Topic: 'Take a knee: Sport, racism and beyond symbolic gestures’
(pre-recorded session)

For the past 12 years, Professor Marcia Wilson has worked at the University of East London (UEL) as the Dean of the Office for Institutional Equity (OIE). She recently joined The Open University as Dean of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in December 2020. The OIE, established by Marcia to address inequalities within UEL and across the education sector, is the first of its kind in the UK. Her work includes equality projects with Universities UK and London Higher to tackle racism in higher education institutes. Less than 0.5% of the senior managers in universities are Black women. This makes Marcia one the few Black women leaders in higher education in the UK. She uses her platform to raise awareness about inequalities and generate institutional change.

Marcia has held various roles throughout her career. Prior to becoming Dean of the OIE, she was Head of the School of Health, Sport and Bioscience and also previously Head of the Sport Science department at UEL. She spent 10 years studying and working in the USA, where she gained a Master’s from the University of Houston and a PhD in sport psychology from the University of Iowa. During her career, Marcia has spent 29 years teaching and conducting research in higher education. Throughout that time, she also worked for eight years in sport psychology at the Football Association with the women’s national team (U15s, U17s and seniors) and has also worked in Rugby Union with elite women’s teams and coaches.