Visible for diversity, invisible in research: the burdens Black female academics face in universities

Black women are underrepresented in senior roles in British academia. As of May 2024, there were only 70 Black women professors.

This is less than 1% of all female professors in the UK. Black women are also more likely to be employed on fixed-term contracts in academia.

In our research, we’ve reviewed academic studies on the experiences of Black women in UK universities to identify some of the key reasons for this under-representation.

Promotion to the role of professor typically requires evidence of sustained academic excellence. This includes high-quality research, winning grant funding and publication in high-impact journals. It also requires supervising PhD students and a record of disciplinary or institutional leadership.

Many Black women academics in the UK work in newer, less research-intensive institutions where teaching and student support loads are comparatively higher. This can limit time for research and publishing.

What’s more, these opportunities for promotion are unevenly distributed. Black women are more often overburdened with pastoral care, teaching and equality, diversity and inclusion work. This is labour that’s important to the university, but undervalued in promotion criteria.

Invisible labour

Evidence suggests that Black women scholars in academia experience gendered and anti-Black racism. This can severely affect their work environments, career progression and wellbeing in academic institutional spaces.

They have to grapple with the exhausting task of proving they belong in universities that are not built with them in mind. This sense of not belonging is reinforced by structural and symbolic signals. Hallways are adorned with portraits of white male scholars, reading lists dominated by western scholarship and disciplinary norms rooted in Eurocentric assumptions.

Addressing this question of belonging often means taking a lead on work to make these spaces more equitable. Black women may find themselves supporting Black and racially minoritised students who may feel more able to connect with them than other academics.

They may carry out extra work that their colleagues don’t. This includes promoting equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives and building support networks, while trying to meet the same research and scholarship demands as others.

Black women are often both highly visible and yet largely invisible in academia. They’re visible as they are one of a few standing out for their ethnicity – becoming symbols of diversity.

Yet their scholarship is frequently under-recognised or overlooked. At the same time, the additional labour they undertake often goes unseen and they are less like to have senior sponsorship than their peers.

The burden of being under scrutiny and engaging in emotional labour often weighs heavily on Black women. Black women also have to navigate sometimes hostile environments. This can take subtle forms, such as being excluded in meetings and being treated as less credible than non-Black colleagues.

Making connections

Despite the challenges faced by some Black women academics, there are independent networks outside of universities set up by Black academics that are dedicated to supporting women from racial minorities.

One of us (Yaz Iyabo Osho) founded Global Ethnic Majority Women in Academia. Others include the Black Female Academic Network and the Sisters in Higher Education Network. These networks collectively offer peer support and advocacy. They also run conferences, events and opportunities for development for Black women scholars.

These networks also offer vital forums for communication and collaboration. This is important for Black women academics when they encounter difficulties within their own institutions. Informal networks can also help foster social capital and peer support. This can be the difference between leaving a career in academia and staying put.

Collaborative spaces, peer networks and co-mentorship can build both professional capital and emotional resilience. These are not just discussion spaces outside of the university, but places for knowledge production, community building, and collective resistance.

Action from universities must take the intersecting oppressions Black women face seriously. Generic policies on equality, diversity and inclusion fail to account for how racism, sexism, ageism, and classism intersect in academic life.

Requiring Black women academics to do the emotional, pastoral and institutional labour of improving their own inclusion – at the expense of their career – is not true inclusion. Structural change and collective accountability is required.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Yaz Iyabo Osho, University of Westminster and Naomi Alormele, University of Northampton

Read more:

• How universities can address the lack of Black scholars in academia
• What is intersectionality and why does it make feminism more effective?
• Pay gaps and less chance of a top degree: the unequal experience of ethnic minority staff and students at English universities

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.