Inside the ivory tower: Narratives of women of colour surviving and thriving in British academia (2017) edited by Deborah Gabriel and Shirley Anne Tate

Gabriel and Tate’s edited book provides a collection of articles from Black women across a range of disciplines writing with striking linearity about the subtle, but persistent, direct and indirect ways that racism operates. Shattering the meritocratic and equal opportunities’ discourse that we come to know of the education system, each author describes the obstacles of navigating British academia. But the book goes further: it offers Black and other racial minorities the inspiration to keep going in spite of one’s circumstances, knowing that there are networks such as Black British Academics that support you along the way in tackling racial inequalities in higher education. In spite of a hostile racial environment, Black women in this book are thriving! However, this book simultaneously represents a call to action to institutions and those within, to explore critically, how “diversity” is used, who the beneficiaries are and the impact of racism on the health and safety of its employees.