“Outsiders on the inside”: how minoritised elites respond to racial inequality

Abstract

Given the slow progress on increasing racial and ethnic diversity at the highest levels of society, it is important to ask what role racialisation plays in the experience of minoritised individuals who do reach an elite position. More specifically, this article asks how minoritised elites respond to racial inequality in their careers. Drawing on 30 interviews with British racialised minorities who have achieved positions of notable leadership or societal influence, we map three different strategies they use, from “challenging”, to “diversifying”, to “role modelling”. We also explore how the likelihood of using the three different strategies are classed, gendered and racialised. In doing so, this article details some of the enormous diversity between British racialised minority elites and the different strategies they use to address racial inequalities, including a strong refusal to assimilate.