IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v29y2022i2p520-535.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The production of difference and “becoming Black”: The experiences of female Nigerian doctors and nurses working in the National Health Service

Author

Listed:
  • Nkechinyelu Ann Edeh
  • Sarah Riley
  • Patrizia Kokot‐Blamey

Abstract

In this article, we combine theory from cultural theorist Stuart Hall with phenomenological psychology to analyze the experiences of female Nigerian doctors and nurses working in the National Health Service (NHS). Drawing on 32 interviews with 24 nurses and doctors, our empirical analysis demonstrates how encounters with patients, colleagues and the structures of the NHS collapsed these health care professionals' identities into a single category of Black that produced them as racially different and inferior – a process we describe as “becoming Black.” In this analysis, we emphasize the utility of Hall's legacy to organizational analyses of experience, and the importance of centering race in such works, thereby adding to the wider literature on discrimination and identity. Hall's contributions offer us a framework for conceptualizing identity as in process, as arising in dialog with another, and framed in a historical context shaped by colonialism. Through a phenomenological lens we explore these identity processes, drawing out racialized experiences, and demonstrating “becoming Black” as a form of symbolic violence with real effects related to psychological distress and workplace precarity.

Suggested Citation

  • Nkechinyelu Ann Edeh & Sarah Riley & Patrizia Kokot‐Blamey, 2022. "The production of difference and “becoming Black”: The experiences of female Nigerian doctors and nurses working in the National Health Service," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 520-535, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:2:p:520-535
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12779
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12779
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12779?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gloria Likupe, 2006. "Experiences of African nurses in the UK National Health Service: a literature review," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(10), pages 1213-1220, October.
    2. Wallace, S. & Nazroo, J. & Bécares, L., 2016. "Cumulative effect of racial discrimination on the mental health of ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1294-1300.
    3. Jenny Rodriguez & Evangelina Holvino & Joyce K. Fletcher & Stella M. Nkomo & Nasima Mohamed Hoosen Carrim & Stella M. Nkomo, 2016. "Wedding Intersectionality Theory and Identity Work in Organizations: South African Indian Women Negotiating Managerial Identity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 261-277, May.
    4. Linda McDowell & Esther Rootham & Abby Hardgrove, 2016. "The Production of Difference and Maintenance of Inequality: The Place of Young Goan Men in a Post-Crisis UK Labour Market," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 108-124, March.
    5. Sophie Hennekam & Yuliya Shymko, 2020. "Coping with the COVID‐19 crisis: force majeure and gender performativity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 788-803, September.
    6. Tracey Warren, 2006. "Moving Beyond The Gender Wealth Gap: On Gender, Class, Ethnicity, And Wealth Inequalities In The United Kingdom," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1-2), pages 195-219.
    7. Jenny Rodriguez & Evangelina Holvino & Joyce K. Fletcher & Stella M. Nkomo & Doyin Atewologun & Ruth Sealy & Susan Vinnicombe, 2016. "Revealing Intersectional Dynamics in Organizations: Introducing ‘Intersectional Identity Work’," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 223-247, May.
    8. Stephen Pudney & Michael Shields, 2000. "Gender, race, pay and promotion in the British nursing profession: estimation of a generalized ordered probit model," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(4), pages 367-399.
    9. Julia Nichols & Jackie Campbell, 2010. "The experiences of internationally recruited nurses in the UK (1995–2007): an integrative review," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(19‐20), pages 2814-2823, October.
    10. Geraldine Healy & Franklin Oikelome, 2011. "Diversity, Ethnicity, Migration and Work," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-32147-2, November.
    11. Ozbilgin, Mustafa F. & Tsouroufli, Maria & Smith, Merryn, 2011. "Understanding the interplay of time, gender and professionalism in hospital medicine in the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(10), pages 1588-1594, May.
    12. Sheila Ellwood & Javier Garcia-Lacalle & Sonia Royo, 2020. "The shattered glass ceiling and a narrowing gender pay gap in NHS foundation trusts: gender and salaries of chief executives," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 31-41, January.
    13. Gina Netto & Mike Noon & Maria Hudson & Nicolina Kamenou‐Aigbekaen & Filip Sosenko, 2020. "Intersectionality, identity work and migrant progression from low‐paid work: A critical realist approach," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1020-1039, November.
    14. Geraldine Healy & Franklin Oikelome, 2011. "Diversity, Ethnicity, Migration and Work: UK and US Perspectives," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Diversity, Ethnicity, Migration and Work, chapter 3, pages 36-66, Palgrave Macmillan.
    15. Anne McBride, 2003. "Reconciling Competing Pressures for Working-time Flexibility," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 17(1), pages 159-170, March.
