This study examines the identity negotiation and communication strategies that Black professors employ when interacting in predominantly White institutional settings. Data were collected through a focus group meeting, individual interviews, and surveys. The first sample of participants included eight African American professors (three men and five women) who all taught for the same mid-size, predominantly White institution in the rural southeast. The second sample of participants also included eight Black professors (four male and four female), but they represented five different predominantly White institutions. Findings suggest that Black professors do not negotiate their identities to the extent that they communicate in ways that are significantly different from their normal communication behavior; however, they do communicate in strategic ways in an effort to be viewed as professional, credible, and approachable, by both their colleagues and their students.
Abercrumbie, P.E. (2002). There is peace in the midst of a storm. In M. Taylor-Archer & S. Smith (Eds.), Our stories: The experiences of Black professionals on predominantly White campuses (pp. 46-56). Cincinnati, OH : The John D. O'Bryant National Think Tank for Black Professionals in Higher Education on Predominantly White Campuses.
2.
Allen, B.J. (2000). “Learning the ropes”: A Black feminist standpoint analysis. In P. M. Buzzanell (Ed.), Communication from feminist perspectives (pp. 177-208). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3.
Astin, A.W. (1982). Minorities in American higher education: Recent trends, current prospects, and recommendations. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.
4.
Austin, A.E. (2002). Preparing the next generation of faculty. Journal of Higher Education, 73(1), 94-122.
5.
Baker, F.W. (1991). A study of Black faculty perceptions of hiring, retention, and tenure processes in White majority universities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The George Washington University .
6.
Branch, A.J. (2001). How to retain African American faculty during times of challenge for higher education. In L. Jones (Ed.), Retaining African Americans in higher education: Challenging paradigms for retaining students, faculty and administrators (pp. 175-192). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
7.
Burgess, N.J. (1997). Tenure and promotion among African-American women in the academy. In L. Benjamin (Ed.), Black women in the academy: Promises and perils (pp. 227-234). Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
8.
Cimbala, S.J. (2002). Can teaching be saved?International Journal of Public Administration, 25(9), 1079-1095.
9.
Clark, K.B., & Clark, M.P. (1947). Racial identification and preference in Negro children. In T. Newcomb & E. Hartley (Eds.), Readings in social psychology (pp. 602-611). New York: Henry Holt.
10.
Cross, W.E. (1971). Negro-to-Black conversion experience: Toward a psychology of Black liberation. Black World, 20, 13-27.
11.
Cross, W.E. (1985). Black identity: Rediscovering the distinction between personal identity and reference group orientation. In M. B. Spencer, G. K. Brookins , & W. R. Allen (Eds.), Beginnings: The social and affective development of Black children (pp. 13-27). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
12.
Cross, W.E. (1995). The psychology of Nigrescence. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 155-172). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
13.
Davis, Z.I. (2002). Pushing beyond the stereotypes and fostering collaboration: One sistuh's approach to teaching media production. In L. Vargas (Ed.), Women faculty of color in the White classroom (pp. 201-218). New York: Peter Lang.
14.
Dawson, G.A. (2001). No crystal stair: The transition in corporate America from exclusion to partial inclusion of African Americans. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of South Florida .
15.
Finkenstaedt, R.L.H. (1994). Face to face: Blacks in America—White perceptions and Black realities. New York: William Morrow and Company.
16.
Gappa, J.M. (2002). Teaching without tenure. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 45(3), 449-456.
17.
Gorham, J. (1988). The relationship between verbal immediacy behaviors and student learning. Communication Education, 37, 40-53.
18.
Graves, S.B. (1990). A case of double jeopardy? Black women in higher education. Initiatives, 53, 3-8.
19.
Gregory, S.T. (1995). Black women in the academy: The secrets to success and achievement. New York: University Press of America.
20.
Gregory, S.T. (2002). Creating our own success: A bird's-eye view of the journey towards tenure from one African American faculty woman's perspective . In M. Taylor-Archer & S. Smith (Eds.), Our stories: The experiences of Black professionals on predominantly White campuses. Cincinnati, OH: The John D. O'Bryant National Think Tank for Black Professionals in Higher Education on Predominantly White Campuses .
21.
Hardy, D. (2002). Ethical considerations affecting teaching in community colleges: An abundance of feelings and limited facts. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 26(5), 383-399.
22.
Harrison, C.K. (2000). Black male images in athletics. In L. Jones (Ed.), Brothers of the academy: Up and coming Black scholars earning our way in higher education (pp. 277-286). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
23.
Hecht, M.L., Collier, M.J., & Ribeau, S.A. (1993). African American communication: Ethnic identity and cultural interpretation. London: Sage.
24.
Hecht, M.L., & Ribeau, S.A. (1987). Afro-American identity labels and communicative effectiveness. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 6, 319-326.
