How Do Non-Academic Women Who Identify as Black and Ethnic Minorities in HEIs in the UK Experience Challenges in their Career Progression Aspirations and How Can This Be Understood Using an Intersectionality Lens?
Career progression for non-academic Black and minority ethnic (BME) women is challenging and has resulted in HEIs having questionable approaches in their endeavours to achieve fair representation. The Equality Act (2010), which meant to help reduce inequality in organisations including HEIs, has had little effect as regards a more representative HEI industry. Fourteen years since the Act came into force, the level of representation of non-academic BME women in HEIs is closer to zero than 1% (HESA, 2021/22) despite an increased percentage of BME students’ entry in HEIs post-1992 after the promotion of most polytechnics into universities. The purpose of this study is to explore the barriers faced by non-academic BME women as they aspire to become leaders in HEIs. The research design was an exploratory, qualitative study phenomenology (Hennik et al., 2020). The study included 28 women who self-identified as BME and were aspiring to be leaders in HEIs. I carried out seven focus groups with seven universities – four Russell Group and three Post-1992. Following that, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 19 women. The theory underpinning this study was intersectionality. The analysis of the data revealed four intersecting themes across the participants: institutional practices intersecting with ‘whiteness and how it is seen as carrying the leadership mantle’, culture within culture, and BME women and their perceptions. At the intersection of race, gender, and foreignness, individuals’ experiences are shaped by multiple layers of identity and social dynamics. For marginalized groups, such as women of colour or non-binary individuals, the experience of foreignness intersects with racial and gender-based discrimination, further complicating their sense of belonging and agency within academic spaces. How foreignness weaves through the four themes in obstructing BME career progression was a strong finding from this research. Participants were made to feel ‘foreign’ in HEI spaces and carried within them a sense of foreignness as they navigated academia, which affected their career aspirations. Study data were reviewed and practical implications are included, along with recommendations for HEIs, people who advocate for BME in leadership, leadership in HEIs, and people dealing with equality and diversity. Keywords: BME women, foreignness, leadership, career progression, intersectionality, HEIs
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