Mike,
Conventional wisdom says its too tough. See below for another forward from
the "Tomorrow's Professor" list. White male faculty are the problem and the
only recommendation that this reviewer can come up with is that we (WMF)
should all read the book under review. Maybe that will bring us to our
senses. Otherwise, all is lost!
djc
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Cole [mailto:mcole@weber.ucsd.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 8:40 PM
To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: quiet on xmca
Hi Don-- Perhaps things are quiet on xmca because no one can say anything
useful about the problem of how to increase divesity in the academy.
**********************
-----Original Message-----
From: Rick Reis [mailto:reis@stanford.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 2:23 PM
To: tomorrows-professor@lists.Stanford.EDU
Subject: TP Msg. #385 WOMEN AND MINORITY FACULTY IN THE ACADEMIC
WORKPLACE
"At the lowest level, status within the academy begins with being a
good teacher and a good colleague, but as competition at the higher
levels intensifies, the factors of research and other forms of
productivity come into play."
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Folks:
The posting below is a review of the book, WOMEN AND MINORITY
FACULTY IN THE ACADEMIC WORKPLACE Recruitment, Retention, and
Academic Culture. It appeared in PLANNING FOR HIGHER EDUCATION
[http://www.scup.org/phe.htm] (2), Volume 29, Number 4, Fall 2001 and
is reprinted with permission. Copyright ©2000-02 The Society for
College and University Planning
Regards,
Rick Reis
reis@stanford.edu
UP NEXT: Using Mentoring as a Form of Professional Learning
------------------------------ 1,158 words
--------------------------
WOMEN AND MINORITY FACULTY IN THE ACADEMIC WORKPLACE
Recruitment, Retention, and Academic Culture
Reviewed by Rubén Martinez
Issues of diversity simply will not go away in a nation colored by
centuries of racism and patriarchy. In Women and Minority Faculty in
the Academic Workplace: Recruitment, Retention, and Academic Culture,
Adalberto Aguirre argues that the diversification of faculty in
higher education has proceeded "without an understanding of the
social forces that shape the professional socialization and workplace
satisfaction of women and minority faculty" (p. iii). The author, who
is well published in the area of race and gender relations in higher
education, brings a sociological approach to bear in examining
institutional features and processes, job satisfaction, alienation,
devaluation, and other aspects of faculty work life.
Women and Minority Faculty in the Academic Workplace provides a
demographic overview of women and ethnic minority faculty, a
description of the salient features of academic culture and the
academic workplace, and a discussion of the relationship between
these two contextual factors. Further, Aguirre examines workplace
issues and experiences of women and ethnic minority faculty, provides
a summary of their status in higher education, and analyzes the
challenges that confront them. The author also provides a series of
penetrating questions regarding women and minority faculty that, if
answered through systematic research, can appreciably increase our
understanding of the social forces that affect the work lives of
these faculty colleagues. Aguirre's work contributes substantially
toward this outcome.
According to Aguirre, affirmative action has not significantly
increased the presence of women and minority faculty in higher
education, although white women have fared better than ethnic
minorities. This conclusion is supported by the work of others, such
as Milem and Astin (1993). Nearly a decade earlier, they examined the
composition of the faculty between 1972 and 1989 and concluded the
following: "Our most striking finding about the participation of
women and minorities at different types of institutions is how little
things seem to have changed"(p. 22).
This outcome is problematic in light of the fact that the numbers of
women and ethnic minority persons in the population have been
increasing and are expected to increase over the next several
decades. Moreover, these faculty members have not generally enjoyed
the benefits and pleasures of academic life to the extent that white
men have experienced.
Generally, women and ethnic minorities tend to find a "chilly and
unreceptive environment" (p. 1) upon joining faculty ranks, which
often define them as tokens, irrespective of their professional
accomplishments. Contrary to idyllic portrayals of the academy,
institutions of higher education are characterized by highly
competitive internal and external environments. Both external and
internal forces, which often are riddled by tensions and conflicts,
envelop the lives of faculty members. Indeed, although Aguirre does
not mention this, there is an external view of the academy that
recognizes both the pettiness and the mean-spiritedness of conflicts
among faculty members. This culture of competing interests can and
does negatively affect women and ethnic minority faculty through a
more or less covert process of marginalization.
At the lowest level, status within the academy begins with being a
good teacher and a good colleague, but as competition at the higher
levels intensifies, the factors of research and other forms of
productivity come into play. Aguirre argues that competition for
research monies has resulted in a "hierarchical arrangement of higher
education institutions" (p. 25). Yet, in a national context of
diminished support for research, increasingly constrained
institutional resources, decreasing public support for affirmative
action, and increased public concern about the quality of teaching,
faculty may be forced to turn their interests back toward teaching
and collegiality. At the same time, faculties continue to express
concerns about salary levels and the quality of administrative
leadership. In this context, diversity initiatives have become a
battleground among the various faculty segments that assign them
different priorities.
The dominant position of white men among the professorate constitutes
a major force in the resistance of diversity initiatives. Women and
minority faculty report perceptions of being marginalized in
academic governance. According to Aguirre, an institutional
environment that serves the interests of white male faculty members
produces many of the obstacles that women and minority faculty face.
These obstacles include restricted opportunities to participate in
decision making, differential assignment of tasks that enhance
professional socialization, increased service activities attached to
symbolic roles, restricted opportunities for assuming leadership
roles, and the devaluation of research focusing on women and ethnic
minorities. To these can be added the general lack of support for
academic programs such as women studies and ethnic studies, which,
among other things, provide a sense of community to many women and
ethnic minority faculty members.
The result is that women and minority faculty tend to perceive
themselves as "tokens" and "anomalies" in the academic workplace and
tend to have lower levels of job satisfaction than white men.
Generally, their fit within the academic workplace, as it exists, is
relatively weak. This is the case because the academy remains
white-male centered. As a result, women and minority faculty members
are likely to experience higher levels of stress than their white
male counterparts.
Not only do women and minority faculty members have to contend with
institutional cultures that tend to privilege white men, they often
have to face a biased reward system. While many institutions over the
past two decades have attempted to address salary inequities based on
gender and race, women and minority faculty members continue to
perceive a biased reward system. Additionally, the tenure review
process tends to covertly involve political factors that undermine
meritocratic principles that are widely held not only in higher
education but also throughout society.
Aguirre amasses information from a multitude of empirical studies to
create a rich description of the institutional environments in which
women and minority faculty members carry out their workplace
responsibilities. He provides a balanced portrait of these
environments and makes important suggestions for enhancing our
understanding of the factors that affect the work lives of these
faculty members.
Since the resistance to diversity initiatives often tends to come
more from white male faculty members than from institutional
administrators, white male faculty would benefit from a close reading
of Women and Minority Faculty in the Academic Workplace, and senior
administrators would do well to ensure that new faculty hires fit
within institutional efforts to provide an inclusive and meritocratic
workplace environment. In addition, this book will help women and
ethnic minority faculty to better understand the nature of their
workplace environments and the events and processes that color their
experiences in the academy.
Despite the many challenges facing women and ethnic minority faculty
in the workplace, one can take some encouragement from studies of
faculty views on campus diversity that indicate that positive
attitudinal and perceptual shifts are occurring. At least, as Milem
and Astin point out, "Faculty have learned how to talk the talk, but
they have not yet learned how to walk the walk" (p.27). Perhaps they
will soon learn to "walk" the values and principles of the academy
and of this nation.
Reference
Milem, J. F., and H. S. Astin. 1993. The Changing Composition of the
Faculty. Change 25(2): 21-27.
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