University of Hertfordshire joins 100 Black Women Professors Now programme 

The 12-month programme, which will launch in January 2026, is delivered by the Women in Higher Education Network (WHEN) to address systemic inequities in academic spaces.

The aim of the plan, which Herts has committed investment for over the next three years, is to address the under-representation of Black women at associate and full professor level by removing barriers for career progression.

Across the UK’s higher education sector, the number of Black women professors has risen from 25 in 2019 to 70 in 2024 out of a total of 25,670 professors. While progress is being made, the pace of change remains slow, and greater action is needed to drive equity.

At Herts, women now make up 50% of professors, and the 100 Black Women Professors Now programme marks a key step in championing greater representation of Black women in these roles.

The University will be focusing on Associate Professors in the first cohort, and participants will benefit from a combination of personalised coaching and residential workshops.

Professor Wendy Wills, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at the University of Hertfordshire, said:

"Launching this programme is an important step for the University to go beyond recognising the under-representation of Black women at senior levels, to take action and address this. I am delighted that we can now start to make progress so that Black women do not have additional barriers preventing them from progressing at Herts. This will contribute to our strategic objective to foster a more inclusive research culture.”

Learn more about the 100 Black Women Professors Now programme.