“It’s Very, Very Tough to be a Minority”: Faculty Women of Color and Research Collaboration

• In Event: 4124 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (100 min): Table 2. Work/Workplace

Abstract

Research collaboration is linked to career success in academia, especially STEM fields, with team science a watchword for many funders. Collaboration can lead to greater inclusion and equity, but can also leave women of color feeling excluded and disrespected. Drawing on in-depth interviews with seventeen women of color STEM faculty at a research-intensive university, this study examines how the intersections of race, gender, and nationality shape collaborative experiences. We find that all of the women recognize the importance of collaboration to their careers, but they experience challenges developing collaborative relationships, engaging in collaborative research, and ensuring their work is credited fairly in personnel processes. Collaboration is rarely explored with an intersectional lens. Women of color are typically grouped with women or underrepresented groups, erasing their unique positionalities in STEM and academia. This project centers on how universities as racialized and gendered organizations structure opportunities for STEM women of color. We explicitly link research collaboration to institutional change in higher education to argue that establishing equitable collaboration procedures, interactions, and norms will create inclusive university environments and retain women of color faculty.

Authors

• Joya Misra, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

• Ethel L. Mickey, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Ember Skye Willow Kanelee, University of Massachusetts Amherst