Race, gender and tenure: good will is not enough
Lisa McLeod | Guest Writer
Issue date: 12/4/06 Section: Forum
Guilford College is failing its faculty of color - especially those who are women. In this, we are not unique. Among those who study institutional racism, it is a commonplace that women of color in academia have a much higher rate of attrition than men or white women, and Guilford represents no exception. Despite this pattern, in the seven years I have been at Guilford, no positive steps have been taken to address the effects of race or gender oppression on tenure candidates, or on those responsible for their review. We seem to believe that our collective good will insulates Guilford from the pernicious institutional injustices that we require our students to study.
This past spring, the insufficiency of good will hit home for me in a spectacularly painful way, when Eleanor Branch was denied tenure. Eleanor and I are close: we've traveled together, taught workshops together, and planned to teach courses together. Based on my experience and my review of our tenure materials, I believe that Eleanor and I are two virtually identically qualified candidates of two different races. Surely Guilford should value Eleanor's skill, expertise, and dedication if they value mine. Yet I got tenure, and Eleanor did not.
As a race theorist, I should not have been surprised: a wealth of data shows that untenured faculty of color work harder than their white counterparts, for less reward. Teaching, for example, constitutes an untenable situation for many women faculty: to demand too much is to risk being labeled a bitch (or worse), and women of color with high standards are often considered "intimidating", if not downright scary. Attempting to avoid such a label, however, also has damaging results: the woman of color who strives for an egalitarian classroom can tap into other stereotypes, and find herself confronted by outraged students who challenge her competence as well as her authority over their education.
None of these data are secret, yet Guilford has not required those who assess junior faculty to learn to recognize the influence of institutional racism and sexism on the candidates, or on their own perceptions of those candidates. A commitment to addressing institutional oppression would require, at least, a major study of the faculty review process. I have seen no evidence of even minor such efforts during my career here.
This past spring, the insufficiency of good will hit home for me in a spectacularly painful way, when Eleanor Branch was denied tenure. Eleanor and I are close: we've traveled together, taught workshops together, and planned to teach courses together. Based on my experience and my review of our tenure materials, I believe that Eleanor and I are two virtually identically qualified candidates of two different races. Surely Guilford should value Eleanor's skill, expertise, and dedication if they value mine. Yet I got tenure, and Eleanor did not.
As a race theorist, I should not have been surprised: a wealth of data shows that untenured faculty of color work harder than their white counterparts, for less reward. Teaching, for example, constitutes an untenable situation for many women faculty: to demand too much is to risk being labeled a bitch (or worse), and women of color with high standards are often considered "intimidating", if not downright scary. Attempting to avoid such a label, however, also has damaging results: the woman of color who strives for an egalitarian classroom can tap into other stereotypes, and find herself confronted by outraged students who challenge her competence as well as her authority over their education.
None of these data are secret, yet Guilford has not required those who assess junior faculty to learn to recognize the influence of institutional racism and sexism on the candidates, or on their own perceptions of those candidates. A commitment to addressing institutional oppression would require, at least, a major study of the faculty review process. I have seen no evidence of even minor such efforts during my career here.
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John_Teague
John Teague
posted 12/10/06 @ 5:53 PM EST
The current administrators at Guilford, including the President, should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Eleanor Branch didn't just go through the motions to attain tenure, she earned it. (Continued…)
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