How Racism Against BIPOC Women Faculty Operates in Social Work Academia

Abstract

In this article, we seek to highlight the ways in which we, as two female social work faculty members whose racial/ethnic identities fall into the categories of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), have experienced racism and White supremacy within predominantly White institutions in the United States. We seek to clarify that these experiences are not unique to any particular institution or university, but rather reflect systemic racism and the upholding of White supremacy in higher education in social work throughout the United States. We highlight the differential vulnerability faced by BIPOC women in academia, which are often unaddressed in the pursuit of what is seen to be an egalitarian or colorblind merit review. Bearing in mind our reflexivity on our positionalities, we share personal narratives regarding our own marginalization within White spaces and the emotional labor that we are often asked to carry for the institutions within which we work. We will elucidate experiences of tokenization or assumed intellectual inferiority by our peers. Given the current sociopolitical moment and the heightened awareness of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts within universities, we also reflect on how institutions of higher education, and particularly schools of social work, can move beyond simply hiring more people of color or conducting diversity trainings to ensuring that BIPOC women are more fully included in their roles within universities as faculty, administrators, staff and students.

Intersectional Invisibility in Women’s Diversity Interventions

“…Foreign women in academia strongly describe being hidden from view in academic studies and from the professional work floor (e.g., Strauβ and Boncori, 2020 ; Muradoglu et al, 2021 ). Even when these experiences come to light, they are often unaddressed due to the strong endorsement of meritocracy and colorblindness in academic institutions ( Gvozdanović and Bailey, 2020 ; Azhar and McCutcheon, 2021 ). Therefore, overlooking the overlap between racialization and gender within the social sciences is presumably transferred onto the product of diversity intervention themselves.…”

Staying Engaged and Achieving Promotion: The Role of Collegial Support and Career Reflection and Assessment for Mid-Career Faculty

“…Specifically, studies have pointed to the amplified challenges that women faculty of color or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) women experience including increased emotional labor, disparities in pay, negative and racist comments from students and colleagues, and structural inequities regarding tenure and promotion [19,20]. Women of color often feel pressured to serve on diversity task forces and anti-racism committees [20].…”

Taking Back the Narrative: Gendered Anti-Blackness in Predominantly White Schools of Social Work

“…Historically denying Black women who are lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and Black queer and gender nonconforming persons access to social services, and endorsing harmful hetero- and cisgender-normative labels from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders are additional ways social work as an institution perpetuates gendered anti-Blackness (Shelton et al, 2019). In child welfare specifically, social work has reinforced white supremacy through assimilation policies that justify the systematic and disproportionate removal of Black and American Indian children and other children of color from their families and communities (Azhar & McCutcheon, 2021). Anti-Blackness was similarly reinforced during the establishment of the profession, which strategically denied Black persons access to social work education (Gourdine, Davis, & Howard, 2020).…”