Professor Uma Kambhampati, Professor of Economics and Head of School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, University of Reading, is part of a consortium of six universities working on the Generation Delta project aimed at improving the access and retention of home Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) women in academia. A 4-year project (2022-2026), Generation Delta is one of thirteen projects funded by Research England and the Office for Students. Generation Delta involves six institutions: University of Leeds, Goldsmiths University of London, University of Plymouth, University of Reading, University of Sheffield, and the University of Sunderland, and has received funding of £797,264.

The project aims to address the institutional and individual barriers experienced by BAME women at different stages of the postgraduate research (PGR) life cycle: access and admissions, retention and progression within the programme, and career development following doctoral studies. It is hoped that the work done within this project will lay the foundations for a long-term increase in the number of Black, Asian and Minority women gaining professorships in higher education institutions in England. The programme has three components:

  • Programme of roundtables for staff, designed to embed more equitable practice in the PGR life cycle
  • Programme of workshops for students on how to navigate higher education
  • The creation of a new PGR Student Network for BAME women

Surveys of students have indicated, among other things, that the experiences of home BAME women differ from those of international BAME women in our universities. Domestic BAME women students do not see the enrolment process as being straightforward and see their academic experience as being improved if they were to have a BAME mentor. The project has responded to this need by launching a mentoring scheme in September 2023 with 33 mentees and 20 mentors, all of whom are BAME women professors.

The Generation Delta project is now in mid-way and has successfully completed two years of workshops and roundtables. The mentorship programme has begun, and the student network met for the first time at a student conference in Sheffield in March 2024.

The next BAME PGR student workshop on Access to Academy is scheduled to hold on the 11th of June, 2024, at the University of Plymouth, with a staff roundtable following shortly on the 14th of June, 2024.

Find out more about Generation Delta (Leeds).