Service in the Shadows: Faculty of Color, Community Engagement, and the Politics of Academic Recognition

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Sunday 11:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Bourdieu and Inequalities

Abstract

Faculty of color often carry the moral weight of institutional missions they did not design. Their community-engaged service, rooted in activism, identity, and public purpose, is routinely undervalued in tenure systems that prioritize prestige and publication. Guided by Bourdieu’s field theory, this study examines how four faculty members navigate and resist these dynamics. Through interviews, CVs, and institutional documents, the analysis highlights how participants convert community-based work into forms that are legible within academic reward systems. Rather than passive subjects, they emerge as avant-garde agents working to reshape the academy's values. The findings extend field theory into academic service, offering practical implications for tenure reform, workload equity, and institutional recognition of diverse scholarly contributions.

Author

• Toyosi Stephen Adedara, Baylor University