Lift Every Voice and Sing: Faculty of Color Face the Challenges of the Tenure Track

Abstract

This article highlights some of the obstacles facing tenure-track faculty of color in academia. Through the perspective of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and by using a counterstories method, four faculty of color share their experiences as they explore diversity issues through engaging in a 1-year self-study. Findings of this qualitative study provide important insights from the perspectives of faculty of color to address ways in which to identify supports that lever barriers during the tenure process.

Racism and Racial Equity in Higher Education

“…This reality is partly due to the fact that many campuses still employ relatively few faculty of color. Being one of few people of color on a college campus or within an academic department leaves faculty of color vulnerable to racism within their institutions (Garrison‐Wade, Diggs, Estrada, & Galindo, ). And, racialized structures and practices can, in turn, reinforce “a cycle of exclusion” for many faculty of color (Delgado Bernal & Villalpando, , p. 247).…”

Straddling Cultures, Identities, and Inconsistencies: Voices of Pre-Tenure Faculty of Color in Educational Leadership

“…However, FOC have also been known to contend with various challenges related to their race, culture, and intersections of their social identities including isolation (Stanley, 2006), tokenism (Aguirre, 2000), cultural taxation (Padilla, 1994), racism, sexism, classism (Diggs, Garrison-Wade, Estrada, & Galindo, 2009;Garrison-Wade, Diggs, Estrada, & Galindo, 2012), hostility and/or resistance from students (Johnsrud & Sadao, 1998), undervaluing of their research interests by colleagues (Delgado Bernal & Villalpando, 2002), and questioning of their legitimacy and competency (Gutiérrez y Muhs, Niemann, González, & Harris, 2012). Also, broadly there is a lack of student and/or faculty diversity (Maynard & Watts, 2006), and a perceived lack of effort in recruiting and retaining FOC (Stanley, 2006).…”

Exclusion in Academia: Latina Faculty Struggle Towards Tenur

“…A number of factors contribute to the significantly lower representation of Latina faculty in higher education. Barriers presented by the underrepresentation of Latina faculty include the lack of opportunities for the American people to work with different individuals with values and cultures different from their own (Garrison-Wade et al, 2012), an ability critically needed as various forms of diversity become more prevalent in the future. The underrepresentation of the Latina faculty can negatively affect Latino students, specifically, Latina students as they are less likely to encounter professors of their gender and ethnicity (Saldaña et al, 2013).…”

“…The specific problem is that the underrepresentation of Latina faculty in the southeast area of the United States can negatively affect growing Latino communities by the lack of Latina scholars who serve as role models, mentors, and supporters of Latino needs in the greater society (Garrison-Wade et al, 2012;Machado-Casa et al, 2013). From 1998 until 2008, Latinos represented the highest growth in fall enrollment in higher education among all ethnic groups, with a 74% increase, yet still represent the lowest amount of students enrolled compared to Whites, Asians American, and African Americans (Kim, 2011, p.8).…”

“…In alignment with the first tenet of systemic oppression, Garrison-Wade et al (2012) emphasized the notion that white elites only allow the advancement of minorities to serve the needs of whites. This perspective on oppression attempts to consider why and how issues of racial inequality in employment, housing and education present in the 1960s and 1970s continue to present challenges to minorities more than 40 years later.…”