Non-Lawyer - Uduak Archibong

Our Non-Lawyer of the Month is Professor Uduak Archibong. Uduak is a qualified general nurse, midwife and public health nurse, a nursing career that began in Nigeria in 1979. Whilst studying she was named the best nurse and then the best midwife from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital. She obtained a first class honours degree in Public Health Nursing from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Uduak received The Outstanding Young Person’s (TOYP) award in recognition of her public health work in Nigeria.

In 1992 Uduak came to the UK to do her PhD in Nursing. On completion of her PhD she started working as a lecturer at the University of Bradford’s School of Health Studies. Since then Uduak has undertaken many roles, including Senior Lecturer and Research Coordinator. She was later made the Acting Head of Nursing Department, then the Professor of diversity as well as the Diversity and Race Equality Champion.

During her time at the University of Bradford, Uduak has established an outstanding record of contribution and increasing focus in championing Diversity within all aspects of her work; promoting and developing methods to enhance levels of cross-cultural competence among health and social services practitioners and managers, staff and students in academic settings.

She has undertaken a multi-dimensional leadership role in the development of equality within the University and has acted as a consultant to the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU). Uduak continues to actively promote partnership with local NHS Trusts and related organisations on promoting diversity and she has been instrumental in promoting and forging links on behalf of the University with Local, National, and International communities in particular developing countries. Overall, Uduak has extensive experience, which combines the practice, leadership, senior management, and research elements within the Healthcare and Higher Education arenas.

Uduak is on the board of directors of many community and voluntary groups including Action for Black Community Development (ABCD) and Sharing Voices (Bradford). She became the first female officer and the first woman president of the Nigerian Community Association of Bradford (formerly Nigeria Friendship Society West Yorkshire).

Uduak is also a patron of numerous community groups. Her significant contributions to promoting community cohesion and enhancing community engagement have culminated in the recognition and being listed in the Black Who’s Who in the Millennium (2000).  She was nominated for Bradford Council’s ‘Community Harmony Award’ in 2003.

She works as an editorial adviser for numerous journals including British Medical Journal West Africa, West African Journal of Nursing, Clinical Effectiveness in Nursing and Diversity in Health and Social Care.

In her work she travels, especially to West Africa, undertaking extensive work with international organisations such as providing research capability and Transcultural Leadership Development programmes. As a result of this work she was made a Fellow of the West African College of Nursing.  She has also represented the University of Bradford on the Bradford-Mirpur health link in Pakistan and also in South Africa where she was appointed an Honorary Professor at the University of Kwa Zulu Natal.

Uduak and her colleagues have raised over 1.3 million pounds in diversity-related research and development funding from a variety of bodies such as Department of Health, European Union ESF, Commission for Racial Equality, NHS Employers, AMICUS, NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. 

Below is our interview with Uduak:

BLD: What are your career high point(s)? 

UA: Becoming a professor – Professor of Diversity and consolidating the activities of my personal chair into a research centre, which is the Centre for Inclusion and Diversity. In addition my role of diversity and race equality champion offers me the opportunity to maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders in order to ensure that those on the ‘outside’ have their voices heard. This ‘hearts and minds’ approach has served me well in my ‘ambassadorial’ role where I have lobbied MPs and Councillors, received dignitaries and positively promoted the institutions which I am involved in, in order to advocate for changes and progress the widening participation and diversity agenda.

BLD: Who is the person you most admire and why (dead or alive)?

UA: Rosa Parks – The selflessness that transpired her life in striving for social justice. She sat down so that others may stand upright and enjoy freedom.

BLD: If you were to choose another job/role, other than what you are doing, what would it be and why?

UA: I would not change my job. If I am to make a difference to a lot of individuals, my current role gives me enormous job satisfaction. What else can one ask for?

BLD: What are the greatest issues/challenges on diversity that needs to be tackled now?

UA: People confusing diversity management with political correctness and the general myth that we are liberal people and that our interactions with others could not possibly cause any offence or hurt.

BLD: What practical steps do you think the legal profession and users of legal services can take to ensure that organisations pay more than lip service to diversity?

UA: It entails a paradigm shift in which basic assumptions are examined and changed by starting with the recognition that institutional discrimination is a reality and the legal profession needs to look at non-legislative approaches to managing diversity.  It requires setting clear principles, processes and practices which seek to promote cultural competence as core business.

BLD: What are the most famous/interesting/challenging issues you have had to tackle to date?

UA: Getting the University’s senior management to adopt the Cultural Understanding in Leadership and Management (CULM) programme. A diversity learning partnership scheme, which aims to harness the University’s investment in race-related management development activities by pairing senior white managers with middle level Black and Minority Ethnic staff. It differs from traditional mentoring as the differences in background and perception provide much of the basis for learning exchange.

BLD: What are you most passionate/happiest about?

UA: When principles of equity, fairness and social justice prevail.

BLD: What makes you angry/unhappy?

UA: Institutions adopting ‘minimalist’ compliance approach to promoting equality.

BLD: If you could rule the world for a day what would you change/do?

UA: I would make the world a place where diversity is viewed as a positive phenomenon and not a problem.