How African principles of community are helping Black students in the UK into PhD study

GaudiLab/Shutterstock

Across the UK, Black students remain significantly underrepresented in doctoral programmes. This is despite years of widening participation policies and a growing awareness that the pathways into a PhD are often far harder to navigate for some groups than others.

My research with colleagues shows that a different approach is possible: one that draws on long-standing African philosophies of community, character and collective care.

In 2021, I and colleagues...