Written/Unwritten: Diversity and the Hidden Truths of Tenure

Written/Unwritten: Diversity and the Hidden Truths of Tenure

by Patricia A. Matthew (Editor)
Written/Unwritten: Diversity and the Hidden Truths of Tenure

Written/Unwritten: Diversity and the Hidden Truths of Tenure

by Patricia A. Matthew (Editor)

Paperback(New Edition)

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Overview

The academy may claim to seek and value diversity in its professoriate, but reports from faculty of color around the country make clear that departments and administrators discriminate in ways that range from unintentional to malignant. Stories abound of scholars—despite impressive records of publication, excellent teaching evaluations, and exemplary service to their universities—struggling on the tenure track. These stories, however, are rarely shared for public consumption. Written/Unwritten reveals that faculty of color often face two sets of rules when applying for reappointment, tenure, and promotion: those made explicit in handbooks and faculty orientations or determined by union contracts and those that operate beneath the surface. It is this second, unwritten set of rules that disproportionally affects faculty who are hired to "diversify" academic departments and then expected to meet ever-shifting requirements set by tenured colleagues and administrators. Patricia A. Matthew and her contributors reveal how these implicit processes undermine the quality of research and teaching in American colleges and universities. They also show what is possible when universities persist in their efforts to create a diverse and more equitable professorate. These narratives hold the academy accountable while providing a pragmatic view about how it might improve itself and how that improvement can extend to academic culture at large.

The contributors and interviewees are Ariana E. Alexander, Marlon M. Bailey, Houston A. Baker Jr., Dionne Bensonsmith, Leslie Bow, Angie Chabram, Andreana Clay, Jane Chin Davidson, April L. Few-Demo, Eric Anthony Grollman, Carmen V. Harris, Rashida L. Harrison, Ayanna Jackson-Fowler, Roshanak Kheshti, Patricia A. Matthew, Fred Piercy, Deepa S. Reddy, Lisa Sanchez Gonzalez, Wilson Santos, Sarita Echavez See, Andrew J. Stremmel, Cheryl A. Wall, E. Frances White, Jennifer D. Williams, and Doctoral Candidate X.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781469627717
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date: 11/07/2016
Edition description: New Edition
Pages: 332
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Patricia A. Matthew is associate professor of English at Montclair State University.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

I don't think there has been a more important higher education book in the last thirty years than Patricia Matthew's Written/Unwritten, which obliterates the notion that all we need in our nation's colleges and universities is more black and brown professors. In pieces that are at once brilliantly personal and critical, Matthew and her contributors show us how professors of color, and primarily black women professors, are critiqued and disciplined so much more harshly while being asked to do work their male colleagues would never be asked to do. We've been waiting generations for this book. This book will change the way evaluation and value are ritualized at America's colleges and universities."—Kiese Laymon, author of Long Division and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America

Written/Unwritten: Tenure and Race in the Humanities is a game changer in the burgeoning public conversation on diversity in the humanities. This fine collection will sit on the table in my office to be perused, jotted in the margins, and possibly 'stolen' by students and junior colleagues because it is the sort of work that can shift a person's perspective and save more than careers."—Jafari Allen, author of iVenceremos?: The Erotics of Black Self-making in Cuba

Through the voices of faculty of color who have endured the rigors of the tenure and promotion process, Patricia Matthew's valuable book gives academics an opportunity to reflect on how to deal with experiences of marginalization and a noninclusive workplace environment." —Dwayne Mack, Berea College, co-editor of Beginning a Career in Academia: A Guide for Graduate Students of Color

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