Professor Keisha S. Ray joins us for a cross-continental conversation on representation and research culture, in which we explore the experiences of racially minoritised researchers working on both sides of the Atlantic. Recorded in July 2023. In this transatlantic episode, Dr Harleen Kaur Johal — co-founder of Black and Brown in Bioethics — sits down with Professor Keisha S. Ray for a candid conversation about the realities of working in bioethics in both the UK and the US. Keisha is an Associate Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities at McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas.
Together, they explore the nuances of research culture on either side of the Atlantic, unpacking the role of intersectionality, institutional power, and what it means to feel seen in academic spaces. From the transformative impact of working in departments where people look like you, to honest critiques about where bioethics is falling short, this conversation
provides deep insights, personal reflections, and a generous exchange of strategies for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in bioethics. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
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Professor Keisha S. Ray joins us for a cross-continental conversation on representation and research culture, in which we explore the experiences of racially minoritised researchers working on both sides of the Atlantic. Recorded in July 2023. In this transatlantic episode, Dr Harleen Kaur Johal — co-founder of Black and Brown in Bioethics — sits down with Professor Keisha S. Ray for a candid conversation about the realities of working in bioethics in both the UK and the US. Keisha is an Associate Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities at McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas.
Together, they explore the nuances of research culture on either side of the Atlantic, unpacking the role of intersectionality, institutional power, and what it means to feel seen in academic spaces. From the transformative impact of working in departments where people look like you, to honest critiques about where bioethics is falling short, this conversation
provides deep insights, personal reflections, and a generous exchange of strategies for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in bioethics. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Disrupting hierarchies to transform academia and medicine
Power and Privilege in Academia
1 hour 4 minutes
6 months ago
Disrupting hierarchies to transform academia and medicine
Annabel Sowemimo and Amaka Offiah share powerful insights on dismantling hierarchies in academia and medicine, exposing the myths of meritocracy and the urgent need to transform education and healthcare systems. Recorded on 31 July 2023. In this episode, we speak with Dr Annabel Sowemimo and Professor Amaka Offiah about power, privilege, and the urgent need to disrupt entrenched hierarchies within medicine and academia. Annabel is a physician, PhD candidate, writer, and founder of the Reproductive Justice Initiative. She’s also the author of Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare. Amaka is a Professor and Consultant Paediatric Radiologist, and remarkably, the first Black African female professor at the University of Sheffield and only the third in medicine across England. Together, we examine how hierarchies are constructed and maintained, and how both guests have navigated, challenged, and reshaped those systems from within. We discuss the tension between ideals of equal opportunity and the structural realities of selective education, and the idea of becoming a “class traitor” as a form of resistance. This is a candid and thought-provoking conversation that invites us to reflect on the systems we operate in and the transformative power of disrupting them. Referenced in the podcast:
● NHS – Race and Health Observatory and University of Manchester published the report - Ethnic Inequalities in Healthcare: A Rapid Evidence Review and Ethnic Inequalities in Healthcare: A Rapid Evidence Review summary by Dharmi Kapadia, Jingwen Zhang, Sarah Salway, James Nazroo, Andrew Booth, Nazmy Villarroel-Williams, Laia Bécares & Aneez Esmail, February 2022
● Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's "The Danger of a Single Story" Ted Talk, in 2009, explores the negative influences that a “single story” can have as it can rob people of their dignity, and emphasizes there are so many differences amongst those of us who are homogenised under particular labels.
● Professor Lilian Otaye-Ebede becomes the 41st Black Female Professor in the UK
● Generation Delta is an Office for Students/Research England funded project running from 2022-2026, led by six BAME female professors, all of whom are members of the Black Female Professors Forum.
● Melanin medics is a national charity promoting racial diversity in Medicine, widening aspirations and aiding career progression. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Power and Privilege in Academia
Professor Keisha S. Ray joins us for a cross-continental conversation on representation and research culture, in which we explore the experiences of racially minoritised researchers working on both sides of the Atlantic. Recorded in July 2023. In this transatlantic episode, Dr Harleen Kaur Johal — co-founder of Black and Brown in Bioethics — sits down with Professor Keisha S. Ray for a candid conversation about the realities of working in bioethics in both the UK and the US. Keisha is an Associate Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities at McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas.
Together, they explore the nuances of research culture on either side of the Atlantic, unpacking the role of intersectionality, institutional power, and what it means to feel seen in academic spaces. From the transformative impact of working in departments where people look like you, to honest critiques about where bioethics is falling short, this conversation
provides deep insights, personal reflections, and a generous exchange of strategies for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in bioethics. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
