More Than a Shade: Colorism, Foreignness, and the Intersections of Race and Gender in UK Higher Education

ABSTRACT This paper critically examines how colorism, foreignness, race, and gender intersect to shape the experiences of Black women and racially minoritized women in nonacademic roles within UK higher education. Although prior scholarship has examined race and gender in academia, limited attention has been paid to how institutional exclusion operates through skin tone hierarchies and perceived foreignness within professional services contexts. Drawing on 28 in‐depth qualitative interviews across seven UK universities, the study analyzes how intersecting marginalizations shape career progression, identity negotiation, and institutional belonging. Findings show that lighter‐skinned and mixed‐Black heritage women often experience conditional forms of inclusion, whereas darker‐skinned women face intensified scrutiny, surveillance, and exclusion. Foreignness, frequently racialized through accent, voice, and behavioral expectations, emerges as an organizational mechanism regulating perceived insider status. By conceptualizing colorism and foreignness as institutional logics embedded within higher education workplaces, the paper contributes to intersectionality and organizational inequality scholarship, advancing the understanding of how stratified forms of racialization structure professional recognition and advancement.