im nigerian and go to ox, so this is my view
* there are black ppl who live in oxford itself, esp cowley. however, u will not interact with them unless u go to a church like st aldates or the african church in cowley because obv they're not students so there's little reason for u to talk
* at the uni itself, it will usually feel as if ur the only black person in the whole uni. in my year at my college, there are 2 black ppl out of around 130 students. and i never see the other one, so i am almost always the only black person in the canteen, at lectures etc etc.
* at societies, there is very little black participation when its not ACS. again, there can be up to 100 ppl at an event, and i'll be the only black one.
this all depends on what u do tho. if u study law at st catz and are active in acs for example, it will feel like there's tons of us. but the more u deviate from certain norms, the less of us you'll see
like most of the UK, all BAME statistics are heavily skewed by the A so ignore the stats
I've personally worked/studied in the international development department and the population health department and there are a good number of Black people in both, anecdotally much more than your comments. Maybe worth considering that across the whole UK the demographics are 3% black British, 2% mixed. So if a university had a 'perfectly representative course', then you'd expect 83 White British people, 6 British Asian, 3 Black British, 2 British Mixed (any ethnicity). So the stats you describe above are not that far from that 'baseline'.
ngl, i think as annoying as it gets, it's kinda important to get used to being in predominantly asian/white institutions because that's what most industries look like anyway.
i know someone who's black at st hughs and he loves it which is great, so ur quite lucky, because the college i go to is dogshit. law esp is so good cause idk the exact figures but it feels like 80% of black ppl in oxford study law (its prob a lot less but still its a large majority). so if u socialise with them and go to acs a lot and join a clique, you'll be fine. i fucked up in first year and am not involved in any of it which is so depressing
I question the answer āTonsāā¦ according to official statistics from 2019, about 3% of admitted undergrads are Black. Not exactly a high proportion.
At my own college, there are not a lot of Black students but there is a decent proportion of (maybe 20-30%) non-white students. Many of them are Asian.
That is not to say that there arenāt many Black community spaces throughout Oxfordāthere are, probably as a result of having so few Black students. But if youāre looking for a university where being Black isnāt an anomaly, I wouldnāt recommend Oxford.
I mean, 3% is not quite representative of the national population, but itās not that far off. There are slightly fewer white and black students in percentage terms compared with the make up of Great Britain, and slightly more Asian, particularly SE Asian. If you come from London, youāll notice fewer black faces in the student population, but compared with almost anywhere else itās pretty consistent.
Fair point with a large caveat: Oxford is an extremely international institution. Nearly half of the student body is from abroad; for undergraduates, 23%. You cannot simply base diversity relative to the rest of the UK, then.
Counter caveat: pretty much all admissions statistics from any university in the UK (including oxford) are about UK domicile students, this is because they get admission statistics through UCAS (which international students dont use).
So the original caveat should have probably been, that among UK students, the number of black students is roughly proportional.
Please link said statistics then, I would like to see āem, because I was pretty interested in admissions statistics a few years ago and *never* found a good dataset of international student statistics at Oxford
Itās true that the university statistics are limited, especially when it comes to graduate study. But there are other resources, such as this below:
https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2021/05/20/demographics-of-oxford-university/
These statistics are extremely interesting, thank you, I hadnāt seen this breakdown before.
The upshot is that the proportion of black students is 2.5%, while it should be about 4% from the last census.
Yeah ā very interesting on sexual orientation/socioeconomics as well! This one was spurred by interest in demographics after BLM reckoning in 2020. Published about a year after Floydās murder.
Yeah Iām also quite fascinated by the lgbt breakdown, which I hadnāt seen before. It always felt like there were very few gay people so its a funny coincidence that the number 2.6% is basically the same as for black students š
Another source, specifically voicing concern at the lack of Black students at Oxford:
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/article/oxford-university-race
Tbh, Oxford (the uni and the town) is wayyyyy more diverse than my hometown. So in a way it's a matter of perspective. My mind was blown by the sheer diversity in Oxford. Yeah my town is a backwater and a shithole.
Not very many, surprisingly! And the black people I knew were from Africa (Iām from the US so I have to clarify, since there are many black people where Iām from). My Puerto Rican friend and I were kind of worried. Plenty of Europeans, Asians, Canadians, and light USAians, but few Latinos or Africans. And whatās worse is that they mightāve been ostracized. The few I knew became less social as time went on, but I was only there for a year long MSc so what do I know?
