Assessing collaboration among team scientists within a triadic research center partnership

Few studies have utilized qualitative methods to assess the perceived effectiveness of collaboration among research center interdisciplinary team scientists. Stages of team development served as the theoretical framework to characterize minority serving institution (MSI) and predominantly White institutions (PWI) participants’ challenges and successes during a National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored cancer health disparities training and research program. We present the finding of an inductive analysis of four open-ended survey questions across two years. Fostering an awareness of the inherently taxing, yet centrality of group (team) development may advance an understanding of team dynamics and lead to increased team cohesion and productivity. In conclusion, we provide recommendations to assist multiple principal investigators who embark on team development.

It Doesn't Have to Protest: A Review of Black or Right: Anti/Racist Campus Rhetorics

[To predominantly white institutions:] Whose responsibility is it to make our Black community feel like their lives matter here, and what are we purposefully and creatively doing about it [every day] to live up to it? Reflecting critically on my own intimate experiences as a Black doctoral student, college lecturer, and former student affairs professional in predominantly white spaces, I share an insightful review of Louis M. Maraj’s (2020) riveting new book, Black or Right: Anti/Racist Campus Rhetorics. Based on the title, I initially expected Black or Right to be some sort of a guidebook to help campuses learn how to refrain from using racist language in their marketing, programming, classrooms, and ways of interacting with campus constituents and community partners. I speculated that it would teach these same folx how to make Black faculty, staff, and students feel welcomed and equal instead of anxious and hyperaware. I thought about the white colleagues [and students] I could pass this text on to, with the accompanying note, “You might like this!,” which really means, “You need this.” Sigh. While Black or Right is not a guidebook on how to eliminate racist language on college campuses or an explicit outline for how to embrace the Black members on them, it is a beautiful piece of choreographed words that illustrates, examines, and disrupts how decolonized ways of writing, storytelling, and ways of being, teaching, and communicating on college campuses confronts, strategizes, calls out/in, and proclaims notions of Blackness in anti-Black spaces. I argue that this type of work is far more important than a Black person writing another book to teach white people how to talk to and treat us. Black or Right pays homage to and educates readers on the Black academy’s social justice pioneers, whose trailblazing paths and research encourage us to keep running in this race and reminds us we are dynamic. Courageously accepting the baton to complete the next leg, Maraj empowers and pushes us to run alongside him through his creative ability to discuss these topics through literary events, discussions, and assignments he has created in his own safe space, in his classroom. Brother Maraj, thank you for bringing your whole self, multiple identities, and diverse lived experiences to this text. In the spirit of your mother who allowed you to leave the islands to come to the US for greater opportunities - this book is a manifestation of her knowing your worth. Thank you for writing this fascinating piece that reminds us to never forget our worth, to demand our respect, and for educating and engaging all people in this necessary dialogue. Black is right. Black is right. Black is right. But Black folx are always protesting. Dear Brothers and Sisters, never forget: We always mattered.

Black Male Executives in Higher Education: The Experience of Ascending the Academic Leadership Ladder

The Problem The current pipeline supplying qualified and competent leaders to the upper ranks of higher education appears to prelimit the number of Black males who reach executive status. Even though many universities and colleges remain resolute in increasing diversity, social, and structural barriers block access and restrict executive development. This study focuses on the leadership and career advancement of Black male executive leaders in predominantly White institutions (PWI’s) of higher education. The Solution This qualitative, phenomenological examination of the lived experiences of 10 Black male, executive leaders in predominantly White institutions of higher education describes what it is like for them to persist in their leadership roles despite negative experiences that are related to their social identity. The findings reveal how their existence in racialized environments has impacted their leadership approach and the trajectory of their careers. The Stakeholders The stakeholders are Black academics seeking or holding executive leadership roles in higher education; HRD scholars and practitioners.

And Still I Rise: Protective Factors for Black Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students from Predominantly White Institutions

In this study, we sought to understand which protective factors Black doctoral students from predominantly White institutions (PWI) utilized to persist in their counseling psychology doctoral programs. Past research has examined the potential obstacles these students encounter and the importance of the mentor relationship in the doctoral process. In this study, we sought to explore the factors that motivate Black doctoral students to complete their respective programs, as well as important features in their relationship with their advisor. There were four males and three females with ages ranging from 22 – 41 (M = 27.57 and SD = 6.63) from various counseling psychology programs throughout the country. Within the constructivist-interpretivist research paradigm, interviews were conducted via Skype and analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The study’s findings illuminate important factors that are significant in creating diverse and inclusive educational environments that will allow for more marginalized groups to contribute to the field of psychology at the doctoral level.

Women of Color Faculty Reimagining Institutional Spaces During the COVID-19 Pandemic

As women of color faculty who have experienced challenges associated with hostile work environments within predominantly white institutions, we consider the ways that working remotely during COVID-19 offers transformative possibilities for reimagining our relationship to the academy. We discuss our embodied responses to institutional spaces that often marginalize faculty of color; how university leadership may be reimagined through a blurring of gendered, racialized lines of “public” and “private” (or institutional and domestic) spaces; and the possibility of healing from the trauma associated with oppressive workplaces and institutional betrayals.

The irony of an ‘international faculty’

Using the autoethnographic case study method, this article examines how my positionality as a foreign-born faculty member intersects with the institutional rhetoric of diversity and inclusion present in many predominantly White institutions. My vignettes show that foreign-born faculty, although contributing to the representation of diversity numbers, are positioned as knowledge providers in the discussions about the ‘global’, the ‘cultural’ and sometimes the ‘racial’, thus, ironically reinforce the embedded White institutional culture. This article argues that foreign-born faculty members could make use of their cultural positions to unpack the classed and racial culture on campus and to cultivate students’ anthropological sensibility. In other words, foreign-born faculty are in a unique position of recognising the limitations of the current diversity and inclusion rhetoric in predominantly White institutions (PWI), but also, they have the potential of decentring the White, middle-class cultural norms. This article concludes with some pedagogical implications.

“When I Show Up”: Black Provosts at Predominantly White Institutions

Representations of Black leaders in the provost position are few, which speaks to historic views on Black intellectualism, barriers to administrative service, and a lack of professional networks and mentors. In this essay, Russell S. Thacker and Sydney Freeman Jr. examine the lived experiences of thirteen current and former Black provosts at predominantly White institutions and outline strategies to help other aspiring leaders of color prepare for senior administrative positions in higher education. They highlight the unique barriers faced in the preparation and service of Black provosts and also reveal positive evidence that institutions are increasingly open to the diverse backgrounds and contributions brought by leaders of color.

Double Punch to the Glass Ceiling: Career Experiences and Challenges of Ethnic Minority Female Athletic Directors

Women continue to struggle to reach senior-level leadership positions in collegiate sports, and ethnic minorities face the challenges due to their ethnicity as well. This research examined the experiences and challenges of ethnic minority women who are collegiate athletic directors at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight participants using intersectionality as a theoretical framework. Three themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) intersectional challenges, (b) questions of competence, and (c) professional support. The women were continually battling the idea of having to prove themselves and negotiating the challenges of being an ethnic minority woman working in collegiate athletics. They credit their professional networks as a valuable resource during their career progression. The women noted that sexism was more prevalent in their experiences than issues related to their ethnicity. The masculine athletic director stereotype persists in collegiate sports, but the findings of this study can contest the notion of a standard leadership identity that has long been perceived as a White man.