9 March 2026
A new policy brief has been published to coincide with International Women's Day
Professor Donna Chambers
A project involving the University of Sunderland, which aims to boost the careers of racially minoritised women, has published a policy brief revealing the barriers they face in doctoral education and how these can be addressed.
Generation Delta, a four-year programme partly funded by Research England and the Office for Students and led by the University of Leeds alongside five partner universities, was set up to help participants overcome barriers that can hinder the progress of racially minoritised women as they go through their doctoral journey.
The project published a policy brief to coincide with International Women’s Day (March 8) setting out key actions that universities can take to better support racially minoritised women doctoral students. The policy highlights how improving outcomes for this group is integral to research excellence, recruitment and retention of critical talent, institutional credibility and economic growth.
Generation Delta is led by six female professors – all members of the Black Female Professors Forum – including Donna Chambers as Co-Investigator, former Professor of Tourism at the University of Sunderland.
Professor Chambers, who is now at Northumbria, said: “Serving as a Co-Investigator on this project supporting women from racially minoritised backgrounds in postgraduate research has been a privilege.
“This policy brief summarises recommendations emerging from our interventions and we urge Higher Education policymakers to adopt them to promote gender and racial equity in postgraduate research with the long-term vision to improve the representation of racially minoritised women in the UK professoriate.”
Corresponding author and Generation Delta project lead, Professor Iyiola Solanke, University of Leeds / University of Oxford, said: "Generation Delta was a four-year multi-institutional intervention designed by and delivered under the leadership of six Black women professors to address inequalities affecting racially minoritised women across the postgraduate research (PGR) degree lifecycle. "
"We hope that with this policy brief Generation Delta can - as intended - help Higher Educations institutions in England lay sustainable foundations for longer-term change by reshaping conversations, increasing visibility, and modelling inclusive practices. If adopted, these recommendations provide a basis for supporting racially minoritised women PGRs, and underrepresented students more broadly, by embedding intersectional approaches within doctoral education.”
Read the full policy brief here.
About the authors
Professor Iyiola Solanke, University of Leeds / University of Oxford, Dr Monica Bernal (University of Leeds), Professor Donna Chambers (Northumbria University / University of Sunderland), Professor Shaofeng Liu (University of Plymouth), Professor Amaka Offiah (University of Sheffield), Professor Farzana Shain (Goldsmiths, University of London), Professor Uma Kambhampati (University of Reading).