Why are some minority faculty unhappy?

By Bridget Murray
Monitor staff

A young doctoral student had barely finished her dissertation at a prestigious university before the psychology department offered her a job as a faculty member. The department sought a person of color to help diversify its mostly white faculty, and this young Hispanic woman seemed to fit its requirements.

As it turned out, the woman soon encountered the frustrations that often plague junior faculty. Instead of allowing her to focus on research?and priming her for tenure?the department?s administrators saddled her with advising an overwhelming number of students. Most troubling to her, however, was her growing sense that her colleagues thought she?d been hired only because she was Hispanic. Not only did the department forget to review her performance after the customary three years, she says, but colleagues questioned the scholarly value of her research on ethnic-minority issues, and they made negative comments about affirmative action.

'It was devastating for my self-confidence,' the woman says. Crestfallen and disillusioned, she eventually left the department for a more supportive program somewhere else. And unfortunately, her negative experience of tokenism may be a reality for many minority faculty in psychology, a recent study indicates.

The study (Journal of Applied Psychology, in press), co-authored by psychologists John Dovidio, PhD, of Colgate University, and Yolanda Flores Niemann, PhD, of Washington State University, examined the experiences of APA members employed by university psychology departments, of whom 234 were white, 84 were black, 59 were Asian and 48 were Hispanic. The findings suggest that faculty of color experience lower levels of job satisfaction than their white counterparts, especially when they?re the only minority faculty member in a department. Even when the authors controlled for academic rank, the pattern of dissatisfaction among minority faculty remained powerful.

Most dissatisfied were black and Hispanic faculty members, who reported feeling the most singled out and alone in their departments.

Working to counteract such feelings of isolation, many psychology departments are seeking to hire more faculty of color and help them feel more connected. And in an effort to help, APA?s Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training in Psychology (CEMRRAT) has produced three booklets that offer advice on how to successfully diversify psychology departments (see the end of this article for information on how to receive them).

Minority first, scholar second

Discontentment is likely highest among solo minority faculty because 'the fewer of you there are, the more you stand out,' speculates Niemann. 'You?re treated differently because you?re seen first as a minority, and only second as a psychologist and researcher,' says Niemann.

In addition, solo faculty often feel pressured to represent their group on every departmental committee while still teaching a full load and producing stellar research?they work twice as hard in an effort to dispel negative racial stereotypes, she and Dovidio note. A lack of support from others in their group makes the burden even heavier, they say.

'[Solo faculty] feel like they?re in a glass house, being monitored all the time,' says Dovidio. 'There?s a dilemma here because a department may think it?s wonderful that they?ve hired one African-American person, but at the same time they may be putting that person at risk.'

Given the low number of minority faculty in psychology?less than 10 percent (see chart)?many find themselves alone in their departments, the authors say. A quarter of the African-American and Hispanic faculty in their study were lone minority representatives, compared with 15 percent of Asian-American faculty. African-Americans and Hispanics were the least satisfied, likely because they?re the most stigmatized minority groups, according to the study?s authors. By comparison, Asians were the most satisfied minority group, probably because they?re less often solo or the victims of negative stereotyping, say the authors.

According to data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 5 percent of all college and university faculty are black and 4 percent are Asian. The numbers for Hispanic faculty are slightly lower at 3 percent, and American Indian/Alaskan Native faculty trail behind at 0.4 percent.

Despite their low numbers, not all faculty of color have negative experiences, however, notes Samuel Turner, PhD, of the Medical University of South Carolina. Their experiences vary 'from person to person and across universities,' he says. Niemann and Dovidio agree, noting the several factors that mediate satisfaction: the number of faculty of color in the department, the extent to which the department values research on minority issues and the degree to which the department encourages connections with other minority faculty. Problems that are unique to a minority group?tokenism and overwork, for example?are often invisible to the majority group , say Dovidio and Niemann.

To avoid those experiences, and the accompanying lack of sympathy, many minority faculty gravitate toward positions either in highly integrated departments or, for African-Americans, in traditionally black universities, says Dovidio. When such positions aren?t available, however, they accept positions in less integrated departments, says Dovidio. And, considering the history of race relations in the United States, he says, they?re liable to ask, 'Why am I the only one?'

If they think they?re selected purely for race, they?ll doubt their own abilities. Likewise, if their colleagues think they?re selected for race, their colleagues may doubt their abilities as well, says Dovidio. There?s 'erosion on both sides,' he says.

Undervalued research

Some minority faculty also feel that their research on such issues as race relations, prejudice, racial identity and stereotypes is not valued as highly as more traditional research, such as cognition studies, says Niemann. One Asian-American faculty member at a major research university believes that the only reason he successfully won tenure and promotion is because he researches the mainstream issue of sexual aggression in addition to multicultural issues.

But minority faculty shouldn?t have to win credibility through mainstream research, says psychologist Ray Winbush, PhD, director of the Race Relations Institute at Fisk University. The fact that faculty conducting ethnic research risk negative tenure evaluations suggests that psychology 'maintains its roots in white supremacist ideology,' he says.

Connection and support

Also standing in the way of tenure?and their general happiness in academe?is the lack of connection many solo minority faculty feel to their colleagues.

'I was always the one bringing up ethnic-minority issues in meetings, and I got tired of wondering, ?Should I say this or are they just going to think, ?here she goes again,?' says Elizabeth Todd Bazemore, PhD, an American Indian psychologist, of her first two years at the University of South Dakota. Bazemore says she 'survived' by connecting with other minority faculty on APA?s CEMRRAT commission and with other Native-Americans in her community of Vermillion. Her department supported her efforts to make outside connections and recently awarded her tenure. Now, during staff meetings, her colleagues raise questions about recruiting ethnic-minority students and relating coursework to under-represented groups, which she finds gratifying.

Other minority faculty members also attest to the importance of making connections outside their department. For example, Adelbert Jenkins, PhD, an African-American psychologist at New York University, teaches courses on Africans and psychology through a partnership with the university?s African studies program. And Joseph Trimble, PhD, an American Indian psychologist at Western Washington University, says his participation in the Society for Indian Psychologists has been key to his happiness in the academy. Linked via the Internet, the group?s members support and advise one another on their career pursuits.

Departments should encourage their solo faculty to join such networks and also recognize minority faculty members? extra work on committees as well as the importance of their research, says Niemann. Not only does the limited presence of minority faculty in psychology fail to reflect the ethnic make-up of the larger population, but it compromises the field?s potential to attract students of color, say psychology educators.

'We need to address these issues because as long as [minority faculty] are solo and unhappy, we?ll keep losing them, and we can?t afford to do that,' says Niemann. 'The color of America is changing, and we need more psychologists of color to train future psychologists of color.'

For a copy of 'Surviving and Thriving in Academia: A Guide for Women and Ethnic Minorities,' a new publication from CEMRRAT and APA?s Committee on Women in Psychology, contact Susan Houston or Stephanie Olmstead-Dean, or call them at (202) 336-6044. For a copy of the other two CEMRRAT publications, 'Valuing Diversity' and 'How To Recruit and Hire Ethnic-Minority Faculty,' send an e-mail.