Strategies for Support: Black Women Faculty Career Advancement at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Although there is an abundance of scholarship about the challenges presented to Black women faculty at Predominantly White Institutions, the career advancement of Black women faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities has gone largely unnoticed. Considering Historically Black Colleges and Universities are where Black women faculty achieve tenure in the highest percentages, this study took a non-deficit perspective and investigated what supports are used by Black women faculty both internal to the institution and externally. The sites of this study were 43 HBCUs with 25% or more of tenured faculty comprised of Black women. Faculty rank and discipline were considered when comparing the survey data. Some supports include networks, family, religion, collaboration, and other strategies. This study provides a preliminary step in studying what supports Black women find most useful in navigating their faculty careers.

Experiences With Imposter Syndrome and Authenticity at Research-Intensive Schools of Social Work

TThere is little known about the experiences of Black women in schools of social work, specifically those situated within research-intensive (R-1) Carnegie-designated institutions. Experiences of imposter syndrome and authenticity often result in negative experiences and poor professional outcomes for Black women in academia. This study explores Black women social work faculty members’ sense of self through the prisms of imposter syndrome and authenticity. Social work is of particular interest in that it espouses a code of ethics and core values of service that if applied to the cultures within these schools, Black women may have more equitable experiences. This article presents qualitative findings from nine in-depth interviews with Black women faculty members at R-1 universities. Findings revealed that Black women faculty member’s experiences of imposter syndrome impacted many facets of their professional experiences from moments of paralysis to potentially unhealthy over-productivity. Findings also highlight Black women faculty members’ concerns around their colleagues’ professional and personal perceptions of them and this often prevented these women from presenting their authentic selves in academic settings. Despite these barriers, some women chose to remain authentic regardless of possible backlash in refusing to assimilate into the dominant White culture. Black women scholars cannot survive and thrive in social work education unless institutions build trust with these women by respecting their diverse backgrounds, race-related research interests, and range of methodology.

Facing the Storm: Our First Annual Faculty of Color Writing Retreat as a Microcosm for Being a Black Woman in the Academy

In this article, four Black woman scholars explore their experiences in academia through the shared event of a writing retreat. This piece follows the rich storytelling history of Black women scholars who have carved out spaces where they can tell their truths. This work pairs narrative inquiry and autoethnography to address the question: How do Black women faculty create and navigate spaces to promote their success within academia?

“Where is Our Space Within this Ivory Tower?” The Teaching Experiences of Black Women Faculty in Education Programs

Black women faculty represent a small percentage of full-time faculty in higher education and are often invisible, marginalized, and expected to perform duties beyond teaching, research, and service. Yet, their success in higher education positions them as possibility models for change on their campuses. The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of three Black women faculty who teach in graduate education programs. Specifically, we examined how teaching using culturally relevant practices may cause Black women faculty to negotiate their identity within higher education organizational structures. Using a theoretical framework informed by Black feminism and the Culturally Relevant Leadership Learning Model, three salient themes were identified: roles and responsibilities, resistance, and limitations within the academy. Implications for practice include the creation of identity specific support for Black women faculty and attention be given to faculty and student readiness prior to engaging in culturally relevant practices beyond critical self-reflection.

Give Yourself Permission to Rest

Black women in higher education have always been under pressure to prove that they belong in their positions, and often have taken on more work to prove this. The events of 2020—the COVID-19 global pandemic and the racial and social unrest that swept through the country increased this pressure on Black women in higher education. Historically, Black women have taken on the roles of mother, professional, and caretaker of all who were around them. The events of 2020 added to those roles for Black women faculty, working from home, homeschooling online, checking on the welfare of students, and addressing the emotional needs of their families who have been stuck indoors for months. Self-care is more important now more than before for Black women faculty. To employ these self-care strategies, Black women faculty must first give themselves permission to need them.

Catch Me When I Fall! Resiliency, Freedom and Black Sisterhood in the Academy

Many Black women academics feel caged in their ‘subject position[s]’ within the academy. They are challenged by lack of opportunities and mentorship, isolation, explicit racism, micro-aggressions and stereotyping. Despite the ways in which their bodies are marked by racist sexism, Black women faculty take on an inordinate amount of unrecognized, differentiated labour and service work in the academy. They tend to assist other racialized colleagues, graduate and undergraduate students to achieve academic success. There is a common thread of resiliency among these women who successfully navigate their paths in the academy through applications of the concept of Radical Black Academic Sisterhood. This is an interpretive praxis that utilizes both an oppositional stance and creates brave spaces to deal with experiences of being caged.