The challenges faced by Black and Brown midwives extend beyond clinical practice into academia. Many of us who sought to pursue advanced study, including PhD research, encountered institutional barriers that made progression difficult. Our intellectual labour was undervalued, our research interests dismissed, and our presence in academic spaces treated as an anomaly rather than an asset. (I.F.Awolowo 2025). The experiences of Black and Brown PhD students mirror those of Black and Brown midwives in clinical and academic settings: silencing, gatekeeping, and persistent resistance to our voices. These barriers not only hinder individual careers but also limit the profession’s ability to generate knowledge that reflects the realities of Black and Brown women’s experiences in maternity Care (L.L.Mbatha 2026).
The dichotomisation of people into Black and White does not allow for the idea that Black people are themselves a diverse group with differences to warrant examination. It is increasingly difficult to position Black people within a single category when examining the managerial and academic progression of midwives in the United Kingdom. The UK context is marked by a rich diversity within the African, Caribbean and Asian diasporas, each bringing distinct histories, migration patterns, and cultural expectations that shape educational trajectories. (J.V. Jackson and M. E. Cothran 2003)
In contrast, my observations of those from Caribbean backgrounds reveal a different pattern of professional aspiration and achievement. Many Caribbean-descended midwives appeared less inclined to pursue doctoral study and were instead more likely to seek advancement within clinical and managerial structures of the health service. Their expertise, accumulated through extensive hands‑on practice and deep organisational knowledge, positioned them as highly competent leaders within hospital settings. For many, progression into management represented both recognition and fulfilment of their professional identity, without the perceived need for academic credentials such as a PhD (T.Reynolds 2006).
What became increasingly apparent to me was the presence of unspoken hierarchies within our own subcultures of Black and brownness, hierarchies that were often reproduced within professional spaces. There existed a tacit understanding that Africans occupied one position, Caribbeans another, and South Asians yet another. These internalised distinctions contributed to a lack of cohesion among Black and Brown professionals, particularly when navigating pathways to higher management roles or postdoctoral study. Instead of collective uplift, these divisions sometimes reinforced competition, isolation, and fragmented support systems. This fragmentation, I argue, has significant implications for the ways Black and Brown clinicians are prevented from progressing within academic and professional hierarchies (M. C. Thornton et al., 2012).
A central inequality that emerges within and between Caribbean, African, and South Asian diasporic groups relates to how the value of education is understood, enacted, and transmitted across generations. For some communities, education, particularly at the postgraduate or doctoral level, is framed as an essential marker of status, mobility, and collective pride. For others, the pursuit of higher academic qualifications may feel more abstract or less immediately connected to professional identity, especially when individuals have already established credibility and leadership within clinical or managerial roles (L. M. Chatters, 2009).
Within many Black and brown communities, the attainment of a PhD carries significant social value and is often understood as both a marker of intellectual achievement and a pathway to socioeconomic mobility. This emphasis is reinforced by strong intergenerational networks that recognise and actively support academic and or professional progression through the operational ranks of clinical practice. As a result, the pursuit of doctoral education becomes not only encouraged but woven into broader cultural narratives of success, responsibility, and collective uplift (C. Agyemang et al., 2005). In my own observations, individuals from African and Asian backgrounds are disproportionately represented among those seeking advancement into management roles or pursuing postgraduate study, particularly doctoral degrees.
Yet even when Black and Brown professionals do reach higher levels of academic attainment, they encounter another layer of complexity. Academia itself is a highly stratified system, one that was not designed with our histories, epistemologies, or ways of knowing in mind. As a result, achieving advanced academic status does not necessarily translate into belonging or recognition. Instead, many of us find that we must continually prove our competence, legitimacy, and intellectual worth within institutions that remain shaped by Eurocentric norms and exclusionary practices. This structural reality underscores the broader challenge: educational attainment alone cannot dismantle systems that were never built to accommodate us (M.Files 2024).
Such assumptions stand in stark contrast to the lived reality within our communities, where the message has always been clear: being Black means you must work twice as hard, deliver twice as much, and withstand pressures that others are never asked to bear. This expectation is not abstract; it is a continual refrain passed through generations and echoed across the current era of midwifery practice. It reflects both the resilience of our communities and the structural inequities that make such resilience necessary. Even at the highest levels, Black and Brown professionals are required to demonstrate their competence repeatedly, navigating systems that remain reluctant to fully recognise their expertise, leadership, and intellectual labour (E. O. McGee et al 2019).
There are, of course, many powerful stories of Black and Brown women who have progressed through academic and professional ranks, often achieving remarkable success despite the constraints placed upon them. Yet even within these narratives of advancement, a persistent pattern emerges: once my Black and Brown sisters reach higher levels of academia or leadership, they continue to encounter inequality. Many report that their achievements are met with suspicion or minimised through narratives that imply they have not advanced on their own merit, but have instead benefited from unearned privileges or diversity-driven opportunities (A. Carastathis, 2014).
References and bibliography
About the author:
Dianne Morris is a UK‑trained nurse and midwife whose early career was shaped by working alongside midwives from the Caribbean diaspora Windrush generation, women whose deep
ancestral knowledge of birth and mothering profoundly influenced her practice. Dianne has worked across the NHS and private practice as a registered midwife and clinical researcher
She completed a master’s degree in social science research methods.
Dianne moved to Australia in 2014, where she undertook doctoral research, examining resilience among midwifery students in Sydney. She now works independently, focusing on
strengthening research into Black and Brown women’s health, and designing and delivering culturally safe, trauma‑informed workshops across Australia. Alongside this work, Dianne
teaches as a sessional midwifery and nursing lecturer and practises as a childbirth and parenting educator in private practice.
