Equal Rights at Work for Women Must Mean All Women

Abstract

When Cecily Jones led recruitment sessions at a university in the United Kingdom, Black prospective students and their parents would often tell her how they were pleasantly surprised to see a Black woman in her role. As of 2019, among the 19,285 university professors in the United Kingdom, White men accounted for 12,795, while White women numbered 4,560; in contrast, just ninety Black men and a mere thirty-five Black women held professorships. 1 Jones was used to her presence being unexpected in the university-but a series of other experiences had made clear that the surprise wasn't always welcome. On one occasion, a colleague forwarded an email from another faculty member who openly questioned her qualifications and abilities while decrying "multiculturalism. " On another, after a White male first-year student aggressively asserted that there was little Jones could teach him, her department head downplayed the incident. When Jones applied for a promotion to professorship, she knew she more than satisfied all the criteria, which is why her mentor had encouraged her to apply; twice, however, she was turned down, with the head of her department refusing to support her candidacy. 2 Jones told her story in response to a University of London research study examining the unique experiences of Black women professors-a minority within a minority. 3 While White people hold 90 percent of all professor positions in the United Kingdom, among both White and Black professors, men outnumber women by about three to one. Looking at gender and race together, Black women are the least represented group in academia. This vast underrepresentation has deep historical roots; however, it's also perpetuated by contemporary discrimination, explicit and implicit biases, and structural barriers.The report synthesized interviews with Black female professors across the United Kingdom about their experiences with hiring, promotions, and university workplace environments. The women shared stories that ranged from