Guide offers ethnic faculty advice on university politics

By Mel Waters
Monitor staff

Despite efforts on college campuses to increase diversity among faculty, discrimination can still block women and ethnic minorities from earning promotions and achieving tenure. Recognizing this, two APA groups have joined forces to update Surviving and Thriving in Academia: A Guide for Women and Ethnic Minorities.

With their new guide, the Committee on Women in Psychology (CWP) and the Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention, and Training (CEMRRAT) seek to inform new ethnic-minority faculty members about the politics of academia.

The Survival Guide suggests strategies new faculty can use to improve their chances of promotion and tenure, coping techniques and actions to take if tenure is denied.

One of the more functional objectives of the guide is to advise academic job candidates to look for clues to an institution?s commitment to diversity and adherence to tenure guidelines. The Survival Guide lists a number of questions a job candidate might consider while visiting the college campus: What role will a woman and/or ethnic minority fill in this department; which roles are a result of being a woman and/or ethnic minority; and how many women and/or ethnic minorities have reached tenure?

The Survival Guide was originally created in 1992 by CWP to address the bias against women faculty members on college campuses.

'The equitable representation of women [in the academic field] has always been an ongoing concern of the CWP,' says Angela Ginorio, PhD, former CWP chair who took the lead on rewriting the guide, working with Beth Todd-Bazemore, PhD, of CEMRRAT. 'As time went on the number of calls and requests for help from women grew, and the idea of putting all this knowledge in a guide came about.'

As the CWP began to revise the Survival Guide for 1998, CEMRRAT planned to write its own guide for minority faculty members. Initially, CEMRRAT consulted the original Survival Guide for ideas. When CEMRRAT and CWP realized their missions coincided, the updated version became a joint effort.

'As minority students may feel isolated in an academic setting, so can minority professors,' says Bertha Holliday, PhD, director of APA?s Office on Ethnic Minority Affairs. 'We hope to give insight to new minority faculty on the idiosyncracies of a department?s informal rules on tenure that can make or break you.'

While the Survival Guide was initially created with women and ethnic minorities in mind, Sue Houston of the APA?s Women?s Program Office says, 'It?s for anyone, really. The guide can help people be more aware when making decisions about pursuing a career in academia so they are not blindsided by surprises.'

The guide?s practical tips on faculty survival, such as updating your achievements and accomplishments in a curriculum vitae, being aware of all resources available for conducting research projects, and steadily publishing research findings in well-respected journals, can be applied to a variety of situations.

The guide also points out the possible strain of serving on too many committees, the importance of establishing a working relationship with senior colleagues in one?s department, and building a professional network outside one?s department.

Despite this advice, negative outcomes are still possible. The guide notes that the individual has the right to challenge negative tenure decisions. For example, professors have the right to request a summary of their evaluation by the department?s board members. In addition, a faculty member should determine whether violations occurred in the review procedure or if a school is giving preferential treatment to other professors. Because of cost and the amount of time required, the guide recommends litigation as a last resort.

CWP and CEMRRAT caution that the guide does not hold definitive answers for every promotion or tenure-related problem, but serves as a reference and resource.

'When people enter any new arena, they really need to know the pitfalls,' says Ginorio. 'Succeeding in the academic world is not impossible. If you have information and you consult with people a little ahead of you, then it is possible.'

Yet, she adds 'there is still racism, sexism and homophobia of all kinds. But this guide encourages you to say, ?I am not going away!?'

The revised edition of the Survival Guide will be published in April. Anyone interested in obtaining a copy can contact the Women?s Program Office at (202) 336-6044. There is no charge for a single copy of the Survival Guide; there may be a charge for additional copies.