Understanding race and educational leadership in higher education

Abstract

The dearth of representation regarding Black and Ethnic Minorities (BME) in senior educational leadership roles within higher education (HE) has become a salient issue as egalitarian notions associated with equality and diversity continue to be contradicted by university institutions, despite increased calls for greater diversification. Educational leadership in higher education within the United Kingdom (UK), particularly when aligned to the primacy of race, remains oblivious to some of the organizational barriers encountered by BME academics attempting to navigate a career trajectory towards senior leadership. The diversification of senior leaders within the Academy in the UK has increasingly become an issue that, although prevalent, has stagnated owing to the lack of visible BME senior leaders and penetrative change to address the disparity regarding recruitment and promotion of more BME academics to leadership hierarchies. This article draws on a collective biography methodology, which will utilize narratives from three BME academics in senior leadership positions within higher education in the UK, in an attempt to illuminate the challenges that saturate the Academy, concerning leadership opportunities and career pathways for BME academics. The issues drawn upon identify synergies between constructions of race and leadership, whilst considering the interplay between these two vehicles when situated within a higher education context.