ipl-logo

Black Women In Higher Education Essay

574 Words3 Pages

Black women academics are excluded from higher education on two levels. Firstly, they continue to be statistically under-represented in higher education institutions, particularly in senior positions. This is evident in statistical data concerning Black and Minority Ethic (BME) staff as well as statistical data on female academics. Secondly, discrimination occurs within higher education institutions against the minority of BME female staff. To understand this case of exclusion, it is necessary to begin by exploring the statistics surrounding black women academics and progress to consider their experiences in higher education. This essay is inspired by two pieces published by the Guardian in 2017 and 2018. This shows that exclusion on the premise …show more content…

Furthermore, ‘I’m a black academic- that doesn’t mean I want to be an expert of race’, explores the stereotype of black academics as being specialists on race. An assumption which is equally as damaging as the one which affiliates women with gender studies. The two articles offer an interesting and valuable insight into the world of academia for black women today.

Historically, Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) individuals and women have always faced a level of exclusion from higher education institutions, both as students and academic staff. The admittance of women into the male dominated sphere of higher education is a fairly recent development, as the first degree was granted to women at Oxford university in 1920 and then in 1947 at Cambridge. A significant factor which allowed this was the shift in cultural consciousness of what women could achieve. The Suffragist movement recognised that the notion of ‘separate spheres’ was outdated and encouraged women to enter the world of academia and work. It is evident that this form of past exclusion has been overcome because the percentage of female students in higher education is greater than the

Open Document