“The failure of many top schools to make significant progress on diversity can mean that institutions are relying too heavily on a tiny fraction of the higher education community to smooth over racial problems. For academics of color, especially those vying for tenure, this added responsibility can hurt their careers.
New research backs up previous studies that suggest professors of color may be imperiling their tenure and promotion prospects by performing service work to help their institutions become more racially inclusive. It’s common knowledge in academic circles that publishing papers and acquiring research dollars are the most valuable activities for moving up the higher education ladder. Scholars who excel at research tend to get academic tenure.
On the contrary, professional work tied to improving diversity – such as building opportunity pipelines, recruiting and mentoring — are discountable. A study out this year, found that marginalized professors spent twice as much time mentoring, recruiting and “serving on various task forces,” than their White male counterparts. Higher education experts say that these activities take away time that could be applied to the more career-accelerating work of publishing.”
FB: “Aside from time consumption, this added work can also be isolating. Stephens echoed a familiar sentiment among professors of color who said that dealing with race issues that placed them in heated conversations with their colleagues and affected their working relationships.”
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