Thursday 25th April 2024 saw YCEDE hosting a wonderful event at The University of Sheffield about navigating a career in higher education as an ethnic minority. It was an incredible turnout, the likes of which included YCEDE Staff, Scholarship Holders and ethnically-minoritized PGR’s from all partner institutions ((The University of York, The University of Bradford, Sheffield Hallam University, The University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield)
Dr Asha Akram chaired the event, kicking off the first half with a refresher about the context of YCEDE. Professor Paul Walkening, WS2 Lead, spoke to the audience about the issues with current selection criteria and admission practices used across partner universities. The project manager of YCEDE, Raj Mann, then stole the show with her captivating reminder about the four key workstreams of the project, followed by an insightful presentation by Lenka Kaur, who touched upon Brad-ATTAIN, one of the 13 projects funded by OFS. These talks were a powerhouse of ingenuity, and nothing screamed co-design quite like Dr Asha’s interactive workshop which encouraged PGRs to think about what activities/events/resources they have found helpful in their PhD Journey thus far. PGR’s were also welcomed to share some useful suggestions for improving the current resources and events delivered by YCEDE. Teamwork makes the dream work after all!
After a top up of coffee, pastries and lunch, the latter half of the event radiated curiosity and excitement. A specialist panel, including Dr Janine Bradbury (University of York), Dr Francis Awolowo (Sheffield Hallam University) Dr Kingsely Utam (University of Bradford, Dr Sally Osei-Appiah (University of Leeds), Dr Bobby Nisha (University of Sheffield), and Kaixi (Kathy) Xu (University of Sheffield) was the highlight of the afternoon. In what was an extremely safe space, each member extended the light of success from their torches and brought a wealth of experience to the audience.
PGR’s were invited to ask the panel some questions, from which several valuable themes emerged. Panellists were quick to bury the myth that the only career waiting at the end of a successful PhD lies in academia, and uncovered policy influencing and advocacy as alternative paths. While imposter syndrome plays a key role in self-doubt for ethnically minoritized PGR’s, all members reinforced the importance of maintaining authenticity throughout and after the PhD journey, by not “shrinking” ourselves to fit the mould of white colleagues and supervisors. They also reassured PGR’s that ‘failure’ is a normal part of the journey which shouldn’t discourage them from publishing or presenting their work. Dr Francis Awolowo humorously compared failures in the PhD journey to the iPhone 15, suggesting that the 16th iteration of the phone is needed because of a deficit in the current model and honestly? What an AMAZING analogy! I’ll be writing that one on my wall of motivational quotes! And if we weren’t spoilt enough by the wisdom of these amazing panellists, Dr Janine Bradbury gave us the absolute golden ticket by advising PGR’s to “keep your eyes on the prize” and to write a reverse CV for their dream career, to then highlight all the skills they are yet to develop and focus on those. Some may need publications to attain the career they want, whereas others may not, but the most important thing throughout the entire journey boils down to one. And that is YOU.
This event was so memorable, filled with light-hearted banter, stimulating conversations, delicious food and a real sense of community. YCEDE Family forever!