Black Women Reflecting On/Being Black in the Academy

• In Event: Roundtable Session 96
  In Roundtable Session: Research on Black Women Across the Diaspora: Reflecting Intersectionality in Practice

Abstract

This conceptual paper examines the relevance of the theoretical frameworks: critical race theory, ‘Whiteness’ and notions of intersectionality, in comprehending Black female academic experiences. In developing this paper, the authors’ conversations focused on the ways in which the differing discourses either connected or jarred as they grappled with the need to tell their stories about being Black women academics in the UK. Their reflections reveal the ways in which Black academics are perceived by Black and White staff, and how these perceptions are in turn interpreted and internalized by the discussants. The women’s struggles in coming to terms with each other’s Black identity constructions are documented, as well as, advancing strategies for further theorizing the Black female academic experience.

Authors

• Uvanney Maylor, University of Bedfordshire

• Victoria Showunmi, Institute of Education - London