Birkbeck runs its first ever Doctoral Conference for ethnic minority and mixed ethnic backgrounds
Students from the university’s Diversity 100 programme highlighted the need for more effective networking with a focus on opportunities for underrepresented groups to channel diverse perspectives and bring their research to the fore.
60 Birkbeck students gathered for the first ever conference, held last month, for those from ethnic minority and mixed ethnic backgrounds; groups which have typically been underrepresented at the doctoral level and for whom the event proved to be hugely rewarding.
The all-day event featured talks from doctoral researchers, training sessions at the request of Birkbeck’s Diversity 100 students and a keynote talk in the evening by Professor Jason Arday (University of Cambridge). View the full agenda here.
The Diversity100 initiative aims to increase the numbers of students from diverse ethnic backgrounds studying and achieving at Doctoral level. Seventeen Birkbeck students are currently developing areas of research in topical areas including antimicrobial resistance and bereavement in migrant communities, with the support of the programme.
At the recent doctoral conference, there was a panel discussion before the keynote talk, which highlighted work and opportunities at Birkbeck to improve the research culture and support for diverse Doctoral Scholars.
Birkbeck academics who participated in and contributed to the event included:
- Dr William Ackah, Senior Lecturer in Black and Community Geographies. William has been one of the organisers of the Doctoral Conference and is part of a team that has produced a new book on the Black PhD experience.
- Professor Stewart Motha, Professor of Law and Academic Lead for the Birkbeck Race Equality Charter application.
- Professor Karen Wells, Professor of International Development and Childhood studies, and an academic lead for the recently awarded Wellcome Trust Institutional Funding for Research Culture (IFRC) award.
- Professor Julian Swann (Chair), Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Director of the Birkbeck Graduate Research School.
As part of the programme, attendees could choose to attend sessions on How to get an academic paper published, How to become a Principal Investigator or How to become a lecturer, thanks to the contributions of Birkbeck academic staff Dr Chao-yo Cheng, Professor Sanjib Bhakta and Dr Michael Tsang.
William Ackah, Senior Lecturer in Black and Community Geographies, said, “This was an amazing event. It was especially brilliant to see the excellent research being conducted by students from global black majority communities across so many disciplines.”
Read some of the testimonials from the participants below, when asked what they found most positive about the conference:
- “Connecting with other students whose and experiences exist at the margins in different forms, feeling at ease to share work in progress, building community.”
- “A brilliant opportunity to connect and chat with other PhDers I would not have normally met. Great moments swapping ideas, chatting through research, offering advice and forming (hopefully) lasting connections. Would love for this to be a more regular conference perhaps once or twice a year :).”
- “It felt like a safe environment to engage in discussions surrounding our research, particularly topics that in other contexts might not get as much attention or be so well understood for the whole group. There was lots of acknowledgement and appreciation of all of our areas of research, identities and perspectives and any challenges were navigated respectfully.”
- “It was wonderful to see BAME PhD talent on parade. The breath of research in terms of the PhD topics that are being investigated was a revelation. Researchers' creativity and talent shone through. All of the presentations I attended were well structured and delivered and incredibly interesting. The event was really well conceived, structured and managed throughout.”
Further Information
- Read more about Birkbeck’s Diversity100 programme
- Find out about postgraduate study at Birkbeck
- Read more information about Birkbeck’s Equality and Diversity commitments