Understanding the lived and pedagogic experiences of student mental health nurses who identify as female and black African: implications for engaged pedagogy

Using qualitative methodology this thesis set out to explore the lived and pedagogic experiences of student mental health nurses who identify as female and Black African whilst on clinical placement in the United Kingdom. It investigates how these experiences are affected by gender, race and professional status and examines how wider structural and regulatory context shape these experiences.Three focus groups were carried out with 21 pre-registration students who self-identified as female and Black African on placement within two National Health Service (NHS) Mental Health Trusts. Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, using intersectionality and engaged pedagogy as frameworks, was applied to ensure deep engagement with the students’ narratives and to provide critical reflection on the researcher’s positionality as a white British female academic.The research findings show that students drew on emotional labour and emotional intelligence to navigate often difficult relations with practice assessors and supervisors. Significantly far from encountering Pan-Africanism, student accounts suggested that a shared African heritage does not always provide for supportive supervisory relationships. Student narratives revealed the diversity and tensions within diasporic encounters in practice placements.The thesis also examined the role of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s standards for education and the electronic assessment documents as cultural artefacts, rather than neutral tools. Instead, shaping student experiences in ambivalent ways enabling student agency in the assessment process whilst reinforcing structural inequalities.The thesis contributes new knowledge by showing how Female Black African student mental health nurses negotiate the emotional, cultural and regulatory dimensions of practice placements. It challenges essentialist homogenous notions of automatic diasporic solidarity. The study also highlights the emotional labour inherent in supervisory relationships and demonstrates the need for genuine engagement with inclusive pedagogy by practice placement staff. By engaging with Black Feminist epistemologies, the study advocates for reflexive and equity-orientated pedagogies as being critical for mental health nurse education.