Abstract
This edited volume is a compilation of personal narratives from BIPOC scholars with a variety of marginalized identities as experienced within the U.S. cultural context. The purpose of this book is to complement quantitative research on race and ethnicity by addressing “intersecting forms of injustice in the academy” (p. 8). To this end, BIPOC scholars within and outside of academia document past experiences navigating hostile environments within various disciplines at colleges and universities across the country.
The book is organized into thematic sections exploring different sides of what it means to be conditionally accepted. Part 1 focuses on navigating careers inside/outside academia. Seven authors, (Castor & Louis, Blain, Whitaker, Hoover, Fong, and Winn) discussed their experiences getting through graduate school, finding a faculty position, and either navigating tenure and promotion or deciding to leave academia for entrepreneurship. Part 2 centered betrayals, whether from contributing authors’ chosen academic disciplines or institutions at which they worked. In this section, five contributing authors (Dutt-Ballerstadt, Minthorn, Manchada, Buggs, and Crowder) discussed threats, microaggressions, harassment, or job loss they experienced because of having a marginalized identity. Part 3 explored unkept promises of higher education institutions which profess to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion in their institutions. The four authors who contributed to this section of the book (Gibson, Wingfield, Lewis, and Vidal-Ortiz) examined reasons why efforts break down as well as the underpinning ideologies that need to be confronted to truly bring change. The final part is stated to focus on “Transforming the Academy and Beyond” (p.197). The four essays contributed to this section by Huerta, Ray, Villarreal, and Denise were focused on faculty involvement in scholarly and practical activism, how institutions can support social justice while protecting vulnerable students, and the need to embrace the work of minoritized scholar-activists.
The scholars who contributed to this book provide a variety of lenses to understand life as a marginalized person who has surmounted the struggles of achieving a terminal degree. The common thread through all accounts is that success as students and accomplishments out in the broader community do not automatically translate to acceptance in academia. Most contributors (Hoover, Fong, Dutt-Ballerstadt, Minthorn, Manchanda, Buggs, Crowder, Gibson, Wingfield, Lewis, Vidal-Ortiz) related experiences or observations of being implicitly or explicitly told that they do not belong in higher education as anything beyond a student. For example, Hoover described being actively discouraged from pursuing any faculty positions in economics (p.46). Fong described being an adjunct or newly hired and being treated by white faculty as if she did not belong in faculty spaces. Dutt-Ballerstadt received threats on institutional letterhead along with hiring announcements from other colleges to convince her to leave the institution. A second common thread for the contributing authors was the way in which their research areas or applied scholarship were devalued, discouraged, or rejected by the colleges and universities at which they were employed. In each of their essays, Hoover, Winn, Huerta, Ray, and Villarreal described their need to use their expertise to give back to their communities. This came in the form of formulating research agendas about issues directly related to the social and economic realities of black and brown communities. They also described being told or receiving indirect messaging that the study of non-white people (those of the authors’ own race and culture) was too subjective. Some of the contributors added community and political activism to their work, which often was not viewed as scholarship at all. Some authors laid out strategies for balancing the two competing priorities of meeting traditional standards of scholarship and serving their communities.
This book would serve as a resource for those pursuing terminal degrees and current BIPOC faculty. First, for those who have not yet completed their degrees, there is information on the tenure and promotion process. Learning from marginalized faculty who have stayed in academia, despite experiences of microaggressions, threats, and sabotage is valuable to those who are currently pursuing doctorates. It is also supportive to both junior and senior faculty who have felt isolated throughout their careers. The information gained from those who contributed to this edited volume is valuable in providing validation to those who have also struggled. This collection of essays is valuable because of the hope it offers that despite experiences of rejection and abuse within academia, BIPOC academics can take a measure of control by finding better (though still imperfect) institutions or by carving new paths outside of academia that allow them to thrive.
