Abstract
This developmental paper explores the overlooked burden of emotional labour among Black and Asian international doctoral candidates in the UK. While existing research prioritises academic outcomes, this study investigates how these candidates navigate cultural dissonance and racialised institutional norms using Emotion Regulation Theory. Adopting a qualitative design, the research will employ focus groups and individual semi-structured interviews with doctoral candidates recruited via purposive and snowball sampling. The findings aim to reveal how emotional management impacts candidate well-being and academic persistence within the UK’s neoliberal higher education landscape.