From the Periphery to the Centre: An Autoethnographic Account of Positionality, Practices and Behaviours of Racialised Minority Leaders (RMLs) as Gatekeepers

Abstract

The disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on racialised minorities (RMs) in the UK and globally, along with the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, have pushed organisations in the corporate, public and third sectors to act on the representation of racialised minorities. Consequently, racialised minority leaders (RMLs) with social, cultural, and political capital have been in demand to join newly created consultative roles. Problematising the practices of RML as gatekeepers, this paper adopts an autoethnographic research design drawing on Critical Race Theory, and the concepts of social, cultural and political capital. The study findings articulate RMLs’ journey to gatekeeping positions, the influence they acquire and how they facilitate and/or impede access to their communities. This research contributes to emerging research on hard-to-reach racialised minorities and gatekeeping by problematising practices and behaviours of RM gatekeepers and arguing for collaboration, mentoring and succession planning in RM leadership.

Keywords

• autoethnography
• critical race theory
• gatekeeper
• hard-to-reach
• leadership