Universities are being accused of "complacency" over a lack of senior black academics and lower achievement among ethnic minority students.
Baroness Amos, the UK's first black woman university head, says there are "deep-seated prejudices and stereotypes which need to be overcome".
"Not even 1% of UK professors are black," she will tell a conference on university leadership.
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The Office for Students says tackling such "gaps" should be a priority.
Speaking ahead of the conference, Baroness Amos, director of the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas), in London, said universities liked to see themselves as "inclusive and internationalist".
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