Dissertation Title: Leading at the Margins: Lived Experiences of a British-Born Chinese Woman in Educational Leadership
Research Methodology: Qualitative Research Methodology
Research Design: Single-case Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
Abstract
Background: British-born Chinese women remain underrepresented in research on intersectionality, leadership, and marginalisation in the United Kingdom, despite increasing ethnic diversity. Existing scholarship rarely focuses on how race and gender intersect in the everyday lives of British-born Chinese women, particularly in educational leadership roles. This gap limits understanding of how structural discrimination and social expectations shape their identities and career trajectories.
Aim: The primary purpose of this research was to explore the lived experiences of intersecting marginalised identities from the perspective of a British-born Chinese woman in an educational leadership context. The study sought to understand how she makes sense of her identity, the support and challenges she encounters, and how race and gender intersect in shaping her leadership experiences.
Methods: A qualitative research design was adopted. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a British-born Chinese woman working in educational leadership. The transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which allowed for a detailed, idiographic exploration of her personal meaning-making, with attention to both individual experience and the wider sociocultural context.
Results: Two superordinate themes were generated from the analysis. The first theme, “identity support and mentorship confidence,” captured how access to mentoring, role models, and affirming professional relationships influenced the participant’s confidence, sense of belonging, and ability to navigate predominantly White institutional spaces. The second theme, “intersectionality of race and gender in leadership,” highlighted how being both Chinese and a woman shaped her experiences of visibility and invisibility, stereotyping, and expectations in leadership roles. Together, these themes demonstrated the complex ways in which intersecting marginalised identities affected her professional experiences, opportunities, and self-perception in educational leadership.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that British-born Chinese women in educational leadership may encounter distinctive forms of marginalisation that cannot be understood by looking at race or gender in isolation. Instead, their experiences are shaped by the intersection of both, mediated by organisational cultures and the availability of identity-affirming support. The study underscores the need for more inclusive mentoring structures, culturally responsive leadership development, and organisational policies that explicitly recognise and address intersectional discrimination. Future research should extend this work to larger and more diverse samples of British-born Chinese women to better inform policy and practice.
Keywords: social experience, discrimination, marginalisation, British-born Chinese women, educational leadership, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), intersectionality