Society of Black Academics (SBA)

We are pleased to announce our upcoming event in collaboration with the UK Parliament's Knowledge Exchange Unit entitled ''Connecting your research with the UK Parliament''. The event's details are provided below. Event details: Date: Friday 22 November  Time: 12-13:30 UK Time Venue: Online (via Microsoft Teams) Speaker: Sarah Carter-Bell (Knowledge Exchange Lead at POST, UK Parliament). How to attend: [email protected] Learning outcomes from the event: - Sarah will will present a short introduction highlighting the key routes through which to share your research with the UK parliament. - This session will provide the essential need-to-know information about the UK Parliament, introduce the support available for researchers through the Knowledge Exchange Unit, and explore some top tips. - The session will be a pre-cursor to future workshops which will provide a more in-depth ‘how to engage’ workshop on each area of parliament that draws on academic research, such as the parliamentary libraries, select committees, APPGs and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology. To register for the event, please send an email: [email protected]. You will receive further joining details closer to the date of the event. #Research #Impact #UK #Parliament Mercy Denedo; Bola O Babajide; Steven Kator Iorfa Dr. Opeoluwa Aiyenitaju Ade Oyedijo

At the beginning of September 2024, more than 70 Black academics from across the UK and US came together for the annual conference of the Society of Black Academics (SBA). Our event, titled Creating the space, the voice and the opportunities to demonstrate Black excellence, took place at the University of Bristol and featured talks and panel discussions on key issues facing Black scholars. Attendees heard from senior university leaders, early career researchers and experts on topics like career development, understanding the power of a voice, mental health, engaging with practitioners, and increasing Black representation in academia. The conference included the launch of a new report with GatenbySanderson (led by Becca Franssen, PhD) and Higher Education Policy Institute (with Josh Freeman) which highlights ongoing challenges and recommends more targeted mentoring programmes and recognition of the extra work many Black academics take on. [See Feedback from the event below] - Dr Faatihah Niyi-Odumosu, MBChB, MSc, PhD, PGCTHE, FHEA, Associate Professor in Health Promotion at University of the West of England of the England, attended the conference and said: “The SBA conference was an enriching experience, providing valuable knowledge, networking opportunities, and professional growth. I made new contacts and look forward to attending future events.” - Professor Bernadine Idowu-Onibokun PhD, PFHEA, MRSB, Professor of Biomedical Sciences at University of West London, who was part of a panel on Creating spaces – finding myself and finding a deeper career purpose said: “I felt honoured to be invited to be a panellist at the prestigious conference. It is very important wherever I am invited to, I must deliver hope to early career researchers, by sharing tools that have worked for me to successfully navigate a senior position in academia. Judging by the number of people that spoke to me on the day and have connected with on LinkedIn, I believe my mission was successful.” We thank Professor Stephen Eichhorn for hosting the conference at Bristol. We also thank all our speakers, volunteers, and the members who attended. We look forward to our next annual conference in 2025 which will mark our 5th anniversary! See link below for more details. https://lnkd.in/gFNC_T8d

The Open University is recruiting for an Executive Dean, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The candidate will be enabling the university’s strategic mission by taking the lead in defining the future of The Open University and helping lead the institution through a period of profound change and development. As the Executive Dean of STEM, you’ll be accountable for the strategic leadership and management of the Faculty. The successful candidate will be appointed to a permanent substantive role in the Faculty and seconded to the Executive Dean position. The appointment period for the Executive Dean position is for a maximum of five years, with possible reappointment for a further two years subject to the agreement of the Executive Dean and the Vice-Chancellor. The Executive Dean has responsibility for the strategic leadership and management of the Faculty. They are the chief academic officer and, as head of a significant business unit, are accountable to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor in respect of its overall management and financial performance. The Executive Dean is a member of the Vice-Chancellor’s Executive Team (VCE), contributing to the University’s strategic direction and leading its implementation in the Faculty. They are also a member of VCE-Academic, the executive management group that ensures alignment between academic strategy and implementation. They therefore play a pivotal role in the management and governance of the University. It is the responsibility of the Executive Dean to ensure that the Faculty provides high quality and innovative courses and teaching, an excellent student experience, and research and knowledge exchange managed to high standards of quality and sustainability. The Executive Dean represents the Faculty both within the University and externally. They provide academic and business leadership within the Faculty, ensuring alignment between the Faculty and wider University in the development and implementation of strategy and policy. If you have vision, passion, creativity and determination to make a difference, we want to hear from you. This is a key appointment for us, and it will be for you – so we will invest time with candidates to get to know you and to give you the chance to get to know us. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates who have the vision and experience to lead a high-performing team in an outstanding institution. For further information please visit the website we have put together for this role by clicking https://lnkd.in/ekf6fghY If you need further clarifications, please contact our advisors at GatenbySanderson - Jess Wood or Julia Roberts on [email protected]. Closing date: Friday 18th October 18:00hrs

