Ethnic Minority and Gender Distribution Among Staff and Pupils in Facilities for Pupils with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties in England and Wales

This article describes the ethnic and gender make up of a substantial (60%+) sample of the staff and pupil population of schools and units for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties in England and Wales. The data presented is taken from a questionnaire survey. This is the first large sample study of this topic to be conducted in educational establishments of this type in England and Wales. Notable findings are: (1) the imbalance in gender distribution in these facilities, with the boys far outweighing the number of girls; (2) the over representation of pupils of Afro‐Caribbean origin, particularly among the boys; and (3) the under representation of teachers from ethnic minorities among the teaching staff in these schools. These findings are shown to be generally consistent with the findings of related studies, and are discussed in terms of social and educational issues.