Creative Insubordination as Agentic Strategy: A Black Woman STEM Professor Navigating Teaching in the Academy

• In Event: Navigating (Con)Tensions in the Academy

Abstract

This research explores the narrative of Cheney, the only Black female tenure-track STEM professor at her institution. We met with Cheney weekly for a year using Narrative Inquiry and unstructured interviews. Here, we decode Cheney's experiences and agentic strategies. We examine how Cheney's teaching, rooted in her personal practical knowledge (PPK), integrates her life experiences and values and often conflicts with traditional STEM methods. We discuss three themes of Creative Insubordination as an agentic mantra, Teaching as Creative Insubordination, and the impact of Creative Insubordination on Cheney’s evolvingPPK. This study underscores the need for institutions to create inclusive environments through supportive policies and cultural shifts and emphasizes the transformative power of teaching and the resilience of historically marginalized academics.

Authors

• Nichole Powell, Emory University

• Robyn Ruttenberg-Rozen, University of Ontario Institute of Technology