Helping minority faculty thrive

By Henry Tomes, PhD
Executive Director for the Public Interest

Much has been made of the importance of increasing and valuing diversity in all aspects of psychology. Understanding of individual and group differences should lead to greater accommodations and inclusion of persons who represent those differences within our profession. Along those lines, the Public Interest Directorate is pleased to announce the release of an important publication aimed at helping minority psychologists who aspire to faculty positions.

'Surviving & Thriving in Academia: A Guide for Women and Ethnic Minorities' is focused on helping women and minorities survive and progress in situations where they may face insensitivity. However, the guide should prove helpful for all psychologists who need guidance and support as they begin careers at the bottom of the academic 'food chain.'

'Surviving' was developed by APA?s Committee on Women in Psychology (CWP) and the APA Commission on Ethnic Minority Recruitment, Retention and Training in Psychology (CEMRRAT). The Office of Women?s Programs, directed by Dr. Gwendolyn Puryear Keita, staffs CWP. CEMRRAT was appointed by Dr. Ronald Fox during his APA presidency and is staffed by the Office of Ethnic Minority Affairs (OEMA) directed by Dr. Bertha Holliday. Many people have their 'fingerprints' on this document, but Drs. Angela Ginorio, Barbara Yee and Martha Banks from CWP, and Dr. Beth Todd-Bazemore of CEMRRAT, are primarily responsible. CEMRRAT was ably chaired by Dr. Richard Suinn, who becomes APA?s president in 1999.

Helpful tips

'Surviving' provides helpful ideas about selecting that first job, and points to departmental expectations of new faculty, particularly new women or minority faculty. It also provides tips on how to use campus visits, and lists sources of information to evaluate these employment opportunities. For example, a department or school that has no ethnic-minority and/or women faculty, or has no women or minority students or graduates, would seem to be an unlikely place to start a career in academic psychology. On a more subtle note, departments that have hired and repeatedly 'lost' ethnic-minority and women faculty would also seem risky places to initiate careers in psychology.

Recognizing that academic jobs, even problematic ones, are hard to find, the guide provides some questions that aspiring women and minority faculty should answer before to entering potentially career-threatening situations. The guide attempts to make clear the need to perform in a manner appropriate to specific academic situations in order to be promoted and receive tenure.

Appropriateness is probably idiosyncratic to the institution, but typically includes a great deal of teaching, at one end of the scale, and research, publications and teaching, in that order, at research universities. One should be clear about what the rules are and how the promotion and tenure process works both formally and informally. For ethnic-minority and women faculty members particularly, knowing the formal rules and not knowing the informal process may lead to frustration and failure to move ahead.

Of course, racism or sexism may make it difficult to participate fully in the informal processes. As sometimes happens, faculty members, after having fulfilled the institutional expectations, believe they have been unfairly denied promotions or tenure. Most universities have appeal bodies in order to ensure that unfair decisions are reviewed, but there are institutions in which it appears that academic justice is blinded for certain groups of people. In these instances, it is important to access legal advice on an appropriate course of action. The guide stresses how difficult it is for individuals to take on the 'establishment,' but also stresses the benefit to self and others when injustices are corrected.

Who should read 'Surviving'

CWP and CEMRRAT developed the guide for ethnic minorities and women who aspire to or are in academic situations. But deans, department chairs, program chairs, section heads, senior faculty and others may find it useful in helping them create challenging, nurturing academic environments and reducing barriers to the recruitment and retention of talented faculty who may be women or people of color. In some instances, perusal of 'Survival' by people in positions of responsibility could create faculties in which diversity is valued for its contribution in furthering academic excellence, not just in the breach.

'Surviving & Thriving in Academia: A Guide for Women and Ethnic Minorities' may be ordered at www.apa.org/pi or by calling (202) 336-6029.