Finding rainbows in the clouds: Learning about the full professorship from the stories of black female full professors

Abstract

family-My cohort members and faculty from SAAHE have been phenomenal sources of support in this process. Thank you for continuing to be in my life and showing me that Aggies are a family! I would especially like to thank Dr. Kelli Peck-Parrott for her support over the years. Be it meals at annual conferences or letters of recommendations, she has proven that she is invested in the professional that she helped to mold. For that, I thank you (and Gig 'Em)! To my Texas A&M University-Kingsville family-I would like to especially acknowledge Mary Gonzalez, current Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs, and the staff of the Ronald E. McNair program at TAMUK. This program and the staff helped me to realize that I could earn a doctoral degree if I so chose. Thank you for keeping up with and checking in on me yearly to monitor my progress! Thank you to Dr. Tom Jackson, then Vice President for Student Affairs at TAMUK, for supporting me and serving as both my McNair and M/NUFP (NASPA (Minority) Undergraduate Fellows Program) mentor. Your guidance helped to incite my excitement for research and practice as an undergraduate. Go Hogs! So many have played important roles in supporting me through this process. My appreciation knows no bounds. Know that this process was challenging and at times isolating, but I was never alone. And for that, I thank you.

Black Women Acting Against the Extremes of Visibility in the Academy

“…This underrepresentation raises questions about the recruitment and retention of Black women in academia, such as what contributes to it and how their sense of identity is shaped and evaluated in academia (Howard-Baptiste & Harris, 2014;Pittman, 2012;Porter et al, 2020;Shorter-Gooden, 2004). Some researchers have explored the coping strategies Black women faculty use at various career stages where they have experienced absences (e.g., absence of mentoring, absence of a critical mass of faculty of color), high demands (e.g., excessive service, diversity-related teaching and/or service), and weak socialization/networking (Croom & Patton, 2012;Gregory, 2001;Harley, 2008;Kelly & McCann, 2013;Mabokela & Green, 2001;Perlow et al, 2018;Porter et al, 2020).…”

Exploring Black girl magic: Identity development of Black first-gen college women.

“…Both Black women and Black men at PWIs experience stress as a result of insensitive and racist attitudes of White faculty, administrators, and classmates (Hotchkins & Dancy, 2017;Jones & Reddick, 2017;Mwangi, Thelamour, Ezeofor, & Carpenter, 2018;Neville, Heppner, Ji, & Thye, 2004); racial stereotypes, bias, and discrimination (Cox, Dorley, & Wodaje, 2018;Hotchkins, 2017b;Patton, Haynes, & Croom, 2017;Payne & Suddler, 2014); a lack of representation of Black faculty and administrators (Bertrand Jones & Dufor, 2012;Boss, Davis, Porter, & Moore, 2019;Croom & Patton, 2011;Griffin, 2019;Griffin, Bennett, & Harris, 2013;West, 2015West, , 2019; and a limited tolerance of Black culture on campus (Dancy, Edwards, & Davis, 2018;Hoffman, Rodriguez, Yang, & Ropers-Huilman, 2019;Hubain, Allen, Harris, & Linder, 2016;Stewart, 2019). Like Black women, White women and non-Black women of color experience gender oppression and harassment on campus (Cundiff & Vescio, 2016;Reason & Rankin, 2006), particularly in male dominated academic departments and majors (Banchefsky & Park, 2018;Cheryan, Ziegler, Montoya, & Jiang, 2017;Heffron et al, 2020).…”