Kevin Hylton

Kevin Hylton PhD is Professor Emeritus of Equality and Diversity in Sport and Education. Kevin is the first Black Professor to hold this honour in Carnegie history.
Kevin’s research is world leading in regard to ‘race’ research in sport and education. Kevin authored ‘Race’ and Sport: Critical Race Theory (Routledge, 2009) and Contesting ‘Race’ and Sport: Shaming the Colour Line (Routledge, 2018). Kevin is Board Member for the International Review for the Sociology of Sport (IRSS), the Journal of Global Sport Management and Co-Editor of the Routledge Critical Series on Equality and Social Justice in Sport and Leisure. 

Kevin is Chair of the Sheffield Race Equality Commission, Patron of the Equality Challenge Unit’s Race Equality Charter, Visiting Professor at the University of South Wales and was previously Head of the Research Centre for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Kevin leads a British Academy funded team focusing on Online Racism and Islamophobia in the English Football League and the English Premier League. Kevin works closely with Sport England on their strategy for Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic communities’ and their Talent Inclusion Advisory Group. Kevin is also working closely with national governing organisations of on a range of projects.

Kevin’s work in the area of social justice and critical race studies has helped to broaden the lexicon and understanding of ‘race’ in sport and leisure related contexts, while also building on the university’s legacy of work on gender relations. His development of Critical Race Theory in the UK and its application across professions has underpinned his work with national governing bodies and national organisations where issues of under-representation, racial inequalities, individual, cultural and institutional racism, and intersectional issues in coaching and sport have required new perspectives to explain and disrupt them.