Underrepresentation of faculty of color in higher education is a phenomenon that has been studied and well documented by researchers for many years (e.g., Aguirre, 2000; Aguirre, Martinez, & Hernandez, 1993; Bair, Bair, Mader, Hipp, & Hakim, 2010; Chai et al., 2009; Collins, 1990; Turner & Myers, 2000). This issue is even more evident as it relates to the underrepresentation of African American faculty at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Many studies have addressed the underrepresentation of African American faculty at PWIs (e.g., Alexander & Moore, 2008; Bower, 2002; Brown & Dancy, 2010; Cleveland, 2004). According to the United States Department of Commerce, Economic and Statistics Administration, United States Bureau of the Census (2016), African Americans represent 13.3% of the United States total population. However, African American faculty account for 6% of full-time faculty in higher learning institutions in the United States according to the 2016 release of the National Center for Education Statistics. This disparity forms the essential component of my investigation and sets the stage for my examination of the experiences of African Americans as they perform their duties as full-time faculty at PWIs. This study takes a new approach to investigating the low number of African Americans serving as full-time faculty in higher education by examining their perceptions of the intercultural competence of their colleagues on campus based on their experiences. Intercultural competence is the ability to proficiently interact with people from different backgrounds using acquired knowledge and experience (Elosúa, 2015). Intercultural competence has been studied in a number of areas including business, government, healthcare, military, and religion (e.g., Bennett, Bennett, & Allen, 2003; Benkert, Tanner, Guthrie, Oakley, & Phol, 2005; Berry, Phinney, Sam, & Vedder, 2006; Deardorff, 2009). There has also been research on intercultural competence in education regarding students studying abroad in other countries, teaching in different cultures, and global citizenship (e.g., Banks, 2017; Byram & Nichols, 1997; Deardorff, 2009). However, my review of the literature indicates that there has not been research about the impact that intercultural competence has on the underrepresentation of African American faculty at PWIs in post-secondary education. This is a qualitative multiple case study that engaged full-time African American educational leadership faculty who were employed at PWIs in post-secondary education as participants. The data were collected through interviews. The collected data were analyzed and the findings used to make recommendations to improve the experiences of African American educational leadership faculty at PWIs in post-secondary education.

No description available.

This qualitative inquiry explored the ways in which US-born, Black faculty member participants in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) interact with the National Science Foundation (NSF). Eight Black HBCU STEM faculty members with a range of involvement in NSF-related activities were individually interviewed. Topics of discussion with participants included their prior experiences with NSF, their understanding of the merit review process, and their understanding of their personal and institutional relationships with NSF and the STEM community. Two broad findings emerged from the conversations. The first was that issues of communities and social identity were important to the participants’ work as research scientists. Participants prioritized advancing people and communities over advancing the knowledge of ambiguous, disembodied scientific disciplines, and some participants were motivated by interests in social justice. However, participants maintained strong identities as scientists and the discussions provided no evidence that other social factors influenced their application of the scientific method. The second major finding dealt with the role participants perceived their institutions playing in their involvement with NSF. All participants described challenges associated with pursuing research in HBCU environments and, in some cases, the institutional challenges served as the motivation for participants’ projects, with varying consequences. Finally, this study developed and refined a theoretical framework for explaining the underrepresentation of HBCUs in NSF funding streams. In developing this framework, a brief history of the origination of HBCUs, NSF, and the NSF merit review process is presented.

The retention of African American faculty at predominantly White institutions (PWI) has long been a point of concern in higher education. Midwest Community College (MCC), a PWI, 2-year public institution, has a problem of retaining African American faculty employed by the college. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of African American faculty retention practices at MCC since little is known about the African American faculty experience at PWIs. Delagado and Stefancic's critical race theory conceptual framework of counter storytelling, Whiteness as property, interest conversion, and critique of liberalism guided this study. A qualitative case study research design was implemented for this study with research questions about the perceived issues of African American faculty and administrators' retention practices at MCC. Four African American faculty and 4 African American administrators answered questions to an interview. Interviews, observation of interviewees, archival review, and field notes constituted the data collection techniques. A qualitative research process of manual data and inductive thematic analysis was implemented in this study. Key findings developed from the themes with implications for changes to organizational culture as well as faculty recruitment and retention practices. Policy recommendations include: the appointment of a Diversity Office designee to the Joint Advisory committees; faculty recruitment through the development of a minority faculty recruitment program; faculty retention through the development of a minority faculty success retention program, along with parallel diversity training for all MCC employees. This study would promote social change by offering focused practices for hiring and retaining African American faculty.

The retention of African American faculty at predominantly White institutions (PWI) has long been a point of concern in higher education. Midwest Community College (MCC), a PWI, 2-year public institution, has a problem of retaining African American faculty employed by the college. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of African American faculty retention practices at MCC since little is known about the African American faculty experience at PWIs. Delagado and Stefancic's critical race theory conceptual framework of counter storytelling, Whiteness as property, interest conversion, and critique of liberalism guided this study. A qualitative case study research design was implemented for this study with research questions about the perceived issues of African American faculty and administrators' retention practices at MCC. Four African American faculty and 4 African American administrators answered questions to an interview. Interviews, observation of interviewees, archival review, and field notes constituted the data collection techniques. A qualitative research process of manual data and inductive thematic analysis was implemented in this study. Key findings developed from the themes with implications for changes to organizational culture as well as faculty recruitment and retention practices. Policy recommendations include: the appointment of a Diversity Office designee to the Joint Advisory committees; faculty recruitment through the development of a minority faculty recruitment program; faculty retention through the development of a minority faculty success retention program, along with parallel diversity training for all MCC employees. This study would promote social change by offering focused practices for hiring and retaining African American faculty.

No description available.

This study sought to discover job satisfaction factors of African American faculty at a historically black university and a predominantly white institution. Data were gathered through the use of semi-structured interviews of 6 faculty members from a historically black university and 5 faculty from a predominantly white institution. Several themes emerged from the study. The most salient was that African American faculty at the historically black university were satisfied by their work with students, satisfied with the flexibility of their schedules, and dissatisfied with their pay, workload, and the lack of recognition that they receive from their institution. African American faculty at the predominantly white institution were satisfied by the impact the programs and courses they developed had upon students, satisfied with their job's freedom and flexibility, and dissatisfied with the ideas of being micromanaged or working with people who are not open and honest. The findings of this study showed that service is an important factor to job satisfaction of African American faculty and that there is a distinction between factors faculty are dissatisfied with but willing to endure and those that would cause them to leave an institution.