Non-White Faculty Women in Leadership: Disrupting Exclusionary Practices in Academia

• In Event: Pursuing Equitable Educational Systems: Experiences and Insights of Women Navigating

Abstract

Objective
Women in leadership in the field of academia have made moderate gains, however, they continue to face persistent challenges in advancing to senior administrative positions. This issue is more prominent with nonwhite women in academia (Alcalde & Subramanian, 2020) as they are underrepresented in tenured and full professorships. We will explore how the complexity of our identities influences our leadership characteristics and how our personal experiences impact how we promote effective strategies for inclusive practices within our workspaces. The research question which will frame this paper is: What are effective ways to create awareness regarding identifying exclusive practices based on deficit perceptions of non-white women, their roles, and restrictive narratives?
Theoretical framework
This research study is anchored on three paradigmatic theoretical frameworks: 1) Intersectionality (Collins, 2009; Cho, Crenshaw and McCall, 2013); 2); Critical Race Theory (Gillborn, 2015); and 3) Relational Cultural Perspective (RCT). Studying the synergy of identity, ways of knowing and action pathways of non-white faculty women in an IHE requires the use and analysis of three interdependent frameworks. We drew from Dewey’s (1938) theory of experience and recognize that our personal and professional experiences are part of our reality (ontology). In addition, we view our work on narrative inquiry as transactional (Clandinin, Huber, Steeves, & Li, (2011) which allows us to amplify our understanding of how to take ownership of our roles as leaders within higher education.
Methods
We used narrative inquiry, a methodology for studying lived experiences, to examine the phenomenon of how our informal mentoring group of non-white faculty women developed a counternarrative to persistent exclusionary practices at their job site. The analysis includes grounded theory, suitable to use with written personal accounts and narratives (Clarke, 1998) adopting comparative, interactive analytic strategies in coding, memo writing, theoretical sampling, and integrating the analysis (Charmaz, 2008 pp.155-175).
Data sources
Data Sources include: (1) data from previous scholarly work such as Cracking the Code, an autobiographical account describing our educational trajectory and how we navigated through the doctoral, professorship, and promotion process as counternarratives to established expectations of non-white faculty women in academia; (2) data from another previous scholarly work, Testimonios which examined the impact of our institution’s sudden paradigm shift challenging our sense of identity, sense of belonging, and our roles as professors who teach, research, and lead; (3) personal narratives which unpacked and examined our personal lived experiences validating our tacit knowledge.
Results
Preliminary results highlight different aspects of Intersectionality and how non-white faculty women in academia confront exclusionary practices. Navigating the many nuances, hidden agendas of institutes of higher education to create agency for awareness and create a safe space where inclusive practices become part of the culture.
Scholarly significance
This paper brings attention to exclusionary practices and historical or routine oppression in our day-to-day work lives that many nonwhite faculty women experience in leadership. The exposure alone is vital to interrupting the cycle of inequity. We are developing a self-actualized consciousness about inequities, power, and exclusion.

Authors

• Clara Amador-Lankster, National University

• Valerie K. Amber, National University

• Sonia Rodriguez, National University

• Nilsa J. Thorsos, National University