To protect and preserve? Explaining the gap between structural and superficial racial equality regimes in North Atlantic Rim universities

<p dir="ltr">This article examines how UK and US universities manage racial equality regimes through governance structures that prioritise institutional reputation over substantive racial justice reform. Drawing on Bourdieu's field, habitus and capital theory, the study demonstrates how universities neutralise racial justice efforts through bureaucratic inertia, funding control and managerial containment. The analysis is based on qualitative data from 138 university employees across 88 institutions, revealing that racial justice work is systematically depoliticised to align with institutional branding rather than structural transformation. The study introduces the <i>colour–power matrix</i>, a diagnostic model that maps how power and capital are distributed within universities to maintain racial hierarchies while outwardly promoting diversity. It highlights the role of HR and University Senior Management Teams (USMTs) in shaping racial equality initiatives as non-performative, ensuring they pose no real challenge to institutional structures. Policy recommendations include redistributing decision-making power to subaltern-led governance bodies, reforming HR accountability structures and creating independent racial justice oversight panels. The findings contribute to critical policy studies, decolonial education research and institutional sociology, offering insights into how universities can move beyond symbolic inclusion towards genuine structural change in racial justice work.</p>