Foreword

Summary

We are often told that there is a pipeline and that it is leaking, a pipeline that needs to be fixed, made more inclusive with initiatives that support individuals from diverse communities. Could it be that the pipeline is perfectly fine, however those regulating the release valves are selectively choosing what (who) can and cannot pass through their pipes? The Black PhD Experience: Stories of Strength, Courage and Wisdom in UK Academia provides 27 illuminating insights into the PhD journeys of Black students. The narratives ask the questions: Why are talented Black students having to wait longer to be accepted into PhD programmes? Where are the institutional support systems, mentor programmes, supervisors, champions and role models to nurture and provide the guidance that our Black students need to thrive? Why is academia so hostile to Black success? Is it time for the Black community to unite to gain greater knowledge and understanding of these academic systems to better support our young people or consider developing our own support networks?

In the five years since the release of the seminal report, The broken pipeline, by Black- led organisation Leading Routes, there has been a seismic shift in efforts challenging the institutional and systemic racisms, not only in academia but beyond. The increasing number of interventions being promoted and importantly funded by UK funding bodies, universities and influential individuals in the Black community can assist in mobilising the trajectory of early career Black scholars. These efforts to encourage greater success and pathways into academia have seen the development of programmes enabling more access to different types of knowledge, and better tools to navigate the thorny landscape of the academy and its marginalising and exclusionary ways. What these 27 stories provide is an opportunity to really understand the lived experience that these Black PhD students have encountered, endured, and overcome on their journeys.

Unfortunately, as all societies are governed by the policies of their time, hostile forces opposed to anti- racism continue to shout in an attempt to silence and undermine these efforts. Furthermore, we need to recognise that the instruments of racism act on a swivel; they can realign, adapt and remodel at any given time. So we need to develop stable, flexible systems to combat these changes.