Amplifying the mental health of Black university students: A Black, Mad and Disability Studies Intersectional Inquiry

Black university students in England are navigating mental health support systems that were not designed for them, and this project aims to change that by centering their own experiences and insights. The problem is stark: while poor mental health among university students is a global crisis, Black students face additional harm from institutional racism, ableism, and sanism—discrimination that existing policies and theories largely ignore. This project fills a gap by treating these intersecting forms of prejudice as a single, compound problem rather than separate issues. The researchers draw on Black Studies, Mad Studies (which challenges psychiatric authority), and Disability Studies to build a framework that actually reflects Black students’ lives. If successful, this work could reshape how universities support Black students. The team will identify concrete examples of enabling practice already happening on campuses—things that work but are not yet shared—and develop methods for universities and third-sector organisations to adopt them. The project also aims to shift public debate, making visible the mental health aspirations of Black students rather than just their struggles. For the university sector, this means moving beyond generic wellbeing services toward genuinely intersectional support. There is no immediate practical application here; the impact is structural and cultural, changing how institutions think about and act on mental health.