Pioneering Black British women in education and research

Suffering from the intersectional oppression both as Black people and as women, Black women face communal microaggressions and exclusion in academia, as elsewhere, making an already steep career path even more difficult for them. This is reflected in the challenges Black women face in career progression. Walkington (2017) has more formally reviewed the challenges facing Black women academics in America and elsewhere. All this only makes the accomplishments of Black professors and pioneers in education and research even more extraordinary.

Here are just some of the most prominent leading lights among today’s Black female educators and researchers.

Dame Elizabeth Anionwu

Dame Elizabeth helped set up the first nurse-led sickle cell and thalassaemia screening and counselling centre, which in turn led to the nationwide screening of babies. Elizabeth has worked tirelessly throughout her career to ensure that people with sickle cell disease and thalassaemia get all the support they need and deserve. Through her work and research, Elizabeth has greatly contributed to the health and wellbeing of multi-ethnic communities, overcoming stigma and racism to build a distinguished career as a nurse, health visitor, academic and campaigner.

Ellisha Soanes

Ellisha Soanes is an award-winning equality, diversity and inclusion specialist with 17 years of experience across the education, health and social care sectors. She now lectures in social care at West Suffolk College, teaching the true width and depth of Black history all year round. Following the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that ensued worldwide in 2020, Ellisha embarked on a career as a host, campaigner and ambassador, leading to the award of the Association of Colleges’ President’s Award celebrating her services to education.

Prof. Shirley Thompson OBE

The first woman in Europe to compose and conduct a symphony in the last 40 years, Dr Thompson has leveraged her professional standing and social commentary to create social, cultural, and political change.

Prof. Olivette Otele

The first Black woman to become a British Professor of History in 2018, Otele has opened doors for women in academia. Her world-class research and writing on Black history earned her a position as Distinguished Research Professor of the Legacies and Memory of Slavery within the Faculty of Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.

Image credit:

“Elizabeth Anionwu book signing in 2017” by Michael, reproduced under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 licence.