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 in senior leadership roles in the UK higher education sector is well recognised, scant regard has been paid to how 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 women who are migrant academics from UK minority ethnic backgrounds (MAMEB) 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 include patriarchy, racism, xenophobia, and issues relating to personal agency. Potential strategies for addressing these inequalities were located at the societal, organisational and individual level. Moving forward, this study calls for further research, including the publication of detailed statistical analysis, to understand the scale and nuances of under-representation more fully by migrant women academics from minority ethnic groups in the UK. In addition, it recommends that senior leaders within the HE sector collaborate with the government to address the variety of structural and cultural barriers which impact these colleagues’ progression in leadership roles.