Mission & Core Focus
Society of Black Academics provides a national platform for Black academics, doctoral researchers and early-career scholars to thrive, progress and access community, knowledge and career support. Its mission responds to the underrepresentation of Black academics in UK higher education, particularly at professorial and senior leadership levels. Over the past six months, the Initiative has directly supported approximately 400 to 500 Black researchers across multiple career stages, including doctoral researchers, early-career academics, mid-career scholars and senior academics. Support is delivered through national conferences, targeted workshops, cross-career networking, mentorship, peer learning, wellbeing sessions, poster presentations, speaking opportunities and connections to wider academic and policy networks.
Initiative Key Achievement
The strongest recent achievement is the successful delivery of SBA’s 5th Annual Conference at King’s College London, themed From Surviving to Thriving: Building Sustainable Wellbeing as Black Academics. The event marked five years of uninterrupted commitment to supporting Black researchers and academics across the UK and beyond. It engaged more than 200 participants across in-person and online formats, with senior academic and institutional leaders involved, including vice-chancellors, deputy vice-chancellors, deans, funders and sector partners.
