Policy as a Point of Conflict: How Racialized Education Policies Influence Educators of Color's Well-Being

• In Event: Who Looks Out for Us? Focusing on the Well-Being of Educators of Color

Abstract

Educator well-being is critical for high-achieving schools. We suggest that educational policy can create racialized school climates that negatively affect well-being, especially for educators of color (EOC). Using critical quantitative analyses, we explored how racialized school climates affect job satisfaction and subjective well-being of EOC in Iowa. Findings indicate that a stronger sense of racial identity was associated with greater satisfaction in EOC’s choice of profession, but also inhibited EOC’s ability to feel like they could “be themselves” at work or were effective teachers. Thus, EOC sacrifice their well-being to work in schools that have instituted policies that directly contradict their personal and professional identities. Policies that do not allow educators of color to flourish must be dismantled.

Authors

• Ain A. Grooms, University of Wisconsin - Madison
  Presenting Author

• Duhita Mahatmya, University of Iowa
  Presenting Author