Troubling the “Just Reach” Phenomenon: A Collaborative Autoethnographic Account

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Intersectional Supports and the Creation of Wide-Ranging Educational Possibilities (Table 9)

Abstract

While there is growing unease within the literature on the impacts of the neoliberal university, there is little research on the experiences of new or emerging faculty. We use a systems theory framework of career development and collaborative autoethnography to reflect on and collectively identify some of the structural and relational aspects that define the stereotypes and experiences for new or emerging faculty and to address the implications of these experiences for faculty development. Findings point to notions and experiences of a “just reach” phenomenon, the power relations that underpin these experiences, the impact for assessment and promotion, as well as for personal and professional identities of faculty. Discussions draw on the significance of dismantling systemic injustices within the academy.

Authors

• Talia Randa Esnard, University of the West Indies - St. Augustine

• Andrew A. Hunte, University of the West Indies - Five Islands

• Carmel Geneva Roofe, University of the West Indies - Mona Campus