Transitions and Transformations: Supporting aspiring Black Researchers

Posted 25/11/2024 by Louise Wheeler

Title slide from Novo's session at the online element of the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference 2024, 'Transitioning from PGT to PGR: An aspiring Black Researcher’s journey'. 

In this post, Novo Ejokpa, postgraduate student at the University of Essex, shares her experience of a recent Vitae student placement. The University of Essex Transitions and Transformations project has a dedicated sponsorship element to develop the research and professional skills, network, knowledge and opportunities for aspiring Black researchers, encouraging and enabling informed career choices within and beyond academia. The project funds student placements with various industry partners, including Vitae.

In contributing to the Essex Transitions and Transformations project, my placement involved supporting aspiring Black researchers through developing targeted learning and development resources to aid the transition of Black postgraduate taught students to postgraduate research.

I facilitated networking with Black researchers at the University of Essex to understand the challenges they encounter in making this transition and provided feedback on the effectiveness of resources on the Black Researchers Hub. In this placement I was able to apply my ideas and skills, to address the challenges and opportunities experienced by aspiring Black researchers in their transition to postgraduate research. With knowledge of the multiple career options that come with the skills acquired in postgraduate research and the institutional support available at the University of Essex, I am reassured that if I choose to undertake postgraduate research there is adequate support and resources that I can rely on in my journey.

The University of Essex project, 'Transitions and Transformations: Black Researcher's Journey', is a pioneering project aimed at breaking down barriers and supporting the next generation of Black Researchers. The Essex Project is part of 13 projects across England funded by Research England, UKRI, and the Office for Students to tackle persistent inequalities that create barriers for Black, Asian and minority ethnic students to access postgraduate research.

According to the UKRI’s 2021 - 2022 diversity report just 5% of UKRI-funded studentships went to Black students. Higher Education Statistic Agency (HESA) figures for 2021/2022 also indicated that just 165 professors, out of over 23,000, declared their ethnicity as Black. Although the latest HESA 2022/2023 statistics for staff in higher education showed an increase of 25% in the number of Black professors, they still represent only 1% of all professors in the UK. While the data highlights an improvement in the representation of Black researchers in higher education, it also indicates a need to build on this momentum to ensure better representation.

One of the ways the University of Essex project approaches this need is through the Essex Transitions and Transformation (Essex TandT) framework developed in partnership with Vitae and Essex students, and based on the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF). Although based on the RDF, the Essex TandT framework is unique as it also provides for undergraduate and postgraduate taught phase as additional stages for the development of the skills of aspiring Black researchers. The skills assessment and enhancement provided via the Essex TandT framework enables undergraduate and postgraduate taught students to identify existing skills and skills for further development to aid their transition to postgraduate research.

One of the transformative initiatives of the Essex project, the Black Researchers Hub, provides both an online and in person networking platform to support and facilitate the articulation, dissemination and sharing of ideas among Black researchers. Recognising the importance of representation in fostering a sense of belonging, building community and providing a career anchor for the aspirations of Black researchers, the hub promotes networking between students across all stages of higher education to share insights, collaborate, and inspire the next generation of Black researchers.