Women To Watch Awards 2026 honors Louise OwusuKwarteng

Louise OwusuKwarteng is a Professor of Applied Sociology at the University of Greenwich, but her story begins in the English Midlands — Nottingham, the city of Robin Hood, where she was born in the mid1970s to Ghanaian migrant parents. She completed all her early education there before heading to London in 1994 to study Sociology, a move that would shape the rest of her life.

Louise’s work has always been rooted in social justice and equity in education. Her own experiences of intersectional discrimination, combined with witnessing high schoolexclusion rates in her hometown, pushed her toward advocacy. In the voluntary sector, she led projects supporting youngpeople excluded from school, helping them complete their education or move into Modern Apprenticeships in fields ranging from architecture to policing.

In 1999, she moved to Oxford for a master’s degree in social policy, finishing in 2000. She stayed on to work in local government as a community development officer, supporting marginalised groups. One of her proudest achievements was creating workshadowing opportunities between local politicians and refugees from around the world. In 2002, she was seconded to the Home Office to contribute to community cohesion policy following riots in northern England. Although valuable, the experience confirmed something she already knew — her heart belonged in Sociology, and she longed to pursue a doctorate. First, though, she took a muchneeded “brain break,” spending two years in Madrid teaching English and attempting (with very little success) to improve her Spanish.

Returning to the UK in 2005, Louise joined the University of Greenwich as a brighteyed visiting lecturer and year tutor in Sociology while beginning her PhD at Goldsmiths. Her role became semipermanent in 2008, and she submitted her thesis on a freezing, miserable day in November 2010, defending it successfully in January 2011. Two years later, she became Programme Leader for Sociology — a role she held for 8.5 years.

During this time, she contributed to a major UKwide project addressing differential academic outcomes and educational inequalities affecting Black and Minority Ethnic students. She later coled faculty and university initiatives that grew from this national work. Her leadership helped reduce ethnicity awarding differences, improve student satisfaction, and strengthen national leaguetable performance. Students recognised her dedication through multiple studentled awards, and colleagues honoured her with faculty and ViceChancellor commendations. In 2018, she also received an International Conference of Nigerian Students award.

Louise’s research interests include sociological auto/biography, the focus of her Professorial inaugural lecture in December 2022. She has written several auto/biographical pieces exploring different facets of her life — from navigating academia as a Black woman to her unforgettable experiences in Black hair salons. Her recent work includes Raves and Close Shaves (2024) and a 2025 Conversation article reflecting on being a Black woman in 1990s British rave culture. She is currently completing a short animated documentary, cocreated with students, charting her journey to becoming a professor. A companion paper, Our Kid from the North of the South of the M1 River, is forthcoming. She hopes this project will inspire students from marginalised backgrounds to see academia as a space where they belong — and where they can lead. With only around 270 Black professors in the UK (roughly 1% of all academics), she is committed to mentoring and supporting others to grow that number.

In 2017, a close friend and mentor — another one the few Black British female professors —entrusted Louise with enhancing the student research environment in preparation for the UK’s Research Excellence Framework. Louise developed co-creative research opportunities for students, many using auto/biographical methods. Students showcased their work through coproduced publications and presentations at national and international conferences, including the British Conference of Undergraduate Research and World Class Day, a collaboration between universities in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Delhi, and Greenwich. She also helped expand an auto/biographical partnership with The Protestant University of Berlin, resulting in lectures, a student conference, and a joint publication.

Auto/biography has since become recognised within the institution as a powerful tool for inclusive pedagogy and is now embedded across subjects including Law, Education, and Sociology. Louise is frequently invited to share this work across the UK and internationally.

In 2018, the Faculty of Law, Arts and Sciences created an Office of Undergraduate Research,

appointing Louise as its inaugural director. She oversaw 25 staff student collaborative projects and shared best practice at Council of Undergraduate Research conferences in Ohio (2019) and online during the pandemic. She is now helping develop a university-wide student research hub as part of broader institutional culture-building.

Louise became Professor of Applied Sociology and Associate Dean for Student Success in 2022. She leads the implementation of the university’s 2030 Student Success Strategy, focusing on reducing awarding differences, improving retention, enhancing student satisfaction, and strengthening graduate outcomes. Working closely with colleagues — and guided by student voices — she strives to create an environment that feels like “home,” where students can thrive.

Beyond academia, Louise is a trustee of Stopwatch, an organisation advocating for fairer policing for minoritised groups. She has contributed to research led by young women who experienced police strip searches, with findings presented at the House of Commons. She is also deeply involved in raising awareness of the rare illness Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP), which she had in 2006. She advocated for increased treatment centres during a House of Commons debate in 2020 and became the face of a national TTP campaign in 2021. In March 2026, Louise was invited to become a member of the Powered By Africa Campaign Board - a landmark initiative that will celebrate how Africa has and continues to shape the world through its people, resources, technology, and creativity.

Louise has also had a number of media appearances, which include BBC Radio (as a newspaper reviewer from 2018–2020), Yanga TV, The Voice, South London Press, and more. She has also written for Times Higher Education and The Conversation.

Outside work, Louise is a self-described “just about” bass guitar player who cannot read music to save her life. She has also attempted DJing. However, her efforts have been described by her cousin as sounding like “bare pots and pans,”. That said, her punmaking skills — in her opinion — are exceptional. Her music taste is eclectic: late60s African Highlife, 90s Rave and Happy Hardcore, 90s Hip Hop, 2010s Bass House, and everything in between. She has also built an impressive collection of trainers, rings, and hoodies. And perhaps most importantly, she has been a loyal Nottingham Forest supporter for 47 years — a commitment that has not always been kind to her blood pressure.