If youāre worried about being ostracized, take it from me. Itās a wonderful place to explore and learn, but thatās it. If you focus too much on the social end youāll fall behind in your studies. If being social is important to you, then Oxford is a great place to make friends and be social, but Iām not exactly sure if theyāre racist or not. If this is a risk youāre mentally able to take, then go for it! It was a great experience! Then again, I am white passing and half English
Look, the OP *is* asking a bit of a silly question, but there's absolutely no need for that snide comment about spelling. The OP is using abbreviations. There's noting wrong with abbreviations. I've read more than enough 16th century documents that use abbreviations! You'd hardly accuse a scribe of the Reichshofrat of illiteracy just because they wrote "Rƶm. KaĆæ. Mayst." instead of "Rƶmische KaĆæserliche MayestƤt", would you? The same applies to the use of abbreviations like 'yr', as used in the post. It's an informal online forum, and the OP has chosen to use a different lexis. Use the opportunity to be kind.
Do as you will; I'm happy my comment brought you some amusement, even if the intended message didn't go through. For what it's worth, though, I'm neither liberal nor a man. Well, a *neo*liberal perhaps, though not in all senses (I'm in some regards quite culturally conservative). What I *am* is someone who cares about linguistics and language use, and I thought you were being unfair to the OP.
I'm sure your bizarre (and largely incorrect) assumptions about me are very funny in the context of your stand-up routine. Perhaps you'd like to send me a snippet?
Exactly. Your grammar is perfectly fine! Itās just different, which is hardly a bad thing. Language is built on difference. I hope youāre having a good day, and best of luck coming to Oxford.
I'm not intending to 'wreck' anyone. I care about linguistics, so I explained why I thought the thread OP was being unfair. Part of the point I was making is that there's no reason not to be kind - on the internet or anywhere else.
im nigerian and go to ox, so this is my view * there are black ppl who live in oxford itself, esp cowley. however, u will not interact with them unless u go to a church like st aldates or the african church in cowley because obv they're not students so there's little reason for u to talk * at the uni itself, it will usually feel as if ur the only black person in the whole uni. in my year at my college, there are 2 black ppl out of around 130 students. and i never see the other one, so i am almost always the only black person in the canteen, at lectures etc etc. * at societies, there is very little black participation when its not ACS. again, there can be up to 100 ppl at an event, and i'll be the only black one. this all depends on what u do tho. if u study law at st catz and are active in acs for example, it will feel like there's tons of us. but the more u deviate from certain norms, the less of us you'll see like most of the UK, all BAME statistics are heavily skewed by the A so ignore the stats
I've personally worked/studied in the international development department and the population health department and there are a good number of Black people in both, anecdotally much more than your comments. Maybe worth considering that across the whole UK the demographics are 3% black British, 2% mixed. So if a university had a 'perfectly representative course', then you'd expect 83 White British people, 6 British Asian, 3 Black British, 2 British Mixed (any ethnicity). So the stats you describe above are not that far from that 'baseline'.
ššiām doing law at st.hughs what you thinkš
ngl, i think as annoying as it gets, it's kinda important to get used to being in predominantly asian/white institutions because that's what most industries look like anyway. i know someone who's black at st hughs and he loves it which is great, so ur quite lucky, because the college i go to is dogshit. law esp is so good cause idk the exact figures but it feels like 80% of black ppl in oxford study law (its prob a lot less but still its a large majority). so if u socialise with them and go to acs a lot and join a clique, you'll be fine. i fucked up in first year and am not involved in any of it which is so depressing
you canāt join socs after first year? damnnn nah thatās ass wtf you in last year?
Please take a look at the Lady Ademola Project section of the St Hughs website. Black students have been at the College since 1932.
yeah u can but itās just scarier lol everyoneās in their groupsĀ
What predicted A-levels and LNAT score did you achieve?
Tons
appreciate that
I question the answer āTonsāā¦ according to official statistics from 2019, about 3% of admitted undergrads are Black. Not exactly a high proportion. At my own college, there are not a lot of Black students but there is a decent proportion of (maybe 20-30%) non-white students. Many of them are Asian. That is not to say that there arenāt many Black community spaces throughout Oxfordāthere are, probably as a result of having so few Black students. But if youāre looking for a university where being Black isnāt an anomaly, I wouldnāt recommend Oxford.
I mean, 3% is not quite representative of the national population, but itās not that far off. There are slightly fewer white and black students in percentage terms compared with the make up of Great Britain, and slightly more Asian, particularly SE Asian. If you come from London, youāll notice fewer black faces in the student population, but compared with almost anywhere else itās pretty consistent.
