Meet Dr Aisha Phoenix, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow in Social Justice

Dr Aisha Phoenix has nurtured a deep interest in social justice from a young age, and dedicated the last decade to researching social justice issues. She has been writing about the skin shade prejudice known as colourism for the last 10 years. In March 2022, this culminated in the publication of her findings from a qualitative study that explored colourism among people of colour in the UK.

Dr Phoenix's influential work has been recognised by the industry and she was awarded the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship in June 2022, which will enable her to conduct a large-scale study of young people's perceptions and experiences of colourism.

Here she shares her journey and her research interests.

1. You used to be a media and advertising journalist before getting into academia. What made you want to change career, and what is making you want to stay in academia now?

I always wanted to be an academic. After my BA in Arabic and Modern Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford I applied to study for a Master’s and PhD in Sociology at the university. I was accepted onto the programme, but ineligible for funding as I didn’t have an undergraduate Sociology degree. I couldn’t afford to pursue postgraduate studies without funding and turned to another passion, which was journalism, securing a Scott Trust bursary to study Newspaper Journalism at City University.

I enjoyed working as a journalist, however, I wanted the opportunity to explore stories in greater depth and more analytically than my journalistic work allowed. I felt compelled to return to academia and ended up securing ESRC 1+3 funding for a Master’s in Social Research and a PhD in Sociology. The opportunity critically to engage with important societal issues, particularly those relating to marginalisation and social justice, makes me want to stay in academia.

2. You have just released the findings from your research on colourism in the UK. Why did you decide to research this issue?

I have long been interested in the skin shade prejudice known as colourism and have written academic and journalistic articles on the subject. Colourism is an important topic for research given that it affects the life chances of People of Colour. However, there is a lack of research on colourism in the UK and I wanted to redress that.

3. All your research has been steeped in social justice. How important is it to you to bring a social justice angle to your research?

4. What will you be teaching at the School of Education, Communication & Society?

Whilst I won’t be doing much teaching whilst I am a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, my position is Social Justice Lecturer and I look forward to contributing to capacity building in new generations.

5. What will you be focusing on as a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow?

My project will investigate how young people in the UK understand, negotiate and/or perpetuate colourism. It will involve focus groups and interviews with secondary school students in London, Bristol and Manchester; focus groups with staff; interviews with parents; a survey of young people in the UK and a co-created animation.