Dr Yaz Osho for Emerald Publishing on support for female academics from BAME backgrounds

In the article, Dr Osho discusses the many obstacles that female academics and students face as well as her efforts to amplify the voices of academics of colour in environments that can often be exclusionary. This includes the Black, Asian and Minoritised Ethnic Women in Academic Support Network (BAMEWA) which she founded in 2017 and the Black Academic Network (BAN) which she intends to launch at the end of 2022.

Speaking about the specific discussions being had in BAMEWA, Dr Osho said: “Members of BAMEWA are vocal about the challenges that BAME women face in global higher education which range from hypervisibility, racial profiling, lack of equitable opportunities through to a lack of understanding of the emotional and financial burden put on migrant women academics, and an increased likelihood of BAME women academics facing precarious contracts due to fitting their expertise into narrow existing structures.”

In her closing remarks, Dr Osho calls on universities to do more to support BAME women academics and to review their existing policies on diversity and inclusion: “One thing that I hope you take from this blog is that it is time to break with the norms and embrace, include and highlight the voices of academics of colour who are so often silenced and marginalised.

“In 2022, I hope to see more publishers follow Emerald Publishing in amplifying diverse voices in academia and in editorial boards. I want to see universities critically reviewing their actions and results on equity and inclusion and would like to witness more support and resources in place for black academics who are working towards professorships, so we can see an increase in black professors from the dismal 0.7% that we currently have in UK universities.”

Read the full article on the Emerald Publishing website.