even if they’re rich. The Guardian, Wednesday 4th July http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/jul/04/comment.education