White Racial Identity Development and the Tenure Process of African American and Black Community College Faculty
Diversity of student racial and ethnic identities are increasing at predominantly white community colleges. The faculty is not diversifying at the same rate as the student population. The majority of faculty and administrators identify as White. The purpose of this study was to explore how White Racial Identity of White faculty and administrators impacted the tenure process of African American and Black faculty. I used narrative inquiry as the methodology. Interviews were chosen to center the voices and experiences of African American and Black tenured faculty. One Midwest institution was the focus of the study. Based on the data findings, I recommended White faculty and White leaders receive training on how White Racial identity informs their thinking, behavior, and decision making related to African American and Black tenure track faculty. The setup of mentorship programs for relationship building and social capital sharing and recommended human resource leaders utilize faculty exit interviews and focus groups studies to learn how to recruit and retain African American and Black tenure track faculty to tenure and beyond.
African American, Black, Faculty, Tenure, White Racial Identity, Higher Education
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