Strength in Numbers? Same-Race Faculty Composition and the Workplace Experiences of Teachers of Color

• In Event: Othering and Belonging for Teachers From Diverse Communities and Contexts

Abstract

Research suggests that increased same-race coworker representation decreases turnover and positively affects the professional experiences of workers of color. Using data from the 2015-16 National Teacher and Principal Survey, I examine how self-reported perceptions of work experiences vary for teachers of color at different proportions of same-race colleagues in schools. I find evidence of a non-linear positive relationship between school-level proportional representation and perceived levels of school influence and staff collegiality for Black teachers. I also find a non-linear, initially negative association between same-group representation and perceived classroom control for Latinx teachers which becomes positive after reaching a critical mass. My findings suggest that teachers of color are differentially responsive to school-level staff demographic composition.

Author

• Shirley Hui Xu, Vanderbilt University