Becoming both

“Students” and “experts” of race in Australian higher education contexts

Bibliographic Data

ID13017264
AuthorsKathomi Gatwiri (0000-0002-7794-6481, Southern Cross University, corresponding author), Hyacinth Udah (0000-0002-2681-5596, James Cook University)
Year2024
Volume18
Issue4
Pages422-434
Publication date2024-07-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal for Multicultural Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2053-535X • E-ISSN: 2053-5368
PublisherEmerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1108/jme-12-2023-0139
OpenAlexW4400661720
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited40

Purpose This paper aims to highlight how Black African academics who live and work under coloniality are systematically seen as “out of place” and how this positioning compounds their experiences of interpersonal and systemic marginalisation within predominantly white universities. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper that theorises the experiences of two Black African academics in Australian higher education. It takes a form of autoethnography, to demonstrate the intersectional barriers and setbacks within white academia that interact with gender, class and migranthood, potentially undermining their academic progression and/or professional well-being. Findings Black African academics in white-majority workplaces repeatedly report experiences of microaggressions, hyper-surveillance and epistemic Othering. This is characterised by research alienation, funding gaps and being passed over for promotion leading to feelings of exclusion and fractured belonging within academia. Originality/value The paper argues that while the Coloniality of Power within institutions of higher learning continues to racialise Black African academics as Other, the Coloniality of Knowledge marginalises their intellectual, theoretical and experiential perspectives and contributions. The power of Coloniality and white supremacy are implicated in the epistemic impositions, erasures and negations of the ontological legitimacy and contributions of Black academics in higher education institutions

Aesthetics · Alienation · Autoethnography · Higher education · Identity (music · Legitimacy · Originality · Political science · Power (physics · Qualitative research · Racism · Social science · Sociology · White (mutation · White supremacy · Critical Race Theory in Education · Gender Studies · Higher Education Practises and Engagement · Higher Education Research Studies · Law

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