Invisible and hypervisible academics: the experiences of Black and minority ethnic teacher educators

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study investigated the experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) teacher educators in England and Australia working within the predominantly white space of the academy. Data analysis was informed by a multidimensional theoretical framework drawing on Critical Race Theory, whiteness and Puwar’s concept of the Space Invader. Findings suggest the participants in both national contexts felt marginalised, and encountered subtle everyday racism manifested as microaggressions that contributed to the academics’ simultaneous construction as hypervisible and invisible, and as outsiders to the academy. Vulnerability, insecurity and precariousness was generated through the participants’ positioning as space invaders within the university and borne from surveillance by students and managers. The paper argues that despite long-standing Equal Opportunity policies tenacious racism in the academy must be disrupted through structured career support and mentoring for BME staff and wider staff development on implicit bias and everyday racism.

KEYWORDS:

• Black minority ethnic
• teacher educators
• racism
• microaggressions
• whiteness

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Vini Lander http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6570-1065

Ninetta Santoro http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3357-3900

Notes

1. We use the term teacher educator from this point on to refer to academics who contribute to the education of prospective teachers.

2. The term ‘white’ signifies those racialised as white and is not used to indicate homogenity.

3. BME is commonly used in the UK. In the interests of consistency in this paper, we use the term to also refer to the Australian participants.

4. These are 24 of the most prestigious universities in the UK internationally recognised for research excellence and outstanding academic achievement.

5. GO8 is an acronym for Group of Eight, universities that are well established and internationally recognized for high quality research and teaching. Other types of universities are regional universities located in towns of less than 250,000 people, technological universities and newer universities established in the 1960s/70s.

6. Oswald Mosely was the founder of the British Union of Facsits http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/timeline/worldwars_timeline_noflash.shtml

7. Someone who is an intruder.

8. Politically correct.