Brown Girl in the Ring: What are the Experiences of Senior Female Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic Leaders in Social Work Today?

There has been extensive concern with race and racism in social work as a discipline, including empirical enquiry examining the experiences of social workers from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. However, insufficient attention has been paid to the experiences of BAME female social work leaders. This thesis reports on a practitioner research enquiry addressing this group’s experiences. The study relied on a psychoanalytically informed, psychosocial methodological approach, alongside autoethnographic reflection. Biographical narrative interviews were undertaken with five female BAME leaders working in a local authority adult social care context. Data generated from these interviews were then subject to an in-case/cross-case analysis based on a constructivist epistemological framework. Themes identified from the analysis related to experiences in the workplace and leadership journeys, illuminating ways in which personal and professional biographies converged in the participants’ understanding of the demands and challenges of leadership, as well as wider organisational and social forces that had an impact on them as professionals and BAME women, particularly racism. The analysis revealed how the participants were prompted to be attentive to both their inner experiences and work contexts to understand themselves as leaders. The study’s principal contribution is in helping to develop psychosocial knowledge that may help inform action to challenge racism and organisational barriers bearing upon the career trajectories of BAME women. Key terms: Black and Minority Ethnic, leadership, psychoanalytically informed research, psychosocial social work research, race, racism, social work leadership.