Cover page adapted from Nicolas Raymond's Fire World, available in Free Stock. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
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The Voices and Choices of Women in the Academy
Volume 1, Special Issue, 2013-2014Ramona Ortega, Brenda L. H. Marina, Lena Boustani Darwich, Eunju Rho, Isa Rodriquez-Soto, and Rajade Berry-James
While it is clear that gender inequity still exists, this situation is compounded by race, ethnicity and sexism. The daily experiences of women confirm that racism and sexism is alive and well. This article presents and examines the experiences of Latino, Black, Arab, and Asian professional women and the consequences of their career decisions. Synthesized with literature, conceptual patterns of significance are noted for young girls and women of color aspiring and pursuing professional careers in education. The strategies utilized by these diverse professional women to cope with the trials and tribulations of contemporary educational and professional challenges are reviewed. It is necessary to continue to educate the public about the struggles and successes of women of diverse backgrounds to assist both high school and college age women as they prepare to contribute to the global economy of the 21st century.
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Women Faculty of Color: Success Stories from the Margins
Volume 1, Special Issue, 2013-2014Bridget Turner Kelly and Kristin McCann
Based on data from a larger, longitudinal study of 22 women faculty on the tenure track, this qualitative study examines the socialization experiences of four women faculty of color (WFOC) who earned tenure at two public, research extensive, predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in the U.S. This study gives voice to WFOC who broke through the glass ceiling of tenure and were promoted to associate professor. Although these women earned tenure, their adjustment as newcomers to the academy was fraught with marginalization for being both women and persons of color. Specifically, the WFOC experienced challenges to their role clarity, self-efficacy and social acceptance—all of which are all key factors in the socialization of outsiders (untenured) to insiders (tenured) of an organization. This study holds implications for how WFOC can not only survive but also thrive in the tenure process.
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Minority Women in STEM: A Valuable Resource in the Global Economy
Volume 1, Special Issue, 2013-2014Ezella McPherson and Diane R. Fuselier-Thompson
While there is an expected demographic shift of the ethnic minority population in the United States to become the majority population by 2020, few minority women successfully attain baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) fields. To address this gap, this article employs critical race feminism and narrative analysis methods to examine minority women’s challenges while pursuing undergraduate STEM degrees. Findings suggest that limited access to the field, isolation and alienation, and affordability create barriers that result in many minority women leaving STEM majors. Implications for practice include targeted institutional efforts to increase recruitment and retention efforts towards degree attainment for minority women to achieve the national goal of increasing America’s global preparedness.
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Climbing the Ladder to Leadership and Other (Un) told Stories of Black Women Administrators in Higher Education
Volume 1, Special Issue, 2013-2014Marian Muldrow
This narrative reflection presented vacillates between an exploration of the historical journey of the Black women and a modern day Black women who is “persisting in the journey toward self-definition…” (Collins, 2000, p. 121). This history eludes to the underrepresentation of Black women that originates in colleges and universities, which results in the underrepresentation in higher education administration. This narrative and interpretative review considers race and highlights factors and barriers that perpetuate the glass ceiling in higher education for Black women.
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Dismantling Glass Ceilings: Ethical Challenges to Impasse in the Academy
Volume 1, Special Issue, 2013-2014Debora Y. Fonteneau
This article uses numeric and qualitative data to interrogate the impact of affirmative action policies on shattering glass ceilings and resolving impasse in the academic lives of African Americans. This work takes its trajectory from previous research on glass ceilings (Marina and Fonteneau, 2012). Two brief case studies from both PWIs and HBCUs are mentioned to ponder complex attitudes toward race, gender and power. In extracting meaning from the policies, practices, and cases, it became clear that attitudes toward power and authority are influenced by context, but even more, by an individual’s sense of right and wrong. This work is heavily vested in the African American woman’ s social and professional mobility, the very nature by which African Americans have gained presence in academic environments. This work suggests that affirmative action policies and institutional systems of redress have had little effect on resolving impasse and career gridlock.