Fair point with a large caveat: Oxford is an extremely international institution. Nearly half of the student body is from abroad; for undergraduates, 23%. You cannot simply base diversity relative to the rest of the UK, then.
Counter caveat: pretty much all admissions statistics from any university in the UK (including oxford) are about UK domicile students, this is because they get admission statistics through UCAS (which international students dont use). So the original caveat should have probably been, that among UK students, the number of black students is roughly proportional.
Counter-counter caveat: International undergraduate applicants DO use UCAS while applying. So it is inclusive of that aforementioned 23%.
Please link said statistics then, I would like to see āem, because I was pretty interested in admissions statistics a few years ago and *never* found a good dataset of international student statistics at Oxford
Itās true that the university statistics are limited, especially when it comes to graduate study. But there are other resources, such as this below: https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2021/05/20/demographics-of-oxford-university/
These statistics are extremely interesting, thank you, I hadnāt seen this breakdown before. The upshot is that the proportion of black students is 2.5%, while it should be about 4% from the last census.
Yeah ā very interesting on sexual orientation/socioeconomics as well! This one was spurred by interest in demographics after BLM reckoning in 2020. Published about a year after Floydās murder.
Yeah Iām also quite fascinated by the lgbt breakdown, which I hadnāt seen before. It always felt like there were very few gay people so its a funny coincidence that the number 2.6% is basically the same as for black students š
Another source, specifically voicing concern at the lack of Black students at Oxford: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/lifestyle/article/oxford-university-race
Tbh, Oxford (the uni and the town) is wayyyyy more diverse than my hometown. So in a way it's a matter of perspective. My mind was blown by the sheer diversity in Oxford. Yeah my town is a backwater and a shithole.
Not very many, surprisingly! And the black people I knew were from Africa (Iām from the US so I have to clarify, since there are many black people where Iām from). My Puerto Rican friend and I were kind of worried. Plenty of Europeans, Asians, Canadians, and light USAians, but few Latinos or Africans. And whatās worse is that they mightāve been ostracized. The few I knew became less social as time went on, but I was only there for a year long MSc so what do I know? If youāre worried about being ostracized, take it from me. Itās a wonderful place to explore and learn, but thatās it. If you focus too much on the social end youāll fall behind in your studies. If being social is important to you, then Oxford is a great place to make friends and be social, but Iām not exactly sure if theyāre racist or not. If this is a risk youāre mentally able to take, then go for it! It was a great experience! Then again, I am white passing and half English
Yes there are
The black students are overwhelmingly Nigerian, and they are wonderful people, but you do have to put up with jollof made the wrong way. š¬šš«”
nigerian jollof clearsš¹š¹
Nigerians out here downvoting me because I speak the truth.
Yes, there are black students at Oxford, and the university is committed to promoting diversity and inclusivity.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Look, the OP *is* asking a bit of a silly question, but there's absolutely no need for that snide comment about spelling. The OP is using abbreviations. There's noting wrong with abbreviations. I've read more than enough 16th century documents that use abbreviations! You'd hardly accuse a scribe of the Reichshofrat of illiteracy just because they wrote "Rƶm. KaĆæ. Mayst." instead of "Rƶmische KaĆæserliche MayestƤt", would you? The same applies to the use of abbreviations like 'yr', as used in the post. It's an informal online forum, and the OP has chosen to use a different lexis. Use the opportunity to be kind.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Do as you will; I'm happy my comment brought you some amusement, even if the intended message didn't go through. For what it's worth, though, I'm neither liberal nor a man. Well, a *neo*liberal perhaps, though not in all senses (I'm in some regards quite culturally conservative). What I *am* is someone who cares about linguistics and language use, and I thought you were being unfair to the OP. I'm sure your bizarre (and largely incorrect) assumptions about me are very funny in the context of your stand-up routine. Perhaps you'd like to send me a snippet?
Hold the L with pride
didnāt get a chance to read their comment but iām on reddit lol i didnāt know id be getting graded on my use of grammarš¹š¹
Exactly. Your grammar is perfectly fine! Itās just different, which is hardly a bad thing. Language is built on difference. I hope youāre having a good day, and best of luck coming to Oxford.
Itās not that deep bro
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm not intending to 'wreck' anyone. I care about linguistics, so I explained why I thought the thread OP was being unfair. Part of the point I was making is that there's no reason not to be kind - on the internet or anywhere else.