Rachel C. Boyle is the Dean of Education at the Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University. She is the first woman of colour to be appointed as a Dean in the university’s history. Rachel is a former Primary School teacher who spent many happy years teaching the children of Liverpool before she made the move in higher education in 2010.

Rachel’s passion and research focuses on race, racism ethnicity and education. She uses critical race theory as a theoretical framework to examine ‘race’ inequalities in society, specifically in education. The experiences she had growing up as a mixed race child in the 1980s have underpinned Rachel’s passion for and commitment to addressing racial inequality in education. She has worked with trainee teachers to examine the impact of race, racism and ethnicity on the educational experiences of children and young people. Rachel encourages her students to develop an understanding of the position of the ‘other’ and to use their voices to ensure that the teaching profession consistently evolves to meet the needs of the children it serves.

More recently Rachel has worked across the media to provide commentary on societal issues of racism including the death of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement and racism within the UK.