Time for change: Getting the sector to 100 Black Women Professors...NOW

A sector leading, award winning systemic change programme, delivering results

There has been significant gender equality progress in the higher education sector. But the data shows that Black women are being left behind. In 2018, there were only 25 Black women professors in the UK, compared to 12,500 white men. At WHEN, we decided it was time to change this. We worked with a team of experts including Professor Doyin Atewologun, CEO of Delta to design a truely sustainable and systemic approach that would deliver lasting and meaningful change.

A specific approach, that is unblocking a major talent pipeline

100 Black Women Professors NOW (100B) is WHEN's pioneering programme that aims to increase the number of Black women in the academic pipeline. Since we began this work in 2021, the number of Black women professors has today more than doubled. We provide equity of opportunity while dismantling the deep-rooted barriers that are preventing gender equality from being our current reality by:

Supporting Black women academics with career coaching, sponsorship, mentoring, community building and much more
Working directly with each Black woman academic's line manager plus members of the University's most senior leadership team, including the Vice-Chancellor, to improve understanding, engagement and dedicated action that results in genuine cultural change

What makes this approach to change unique:

An exclusive focus on the most under-represented and disadvantaged group - Black women: those of African diaspora who represent less than 0.2% of the UK professoriate
The first and only sector-wide initiative that speaks to the issues and recommendations from the ‘Staying Power’ report, based on research with 80% of Black women professors
Access to peer groups from multiple universities to facilitate cross-institution learning and accountability
A focus on systemic change and action, requiring deep commitment and engagement from three major stakeholder groups: institutional leaders; line managers; and the academic cohort

Key dates

The fourth cohort will start in January 2025 and end in September 2025. Enrolment is currently open and will end on 30th October 2024.

What do people say about this programme?

100B is changing women's lives, and helping universities turn rhetoric into reality.

Dr Kendi Guantai, now an Associate Professor and Dean at the University of Leeds:

"Before I joined the first cohort of 100B in 2021, I was on my way out of the academy."

Professor Sir Steve West CBE, Vice-Chancellor of the University of West England (UWE), called his university out for being institutionally racist under his own leadership.

Here's what happened next.

Dr Paulet Brown-Wilsher, Senior Lecturer and also now Director of Education & Experience University of East London:

“100B, aimed at amplifying the voices and visibility of Black women in academia, was central to my transformation.”