In the trenches: just trying to make it as black men in early career faculty roles

Abstract

At all levels of education, deficit models and negative narratives about Black men prevail. For many Black men, negative messages, associated feelings of isolation, and inherent racism perpetrated by faculty, students, and administrators contributed to their long-term experience of racial microaggressions throughout their educational journeys, including faculty careers. This study explores how Black men in early career faculty roles have navigated the academia in this study. Interviews seven early career faculty reaffirm the well-documented difficulties associated with racism, marginalization, and solitude in the academy. Their counternarratives demonstrate the systemic racism in Black men's socialization experiences as early career faculty. Recommendations are made to improve the inclusiveness, responsiveness, and transformative nature of academic environments for Black men serving as early career faculty.

Keywords:

• Faculty
• racism
• socialization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jesse R. Ford

Jesse R. Ford, Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education, 488 School of Education Building, 1300 Spring Garden Street, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402. Email: [email protected]