25.
Hendrix, K.G. (1997). Student perceptions of verbal and nonverbal cues leading to images of Black and White professor credibility. The Howard Journal of Communications, 8, 251-273.
26.
Hendrix, K.G. (1998, January). Black male and White male professor perceptions of the influence of race on classroom dynamics and credibility. The Negro Educational Review, pp. 37-52.
27.
Jackson, R.L. (1999). The negotiation of cultural identity: Perceptions of European Americans and African Americans. Westport, CT: Praeger.
28.
Jackson, R.L. (2002). Exploring African American identity negotiation in the academy: Toward a transformative vision of African American communication scholarship. The Howard Journal of Communications, 13, 43-57.
29.
James-Hughes, J.B. (2003). Communicative strategies of African American female executives in dominant culture corporate (America) organizational settings. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Howard University.
30.
Johnson, B.J., & Harvey, W. (2002). The socialization of Black college faculty: Implications for policy and practice. The Review of Higher Education, 25(3), 297-314.
31.
Johnson, S.D., & Roellke, C.F. (1999). Secondary teachers' and undergraduate education faculty members' perceptions of teaching-effectiveness criteria: A national survey. Communication Education, 48, 127-137.
32.
Kearney, P., Plax, T.G., & Wendt-Wasco, N.J. (1985). Teacher immediacy for affective learning in divergent college classes. Communication Quarterly , 33(1), 61-74.
33.
Kember, D., & Kwan, K. (2000). Lecturers' approaches to teaching and their relationship to conceptions of good teaching. Instructional Science, 28, 469-490.
34.
Kochman, T. (1974). Orality and literacy as factors of “Black” and “White” communicative behavior. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 3, 49-67.
35.
Koermer, C.D., & Petelle, J.L. (1991). Expectancy violation and student rating of instruction . Communication Quarterly, 39(4), 341-350.
36.
Lindsey, R.C. (1998). An exploratory study examining the communication behavior of executive African American women. Unpublished doctoral dissertation , Howard University
37.
Martin, J.N., Hecht, M.L., & Larkey, L.K. (1994). Conversational improvement strategies for interethnic communication: African American and European American perspectives. Communication Monographs, 61, 236-255.
38.
Matthews, J.M. (1997). Communication and boards of directors: The experience of African American women. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Wayne State University.
39.
McKay, N. (1983). Black woman professor—White university. Women's Studies International Forum, 6(2), 143-147.
40.
Moore, W., & Wagstaff, L.H. (1974). Black educators in White colleges. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .
41.
Moses, Y.T. (1997). Black women in academe. In L. Benjamin (Ed.), Black women in the academy: Promises and perils (pp. 23-38). Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
42.
Nasser, F., & Fresko, B. (2002). Faculty views of student evaluation of college teaching. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 27(2), 187-198.
43.
National Center for Education Statistics. ( 1999). Digest of education statistics, 1998. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs99/digest98/d98t226.html
44.
Orbe, M.P. (1998). An outsider within perspective to organizational communication: Explicating the communicative practices of co-cultural group members. Management Communication Quarterly, 12(2), 230-279.
45.
Parker, P.S. (1997). African American women executives within dominant culture organizations: An examination of leadership socialization, communication strategies and leadership behavior. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin.
46.
Patton, T.O. (2004). Reflections of a Black woman professor: Racism and sexism in academia. The Howard Journal of Communications , 15, 185-200.
47.
Pope, J., & Joseph, J. (1997). Student harassment of female faculty of African descent in the academy. In L. Benjamin (Ed.), Black women in the academy: Promises and perils (pp. 252-260). Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
48.
Radke, M.J., & Trager, H.G. (1950). Children's perceptions of the social roles of Negroes and Whites. The Journal of Psychology, 29, 3-33.
49.
Russ, T.L., Simonds, C.J., & Hunt, S.K. (2003). Coming out in the classroom . . . an occupational hazard: The influence of sexual orientation on teacher credibility and perceived student learning. Communication Education, 51(3), 311-324.
50.
Sedlacek, W.E., & Brooks, C.E. (1976). Racism in America: A model for change. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
51.
Siddo, S. (1996). An analysis of intercultural work-related conflict management strategies. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University.
52.
Turner, C.S.V., & Myers, S.L. (2000). Faculty of color in academe: Bittersweet success . Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
53.
Weitz, R., & Gordon, L. (1993). Images of Black women among Anglo college students . Sex Roles, 28(1/2), 19-34.
54.
Westheimer, J. (2002). Tenure denied: Anti-unionism and anti-intellectualism in the academy. Social Text, 20(4), 47-64.
55.
Wilder, D.A. (1984). Intergroup contact: The typical member and the exception to the rule. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 20, 177-194.
