Minority positions

Congratulations to David Lammy on his appointment as the new Minister for Higher Education ("Lammy steps up to HE as Rammell is moved sideways", 9 October). I do hope that his appointment will highlight the plight of many black and Asian individuals who languish at home with PhDs and cannot get a lectureship post in higher education in Britain.

Lammy, rightly, has spoken of talented youths in the black community who had written off even considering higher education by the time they took their GCSEs.

But what he needs to look at now are the talented blacks, Asians and other minorities who have achieved their PhDs and, not for the want of trying, cannot obtain a lectureship post in British universities.

He just has to look at the photographs of staff members that are placed at the entrance of universities to see that higher education in Britain has almost written off blacks, Asians and other ethnic minorities as academics.

June Evans, via the Times Higher Education website.