The career prospects of migrant, female academics from minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK’s Higher Education sector: an integrative review of peer-reviewed literature

While the under-representation of women amongst senior leaders roles in the UK higher education sector is well recognised, scant regard has been paid to the ways in which this impacts female academics from alternative ethnicities and from overseas. This paper aims to help address this by summarising the findings from an integrative review of published evidence concerning the career prospects of migrant, female academics from minority ethnic backgrounds in the UK’s Higher Education sector, in three regards, these being [i] the scale and patterns of their under-representation, [ii] the possible causes of this under-representation and [iii] approaches which may be effective in addressing it.
This review found there to be a paucity of material concerning the experiences of this core group of academics. Furthermore, considerations of differences between women from alternative ethnic groups or countries of origin were ostensibly absent from published studies. Explanations for under-representation were identified at macro (societal), meso (institutional) and micro (personal/interpersonal). Potential strategies for addressing these inequalities were also structured along these lines.
Moving forward, this study calls for further research, including the publication of detailed statistical analysis, to more fully understand the scale and nuances of underrepresentation by migrant women academics from minority ethnic groups in the UK. In addition, it recommends that senior leaders within the HE sector collaborate with government to address the variety of structural and cultural barriers which impact these colleagues’ progression in leadership roles.