What Are We Willing to Sacrifice? Mental Health Among First-Generation Faculty of Color

• In Event: First-Generation Faculty of Color: Reflections on Research, Teaching, and Service

Abstract

This paper focuses on the possible mental health risks experienced by first-generation faculty of color. Although grit and resilience may help explain how some faculty of color succeed in academic contexts despite multiple barriers (Duckworth et al., 2007), an emphasis on resilience as a route for success places the responsibility on the individuals rather than on understanding structural barriers. Psychology, as a field, has neglected consideration of the possible health consequences of persisting and succeeding in spaces that push faculty of color out.

In this paper I reflect on the expectations, barriers, and responsibilities carried by first-generation faculty throughout their academic trajectory. This reflective piece leans on sociocultural theory and critical psychology to consider how the barriers and additional responsibilities shouldered by first-generation faculty of color relate to psychological well-being. I review research on the additional stressors shouldered by faculty of color and possible consequences to mental health. I then reflect on how this research connects to my own experience as a White-skinned Latino pursuing a Ph.D. and then in a tenure track faculty position.

Experiences with additional stressors exist throughout the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty pipeline for first-generation faculty of color. As a non-tenured professor, I worried that sharing my experience with generalized anxiety could influence views of my competence. In attempts to discuss mental health with other faculty, I have received some nods in agreement, made people uncomfortable, and received concerned looks. The fear of judgment makes this a complex topic for faculty of color to discuss. While stigma against seeking mental health services is common in Black and Latinx communities (Fripp & Carlson, 2017; Turner et al., 2015), perhaps faculty of color hesitate to discuss mental health issues due to their precarious position in mostly White institutions.

To understand how the stress encountered by faculty of color influences mental health, I suggest several potential areas of study, including the mental health impact of pursuing a Ph.D., not receiving a tenure track position and well-being, and the mental health consequences associated with being disproportionately recruited for service as a faculty member. Educational and psychological research and intervention programs are currently minimally (if at all) considered mental health in recruiting and retaining faculty of color. This literature review broaches the importance of considering mental health among first-generation faculty of color.

Author

• Omar Ruvalcaba, California State University - Northridge