‘That’s not my name’: Identity work by university students with minoritised names

Abstract

This article examines the experiences of students whose minoritised names meant they were misnamed by university staff. Drawing on qualitative findings from a study of the pronunciation of students’ names in universities in England, we use sociological concepts such as identity work, embodied named identities and institutional whiteness to analyse students’ accounts of what they did, or did not do, in response to misnaming. We argue that, in the context of power relations circulating within universities, including race and racism, students’ identity work entailed a calculation of the benefits and costs of correcting misnaming by university staff, alongside multiple and complex interpretations of, for example, the specific locale of an incident and/or the type and duration of interaction with university staff. We conclude by suggesting ways that equality, diversity and inclusivity policy and practice in higher education can better develop to rebalance power relations and thereby ease the heavy identity workload carried by students with minoritised names and minoritised ethnicities.