The purpose of this study is to explore the reflections, experiences, and perspectives of Black junior faculty as they find their voice and identity within the academy. This study integrates concepts of resiliency (Prince-Embury, 2011), Afrocentric thought (Johnson, 2001), and faculty socialization and fit (Bilyalov, 2018; Richards & Templin, 2018; Thandi-Sule, 2014) to formulate a faculty enculturation framework. Employing a qualitative approach informed by narrative and ethnographic principles, we seek to know how Black junior faculty navigate predominantly White institutions of higher education (PWIs). As a fictional re-storying, we utilize thematic analysis to integrate the shared experiences of Black junior faculty. This study finds four essential themes that capture the shared experiences of Black Junior faculty at PWIs: (a) dual battles, (b) microinvalidations, (c) doctoral socialization, and (d) protected spaces. The findings of this study provide implications to university administration to reimagine organizational engagement and faculty socialization.

Many institutions of higher education have failed in their attempts to retain talented African-American faculty. Efforts that are hyper-focused on increasing the number of Black hires will not capture desired outcomes. Simply checking the diversity box is not enough to support Black faculty in their persistence for careers in higher education. Equity and inclusion should be at the forefront of cultivating solutions to have a significant impact on retention. While equity provides faculty opportunities and access to resources, inclusion demands a sense of belonging and facilitates participation. These are actionable processes that require intentional efforts to support the success of all faculty. Providing these essential components situate current and potential Black faculty so that they are comfortable accessing the resources and opportunities afforded to their White counterparts. This chapter provides practical strategies to enact systemic change in institutional policies and practices to support the retention of Black faculty.

This chapter will explore the narratives and experiences of a Black male full-time faculty member at a community college. The chapter will delve into my experiences as a Black faculty in part-time (adjunct) positions and my current full-time tenure-track faculty position. This chapter will examine my challenges and successes as a Black man who teaches, call out the structural issues that need to be addressed, and call in the folks who seek opportunities to aid in the fight for accountability, equity, and peace. Lastly, this chapter will provide strategies that would be helpful to both Black and non-Black faculty, with some intentional recommendations for administration to aid in the fight for equity and peace.

In a research study exploring whether educators of returning adult students changed their teaching approaches to meet their students’ needs, an unexpected finding emerged (Allen, 2018). Faculty reported that race had a direct impact on how they interact with their students. This was an unprompted yet vital finding in a study where more than half of the participants were people of color (nine identified as Black and one as Hispanic). This chapter adds to adult learning literature by exhibiting the perspectives of Black faculty who educate returning adult students. It further explores how and why some Black faculty at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) individualize their teaching approaches (delivery, communication style, and content) based on the race/ethnicity of their students. It ends with suggested faculty: diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and retention strategies for leaders and decision makers in higher education.

This chapter explores the challenges Black women face in the US academy as outsiders within these institutional spaces. The author situates the discussion in the relevant literature as well as her experiences as a foreign-born Black faculty member in a predominantly White US higher education context. Beyond problem identification, the chapter advances an application of autoethnography as a useful strategy for inviting White women and others of difference into the space of this lived experience. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how the process of engaging in autoethnographic work has the capacity to change us as relational individuals within communities, and the ways in which this work can provoke participants to act to create more equitable and inclusive academic spaces.