Invisible Labor: Examining the Black Staff Engagement With the Institution's Budgeting Ecosystem

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Racism in Higher Education: Strategies to Disrupt Institutionalized Oppression and Lead Toward Racial Justice

Abstract

Objectives: This study sought to give a forum to the University staff to ascertain their knowledge of the institutional budgeting ecosystem generally, and to specifically give a voice to the Black staff about how they experience said ecosystem, as they are normally considered invisible (Ellison, 1952). The focus was on the staff, who Lipsky (1980) considers power brokers or “street level bureaucrats” due to their ability to interpret and enforce policy as they interact with their campus community.
Theoretical framework: The three theories used for this study were: path dependence (Pierson, 2000) which seeks to understand the present by looking at the influence of the past; employee engagement (Kahn, 1990) which recommends creating favorable conditions that allow employees to be fully engaged physically, psychologically, and emotionally; and BlackCrit (Dumas & Ross, 2016) which looks at Black people and how they experience the institutional systems in America.
Methods: This research was designed as a sequential, exploratory mixed-methods study. ANOVA, Tukey, and Tamhane tests were conducted on quantitative data to examine if there was a significant difference between the experiences of Black staff in relation to their colleagues of other races/ethnicities. Qualitative data was analyzed through phenomenology to further explore the experiences and perspectives of Black staff.
Data: A survey was developed to measure perceptions and satisfaction with human resource, finance, and leadership practices. Qualtrics was used to send the survey to non-instructional staff at a four-year public university. SPSS was used to analyze the quantitative data (n=1,342). 12 Black staff, who took part in the survey, were interviewed on Zoom.
Results:
1. The staff, in general, had little to no knowledge of the budgeting ecosystem, even though they had an interest in learning about it.
2. The staff did not have a high level of trust in the budgeting ecosystem due to the lack of transparency about what happens within it.
3. The Black staff had mixed feelings from ambivalence to a lack of interest in the ecosystem.
4. Some Black staff felt that the system was set up to keep them out of it, and to limit the benefits that could be derived from it.

Significance: The 2020 focusing events of Covid-19 and the George Floyd murder (Hessekiel, 2020; McPherson, 2020; Pacheco & Stamm, 2020). have led to a period or reflection and reckoning regarding the institutional systems marginalization of people of color. Kendi (2019) argues that, for racism to be eliminated, it is important to understand where it originates. It is also vital to hear from those who experience the impact of these systems, and include their voices in crafting solutions to end the racism they face and to improve the environment in which they live (Harvey Wingfield, 2015).

Author

• Bena Arao, California State University - Sacramento