Writing for Equity Inside and Out

Abstract

Graduate students and research scholars are required to demonstrate active scholarly engagement in conversations relevant to their fields. Publishing is the primary barometer of success at research-intensive universities; however, not all publications are counted equal. The gate-keeping functions of a discipline’s top tier journals naturalize rational, jargon-laden, and definitive ideas of what scholarship should be. Living theory and praxis compel an academic scholar to reach into the community. How may emerging scholars make a difference in an underserved community through research? How does one maintain an active, community-engaged qualitative research trajectory and publish, publish, publish? Universities relegate service as the least important criterion for advancement despite the importance of furthering social justice projects, which benefit institutions of higher learning and local communities. Graduate students and scholars of color, however, are questioning the institutional practices and views of merit surrounding community-based research praxis that challenges and redefines institutional structures.