From Associate to Full: The Role of Micro- and Macroaggressions in the Process of Promotion for Black Women

• In Event: From Baccalaureate to Professoriate: Voices of Black Women From Within the Academy

Abstract

Feagin, Vera, and Batur (2001) wrote, “white racism and Black struggle against it have shaped the character not only of founding documents of the United States…but also of a huge body of law and much social practice over the intervening centuries” (p. 6). As a social practice and social space, higher education and the professoriate are no exceptions. Although more people of color, and Black women more specifically, are accessing higher education in ways that were not readily available to them sixty years ago, racism and sexism still exists (Harper & Patton, 2007) and worse yet continues to be perpetuated through behaviors such as micro- and macroagrressions (Smith, Allen, & Danley, 2007; Solórzano, Ceja, & Yosso, 2000; Sue, Capodilupo, Torino, Bucceri, Holder, Nadal, & Esquilin, 2007). This study examined the experiences of Black female faculty at the rank of Professor and their journeys to, through, and beyond promotion to full professor. Findings include blatant discrepancies and inconsistencies between the enactments of policies, procedures, and practices, as well as notable differences in socialization to and/or toward the professoriate and specifically the full professorship. Throughout and across these experiences it was found that racialized and gendered micro- and macroagressions were commonplace and serve as vehicles to complicate the pre-, during, and post-promotion experiences of Black women.

Author

• Natasha N. Croom, Iowa State University