The Rollock Report 2019
Staying Power: the career experiences and strategies of UK Black female professors
This research is the first known UK study to exclusively focus on the career experiences of Black female Professors and their efforts to reach professorship. The study examines, through one-to-one interviews, the experiences of 20 of the 25 UK Black female Professors. Black in this context refers to those of African, Caribbean and other Black backgrounds.
Rollock’s report – the first study of its type in the UK – found that 14 of the 20 women had been appointed within the last five years. But they all reported “shocking” accounts of their career experiences, with two having to take legal action after bullying.
The women, of black Caribbean, black African or other black backgrounds, reported being systematically overlooked for promotion, mistaken for clerical staff or shut out of participation in university activities.
She said: “In my research I found when people complained about racism at universities, it was often dismissed as a clash of personalities. When I give talks on this, I’m often asked: ‘How do you know it’s racism?’ I’m never asked: ‘How do you know it’s sexism?’”
You can read the report here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10075/Staying-Power/pdf/UCURollockFebruary_2019.pdf