In her recent Times Higher Education article, Mercy Denedo, Associate Professor in Accounting, shines a light on the unique challenges faced by Black early career researchers (ECRs) in UK academia. A new report, co-authored by the Society of Black Academics, GatenbySanderson, and the Higher Education Policy Institute, surveyed nearly 100 Black ECRs. The survey found: 📉 Only 34% of respondents believe their workplace is inclusive. 💰 Just 32% feel they receive a fair wage. 🚧 Many face unconscious bias, a lack of community, and limited clarity around career progression. Despite some efforts to improve inclusivity, the report calls for more active support networks, fairer workload distribution, and stronger collaboration between universities to build a more inclusive environment. Read the full report to understand how to create a more equitable academic community 🔗 https://brnw.ch/21wMJZl #Diversity #Inclusion #BlackAcademics #HigherEducation #THE #UnblockingThePipeline

Advance HE published our new report on ''Unblocking the Pipeline: Supporting the Retention, Progression and Promotion of Black Early-Career Academics'' with GatenbySanderson and Higher Education Policy Institute. Check out the report here: https://lnkd.in/ef9wR4UY Becca Franssen, PhD; Dr. Opeoluwa Aiyenitaju; Mercy Denedo; Bola O Babajide; Steven Kator Iorfa; Ade Oyedijo Josh Freeman

Our just concluded conference at The University of Bristol was a successful event. We appreciate Professor Evelyn Welch, the Vice-Chancellor and President at University of Bristol for open our upcoming conference and speaking on the theme for the day titled ''Creating the space, voice and opportunities to demonstrate Black excellence''. If you missed the conference, the entire morning and afternoon session will be available on our YouTube channel: - AM Session - Premieres Sep 23, 2024 - PM Session - Premieres Oct 6, 2024 Link to our channel: https://lnkd.in/eQaHucba #sbabristol2024 #sba2024conference #4thsbaconference #sbaconf24 #careerdevelopment #opportunities

💡 How to make Universities more inclusive for black academics We're encouraging everyone across #HE to read and take action on the recommendations from our joint report with Society of Black Academics (SBA) and Higher Education Policy Institute. Mercy's THE article provides an excellent summary and you can access the full report at: https://lnkd.in/eQBBTuGG

Please read and *act* on Mercy Denedo's article in the Times Higher Education on "How to make Universities more inclusive for black academics". Some really good recommendations here about support networks, mentoring and also sharing and aggregation of data between institutions so that they can be reported without compromising the identity of black academics. The numbers of black academics in all institutions are woefully low, moreso at the higher levels (only 210 black Professors in the UK, compared to a total of 22,345 - so just less than 1%*). *Data are here https://lnkd.in/e8nJhaAE The report was produced by Society of Black Academics (SBA) and GatenbySanderson. #blackacademics #edi #blacklivesmatter https://lnkd.in/e9Gz38xr

I'm excited to share my article published in the Times Higher Education on why and how #universities can support #black #academics, particularly #earlycareer black academics in HE https://lnkd.in/ejXUQ9Kw This media article provides an overview of the first report on the research series which the Society of Black Academics (SBA) has worked on with the Higher Education Policy Institute and GatenbySanderson. The report can be accessed via the link below 👇 Durham University Business School Durham University Ade Oyedijo Bola O Babajide Becca Franssen, PhD Dr. Opeoluwa Aiyenitaju Steven Kator Iorfa Josh Freeman Martin Thomas Peter Remon MCIPR

We're proud to have been represented at the recent RAISE Network (Researching, Advancing & Inspiring Student Engagement) Annual Conference by our Events Manager Steven Kator Iorfa. As part of a sector panel discussion on student engagement in the UK higher education sector, Steven shared insights from our work in empowering teachers and students. It was also interesting to share the panel with colleagues from Wonkhe (Sunday Blake), GuildHE (Brooke Storer-Church), Advance HE (Dan Tinkler) and The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (Ruth Burchell) Amongst several other things, the discussion touched on: - Inclusive and culturally responsive approaches to student engagement - Prioritizing student voice and agency The discussion underscored the need for continued collaboration and innovation to improve student outcomes and experiences, particularly for students from ethnic minorities. We're committed to driving positive change and amplifying Black voices in higher education. Thank you Tom Lowe and the rest of the RAISE team for the invitation. #StudentEngagement #HigherEducation #BlackAcademics #RAISEconference"