Black Professorial Belongingness: Men Faculty of African Descent Use Cyberbonding Play to Traverse Hispanic-Serving Institutions

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 4
  In Roundtable Session: Transformative Spaces: Faculty and Counterspaces Fostering Inclusion, Belonging, and Critical Care in Higher Education (Table 5)

Abstract

This qualitative comparative case study examines belongingness experiences of men faculty of African descent who use cyberbonding play to navigate a Hispanic-serving institution. Findings indicated participants’ applied understandings of videogame knowledge learned to the create spatial amplification chambers where new communal spaces allowed them to flourish on campus. Emergent themes: 1) Family Matters; and 2) Not Like Us. Family Matters theme is defined as replicated videogame survival strategy applied to Black student degree conferral through shared assessment of hostile campus climates. Not Like Us theme is defined as participant involvement in videogames as reminiscent places where identity-based legacies, impediments and achievements positively inform knowledge about not only professorial worth, but also how to attain tenure and promotion.

Author

• Bryan Hotchkins, Texas Tech University