Black History Month Flagship event preview

Psychologist Dr Deborah Husbands is a leading expert in BME students’ sense of belonging, and the founder and co-chair of the University of Westminster’s BME Network.

She is the special guest at a special in-conversation event at the University of Reading, delivered as part of our programme of Black History Month events.

As the only Black female academic in her School, Dr Husbands noticed that she was missing a sense of connectedness with other Black academics that her White colleagues enjoyed.

It was this experience, coupled with an ongoing commitment to anti-racism work, that spurred her to create a buzzing staff network that has grown to over 250 members since 2016.

Here, Dr Husbands shares how her experiences of growing up encountering racism, being a mature student and as a Black woman in academia have shaped her work, and why it’s important for people to step up as allies in bringing about positive and meaningful change.

Q&A

Can you give us a quick preview of what you'll be talking about at this year's University of Reading flagship Black History Month event?

I plan to briefly talk about my experiences - from growing up in a racist area of the UK to being a mature student in higher education, followed by being an academic - and how these experiences have shaped my desire to engage in anti-racism work at my institution and beyond.

I will also talk about my PhD research and the work I am currently doing with colleagues at the Universities of Westminster, Southampton and Roehampton on the impostor phenomenon among racially minoritised students in higher education.

You are the founder and co-chair of Westminster's BME Network. What was the driver behind starting the Network?

While working as a part-time visiting lecturer, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of onlyness. I was the only Black female academic in my School (and to this day, I am still only one of two Black female academics).

I wanted to experience a similar connectedness that I was seeing among my White colleagues, so I started the BME Network in 2016 to address this. From a membership of just one person, we now have over 250 colleagues from various ethnicities. 

What has been the biggest achievement you've seen since the Network was formed? And what still needs to be done?

One of our biggest achievements as a Network was creating a collective response to the murder of George Floyd, the BLM movement and racial disparities that were being revealed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to 15 commitments by the University of Westminster towards advancing race equality, published on the university's website.

We followed with the formation of the Black History Year programme, through which we regularly celebrate Black histories.

Since the pandemic, we are seeing waning interest in racialised experiences of inequality. People seem less interested in being 'allies'. We have a civic duty to keep abreast of these issues, and we must address them collectively to achieve meaningful change. 

The theme for this year's Black History Month is Saluting Our Sisters, both marking the achievements of, and recognising the marginalisation of, Black women. In your view, why is this focus important, and in particular why is it important for higher education institutions to engage with?

One of the most disparaging statistics in UK higher education relates to the number of Black women professors relative to every other ethnic category. An internet search will indicate different numbers, but the number of Black women professors is currently in the 60s. This suggests that Black women must overcome extraordinary hurdles to be recognised and promoted for their academic achievements.

Considering our diverse student communities, this is a damning indictment on the sector and sends out a poor message of intersectional equity. It is only fitting that these women, and indeed all Black women, should be saluted.

In Conversation with Dr Deborah Husbands takes place online on Thursday 19 October (12:30 – 13:30). Sign up now.