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Munir, Noorzoha (2026) The impact of social identity on BAME female academics' job satisfaction in the UK Higher Education sector. Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitian University.
This study has explored the impact of social identity on BAME female academic job satisfaction in the UK Higher Education Institutes (HEI). Using social identity theory as a critical theoretical perspective alongside an intersectional lens, this study centres the job satisfaction of BAME female academics. This study explores and evaluates the barriers to job satisfaction, the imbalance representation of BAME female academics and its impact on their job satisfaction, strategies to build a multicultural social identity, and a proposed multicultural social identity model to ensure job satisfaction of BAME female academics in the UK HEI. Fifteen semi-structured interviews with BAME female academics were conducted, and the data was analysed using thematic analysis. This research adopts an interpretivist approach, focusing on how BAME female academics understand their job satisfaction. It takes a subjective ontological stance, viewing reality as shaped by individual experiences and social contexts. An inductive approach is used to explore the under-researched impact of social identity on their job satisfaction in UK higher education. Unlike other studies, mostly focuses on specific aspects of BAME academics’ experiences rather than comprehensively examining social identity’s impact on job satisfaction. Most of the available studies only discussed about structural inequalities and underrepresentation of BAME female academics, yet how these factors affect their experiences and job satisfaction remains largely unexplored. Additionally, the application of social identity theory to this group is still underdeveloped because most of the existing research relies on frameworks such as critical race theory.
This study identifies the influence of in-group and out-group dynamics within institutions on the underrepresentation and job satisfaction of BAME female academics. This study theorises multiculturalism, which is a topic often overlooked in research due to its limited acceptance in the UK. The findings also reveal how social identity influences job satisfaction in the context of intersections of gender and ethnicity. The experiences of professors, associate professors, lecturers, and senior lecturers are different in the context of job satisfaction. The research findings highlight that in the HEI, BAME female academics face specific barriers on a structural, organisational, and personal level that impact their job satisfaction. Moreover, group favouritism, uneven career pathways, and limited growth opportunities often cause imbalanced representation and impact the job satisfaction of BAME female academics. This study has also introduced strategies to overcome these issues and build an effective multicultural social identity. Furthermore, this thesis proposes a new framework called "Employee Job Satisfaction Improvement Model to Ensure Multicultural Social Identity." This model aims to address these disparities and offer a potential solution to reduce the inequality within HEIs. This model will ensure initiative and drive, better job performance, engagement, career progression, well-being, a sense of belonging, recognition of contribution, and organisational commitment among BAME female academics. To ensure this change, this model can be implemented alongside existing EDI practices for managing multicultural social identity by ensuring employee job satisfaction in the HEI.
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