Purpose:The purpose of this study was to explore African American and White female faculty members' perceptions about tenure and promotion processes at research universities. As more women enter the ranks of academia, the difficulties encountered toward attainment of tenure continue to prevail, specifically for African American women. It is hoped that the information and knowledge garnered from this study will be instrumental in providing university administrators with practical options to recruit, retain, promote, and offer tenure to a more diverse faculty. Method: This phenomenological study examined the experiences and perceptions of nine full-time female faculty members at the rank of associate professor or higher from public research universities with high or very high research activity to determine what impact specific factors may have had or continue to have on their efforts for attaining promotion and tenure. A nine question, on-line open-ended questionnaire on the "SurveyMonkey"™ website was utilized. Major Findings: The nine full-time female professors that participated in this study emerged as intelligent, strong, determined, and persistent women who expressed a strong desire to be successful in scholarship, teaching, service, and research. The data revealed all of the participants (100%) perceived inequities expressed toward them in the form of gender discrimination and/or race discrimination. The participant responses revealed four emerging themes: difficulty in balancing family and career obligations; feelings of marginalization, difficulty in navigating the promotion and tenure processes in academia; and the persistent and sustained social constructs of sexism and racism in academia. The results of this study indicate a need for research universities to increase efforts in the areas of mentoring and networking for women, valuing minority scholarship, and initiating positive changes in the current institutional climate and culture toward women. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]