    16. Geraldine Healy & Franklin Oikelome, 2011. "Reflections on Diversity, Ethnicity and Migration at Work at a Time of Change," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Diversity, Ethnicity, Migration and Work, chapter 11, pages 236-248, Palgrave Macmillan.
    17. Victoria Opara & Ruth Sealy & Michelle K. Ryan, 2020. "The workplace experiences of BAME professional women: Understanding experiences at the intersection," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1192-1213, November.
    18. Sheila Ellwood & Javier Garcia-Lacalle, 2015. "The Influence of Presence and Position of Women on the Boards of Directors: The Case of NHS Foundation Trusts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 69-84, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. rashné limki, 2018. "On the coloniality of work: Commercial surrogacy in India," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 327-342, July.
    2. Gina Netto & Mike Noon & Maria Hudson & Nicolina Kamenou‐Aigbekaen & Filip Sosenko, 2020. "Intersectionality, identity work and migrant progression from low‐paid work: A critical realist approach," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1020-1039, November.
    3. Juliet Elizabeth Kele & Catherine Cassell & Jacqueline Ford & Kathryn Watson, 2022. "Intersectional identities and career progression in retail: The experiences of minority‐ethnic women," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1178-1198, July.
    4. William H. Greene & Mark N. Harris & Rachel J. Knott & Nigel Rice, 2021. "Specification and testing of hierarchical ordered response models with anchoring vignettes," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 184(1), pages 31-64, January.
    5. Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2014. "Performance pay and ethnic earnings differences in Britain," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 798-823.
    6. Michael A. Shields & Melanie E. Ward, "undated". "Improving Nurse Retention in the British National Health Service: The Impact of Job Satisfaction on Intentions to Quit," Discussion Papers in Public Sector Economics 00/3, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    7. Lovo, Stefania, 2008. "Market Imperfections And Class Structure: The Case Of South Africa," 107th Seminar, January 30-February 1, 2008, Sevilla, Spain 6675, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Dehua Li & Fei Yi, 2025. "The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China," Journal of Economic Statistics, Anser Press, vol. 3(1), pages 17-31, March.
    9. D. Fabbri & C. Monfardini & R. Radice, 2004. "Testing exogeneity in the bivariate probit model: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to health economics," Working Papers 514, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    10. Teresa Bago d'Uva & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Maarten Lindeboom & Owen O'Donnell, 2008. "Does reporting heterogeneity bias the measurement of health disparities?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 351-375, March.
    11. Waitkus, Nora & Minkus, Lara, 2021. "Investigating the gender wealth gap across occupational classes," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108206, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Lorna Treanor & Susan Marlow & Janine Swail, 2021. "Rationalizing the postfeminist paradox: The case of UK women veterinary professionals," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 337-360, January.
    13. Buor, Daniel & Peter Ansah Boakye & Seth Agyemang, 2025. "Access and Use of Healthcare by Ethnic Minorities in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(5), pages 5774-5792, May.
    14. Nkasi Stoll & Anna-Theresa Jieman & Yannick Yalipende & Nicola C. Byrom & Heidi Lempp & Stephani L. Hatch, 2023. "A Qualitative Evaluation of the Motivations, Experiences, and Impact of a Mental Wellbeing Peer Support Group for Black University Students in England and Wales: The Case of Black Students Talk," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    15. Bertoni, Marco, 2015. "Hungry today, unhappy tomorrow? Childhood hunger and subjective wellbeing later in life," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 40-53.
    16. Sierminska, Eva & Piazzalunga, Daniela & Grabka, Markus M., 2018. "Transitioning towards more equality? Wealth gender differences and the changing role of explanatory factors over time," GLO Discussion Paper Series 252, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    17. Fiorentini, Gianluca & Ragazzi, Giovanni & Robone, Silvana, 2015. "Are bad health and pain making us grumpy? An empirical evaluation of reporting heterogeneity in rating health system responsiveness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 48-58.
    18. Corrado, L. & Weeks, M., 2010. "Identification Strategies in Survey Response Using Vignettes," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1031, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    19. Kathleen Riach & Gavin Jack, 2021. "Women’s Health in/and Work: Menopause as an Intersectional Experience," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-17, October.
    20. Surendran Padmaja, Subash & KHED, VIJAYALAXMI Dundappa & Krishna, Vijesh V., 2021. "What Would Others Say? Exploring the Gendered and Caste-based Social Norms in Central India through Vignettes," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 314028, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:2:p:520-535. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.