lntersectional Experiences among STEM Faculty

• In Event: 4537 - Gendered and Racialized Organizations

Abstract

Through interviews with 62 faculty members who share the same rank and department context but differ by race and gender, we explore how race and gender condition faculty experiences. Many studies identify that white men’s experiences differ from other faculty; yet because these studies tend to be across universities, they are not able to identify specific mechanisms of racial and gender privilege. Our study centers on women of color, but brings in data from colleagues who share their department and rank, to further contextualize their experiences, understanding how faculty of color who share a cohort and department with their white colleagues continue to experience different opportunities and challenges. We identify the lack of support women of color experience on their way to the professoriate, as well the limited resources they continue to face as faculty. We further analyze the ways in which their research, teaching, and service may be devalued, the difficulties posed by the juxtaposition of their experiences with the “diversity mantra” that the university emphasizes, as well as their search for community and inclusion.

Authors

• Joya Misra, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

• Ember Skye Kanelee, University of Massachusetts Amherst

• Ethel L. Mickey, California State University-San Bernardino

• Laurel Smith-Doerr, University of Massachusetts-Amherst