{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T23:48:55Z","timestamp":1792194535947,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,21]],"date-time":"2023-06-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1687305600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Sociol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>There are 22,795 University professors in the UK, where 6,340 are women and only 40 are Black women, whilst Asian women are a few more in number. This clearly demonstrates the uncommon narrative of the under-representation of Black minority ethnic (BME) academics in higher education (HE) which has been written about in detail. In contrast, it is rare to read reports on initiatives to successfully navigate senior academic posts. In this article, I will describe two initiatives that I have developed and organized to successfully navigate senior BME academic posts, which have impacted my journey. The first initiative was to understand why postdoctoral researchers were \u201cpost-docing\u201d for years, having not been successful in making the transition to lecturers. What was hindering the transition? I was one of them, and some of my female peers as well, who incidentally left HE. I was determined not to leave. I again thought about how to tackle it. It is a known fact that hearing successful BME people experiences and journeys and also understanding how they navigated HE can be powerful. In addition, empowering oneself with additional skills including mentoring, networking, applying for positions, not excluding ourselves due to the lack of confidence, and finally, the importance of having a work\u2013life balance is important as health is wealth. I used this to put together the BME Early Career Researcher (ECR) conference\u2014How to Stay in Academia. After 6 years, it is still going strong. In this article, I will share the impact made over the years which will include testimonies and promotions, including my recent promotion to an associate professor. The second initiative was to understand the barriers and challenges of senior lecturers being promoted to readers and professors. Having successfully transitioned to a lecturer, being overlooked for promotion was now an issue. The project was conducted in 2016\/17 at KCL as part of the action plans that needed to be delivered having been a recipient of the Bronze Race Equality Charter Mark. I was provided with a cohort of 51 names of BME staff from different disciplines and was directed to see how I would engage them to hear their experiences. My first concern was that the staff would have engaged in previous initiatives with little or no benefits to them; however, this did not deter me. I thought of the best approach which commenced with a phone interview and then followed up with a focus group, ending with an informal conversation with the Principal of the University. Within 6 months, a BME male was promoted to professor. After a year, both genders were promoted to associate professors (readers) and professors, and to date, I am aware of at least 10 promotions. In both examples, I will demonstrate the support from our allies, some of whom are senior leaders that have openly supported us in our journey. This article will demonstrate a slight shift in the narrative, but a lot more needs to be done, and I am convinced the time is right to start pushing for more. This special issue is an example.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fsoc.2023.979691","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,21]],"date-time":"2023-06-21T09:52:40Z","timestamp":1687341160000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["A personal reflection upon navigating into a senior academic role"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Bernadine D.","family":"Idowu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","unstructured":"\u201cUK Universities Making Slow Progress on Equality, Data Shows,\u201d\n            AdamsR.\n          2018"},{"key":"B2","unstructured":"\u201cRace Equality Charter Members\u201d2020"},{"key":"B3","unstructured":"\u201cEquality Higher Education\u201d2021"},{"key":"B4","unstructured":"\u201cUniversity Racism \u2018Complacency' Warning\u201d\n            CoughlanS.\n          2018"},{"key":"B5","unstructured":"FrancisA.\n          Empowering black people to become academics \u2018should be top priority' as data reveals poor diversity levels2022"},{"key":"B6","unstructured":"\u201cBlack and ethnic minorities still have mountains to climb in higher education.\u201d\n            GroveJ.\n          2015"},{"key":"B7","unstructured":"\u201cEthnic minority students less satisfied with university experience\u201d\n            HavergalC.\n          2016"},{"key":"B8","unstructured":"\u201cAs a black, female student, I wish I'd had a peer mentoring scheme\u201d\n            IdowuB.\n          2022"},{"key":"B9","unstructured":"\u201cHidden Figures Is Just the Start \u2013 Here's How to Inspire More Black Scientists?\u201d\n            Idowu-OnibokunB.\n          2017"},{"key":"B10","unstructured":"\u201cWho Can Save the Post-Brexit Economy? Black Professors\u201d\n            Idowu-OnibokunB.\n          2018"},{"key":"B11","article-title":"\u201cFocus Group Responses to Activity and Assessment Strategy among BAME Students in Various Disciplines,\u201d","author":"Idowu-Onibokun","year":"2021"},{"key":"B12","unstructured":"King's receive Race Equality Bronze Award2016"},{"key":"B13","unstructured":"\u201cWhite Allyship; being an effect ally for people of colour\u201d\n            MacdonnellJ.\n          2020"},{"key":"B14","unstructured":"McGregorS.\n          The time for talking is over. Now is the time to act2017"},{"key":"B15","volume-title":"Race, Gender and Educational Desire: Why Black Women Succeed and Fail","author":"Mirza","year":"2009"},{"key":"B16","unstructured":"MitchellT.\n            SaundersT.\n          Durham employs half as many BAME staff as Russell Group average. 2019"},{"key":"B17","unstructured":"\u201cWhy is my professor still not black\u201d2016"},{"key":"B18","unstructured":"\u201cRaw deal for BME students?\u201d\n            MorganW.\n          2014"},{"key":"B19","unstructured":"\u201cDr Winston Morgan: Why we need more black professors on Campus\u201d\n            MorganW.\n          2019"},{"key":"B20","unstructured":"\u201cIf Universities struggle financially, BAME academics will lose their jobs first\u201d\n            MorganW."},{"key":"B21","unstructured":"\u201cBAME academics are already under-represented. The response to Cocid-19 could reduce our numbers even further.\u201d\n            MorganW."},{"key":"B22","unstructured":"2020"},{"key":"B23","first-page":"124","article-title":"\u201cThe transformation of my science identity,\u201d","author":"Opara","year":"1997","journal-title":"Inside the Ivory Tower Narratives of Women of Colour Surviving and Thriving in British Academia"},{"key":"B24","article-title":"\u201cAddressing barriers to STEM for young Black women through mentoring,\u201d","author":"Opara","year":"2020","journal-title":"Transforming the Ivory Tower: Models for Gender Equality and Social Justice"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"881","DOI":"10.1080\/09540253.2019.1632811","article-title":"Educated and educating as a Black Woman\u2014An auto\/biographical reflection on my grandmother's influence on my academic and professional outcomes","volume":"33","author":"Owusu-Kwarteng","year":"2021","journal-title":"Gender Edu"},{"key":"B26","first-page":"108","article-title":"\u201cThe Search for That Elusive Sense of Belonging, Respect and Visibility in Academia,\u201d","author":"Wilson","year":"1997","journal-title":"Inside the Ivory Tower Narratives of Women of Colour Surviving and Thriving in British Academia"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Sociology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fsoc.2023.979691\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,21]],"date-time":"2023-06-21T09:52:46Z","timestamp":1687341166000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fsoc.2023.979691\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,21]]},"references-count":26,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fsoc.2023.979691"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fsoc.2023.979691","relation":{},"ISSN":["2297-7775"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2297-7775","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,21]]},"article-number":"979691"}}