Postracialism, the “Obama Effect” and the Future of Black Faculty at Predominately White Institutions

• In Event: Social Media, Popular Culture, and Higher Education

Abstract

Despite advancing race relations, including the election of Barack Obama, ethnic and racial disparities persist in many higher education institutions. Underrepresentation of Black faculty in academia remains one of the most pressing issues in higher education despite large-scale diversity efforts launched universities over the past two decades. African American scholars make up 7 percent of the professoriate nationwide (National Center for Education Statistics, 2008), and there are still significant challenges related to the recruitment, retention, and promotion of black faculty at predominately white institutions of higher education. Using elements of critical race theory (CRT) as a contextual framework, this article aims to extend the conversation of post-racialism in the “Obama” era into higher education, explicitly focusing on the black professoriate.

Authors

• JeffriAnne Wilder, University of North Florida

• E. Newton Jackson, University of North Florida