Latinas Confronting Racism, Sexism, and Classism on the Tenure Track

• In Event: The Pathways of Latina/Chicana Doctoras, From Graduate School to the Professoriate

Abstract

Over the last two decades, the representation of Latinx students has increased significantly. The number of enrolled Latinx undergraduate and graduate students have more than doubled between 2000 and 2017 (NCES, 2019; Sáenz, 2020). Latina students account for a majority of this Latinx enrollment uptick (NCES, 2018). Despite Latinas’ increased enrollment and persistence within higher education, they continue to be underrepresented within the faculty ranks of higher education institutions across the country. In the fall of 2015, Latina faculty represented 2.2% of all full-time faculty and 1.8% of tenured and tenure-track faculty (NCES, 2016). This dearth of Latinas in the professoriate often leaves these Latina faculty being the only one or one of the few faculty of color generally, let alone Latina faculty within their program, department, or college. Using a Chicana feminist perspective along with LatCrit and critical race feminism as guiding frameworks this paper explores the experiences of a group of 15 tenured and tenure track Latina faculty within higher education and student affairs graduate programs across the country.

Testimonio was used as the central methodology guiding the research design. Testimonio emerged from the liberation and anti-imperialism movements in Third World nations in the 1970s (Reyes & Curry Rodriguez, 2012). The group of 15 Latina faculty represented higher education and student affairs programs across the country and were representative of all ranks (3 Full; 4 Associate; and 8 Assistant). Each faculty member participated in two platicas (Fierros & Delgado Bernal, 2016) in which they reflected on their educational experiences and journey through the professoriate. The recordings were transcribed and sent to each of the women to review and approve as a form of member checking. Each testimonio was coded twice until three themes emerged. Overall, the themes detailed the faculty’s various dealings with systemic marginalization including: 1) Racism; 2) Sexism; and 3) Classism. The constant presence of white supremacy, capitalism, and heteropatriarchy assured that this group of Latina faculty were constantly confronting systemic oppression through the many -isms encountered because of their intersectional identities as Latinas.

Understanding the systemic barriers that Latina faculty encounter within the academy is of vital importance in order to increase the representation of Latina faculty in the professoriate. While the experiences of Latina faculty may have some similarities with the experiences of Latinx faculty and women of color faculty broadly, the unique identities and the intersection of these identities create distinctive experiences and challenges for this group of Latinas in the professoriate. The testimonios provide university administrators and leadership insights and guidance about how this group of faculty can be best recruited, supported, and retained within their academic programs on campus. Intentional efforts focused on faculty of color generally, but also specific subgroups, are required to assure that the number of Latinas in the academy are increased towards levels of equitable representation.

Author

• Berenice Sánchez, Idaho State University