Luchuo Engelbert Bain, Implementation Research Scientist and Deputy Director of the MSc in Global Women’s Health at the University of Oxford, shared on LinkedIn:
“Beyond Resilience: The Future of Black Scholarship
What would academia look like if belonging, dignity, and psychological safety were considered as important as productivity and prestige?
While representation in academia has improved, unequal access to belonging, advancement, funding, and intellectual authority persists.
The future of Black scholarship requires both individual preparation and institutional transformation.
Yes, preparation matters. Black scholars must be equipped to navigate both the known and unknown, the written rules and the unwritten realities of academia.
They may enter institutions that, in the minds of some, were neither created nor intended for them: spaces where they are expected to participate but not lead, and where their authority and voices are questioned both openly and behind closed doors.
Building the mental strength, confidence, networks, and strategic awareness needed to withstand challenges is essential.
However, such preparation must never come at the expense of wellbeing, nor become a sophisticated way of transferring responsibility for racism from institutions to individuals.
The burden of adaptation cannot replace the obligation of universities to create equitable, inclusive, and genuinely supportive environments. The moral mandate of care!
If academia is a moral enterprise, then it must become a more humane one, where diverse minds enjoy psychological safety, dignity, freedom, opportunity, and belonging.
Yet I doubt such a future will arrive on a platter of gold. History suggests otherwise.
Someone must stand up, speak courageously, challenge exclusion, and seize the space needed for change.
That person is you, and me!”
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