Black students risk finding university “psychologically destructive” because so many authors, thinkers and historical figures they study are white Europeans, the leader of the National Union of Students has claimed.

Undergraduates with a non-white or non-European heritage found it difficult to “see themselves advancing” in their subjects while other students “hit the ground running”, she said.

Malia Bouattia, 28, the first female black Muslim to be NUS president, ran a campaign in her previous role as its black students’ officer called: “Why is my curriculum white?” She argued that many degree courses were shaped by colonialism to reflect the philosophies of “wealthy white men”. The campaign put pressure on institutions to revise course content and reading lists, especially in arts and humanities degrees.

Ms Bouattiahas