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ERIC Number: EJ1222642
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 20
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0882-4843
EISSN: N/A
The Hidden Costs of Serving Our Community: Women Faculty of Color, Racist Sexism, and False Security in a Hispanic-Serving Institution
B. A. L.
Feminist Teacher: A Journal of the Practices, Theories, and Scholarship of Feminist Teaching, v27 n2-3 p176-195 2017
In this article, the author considers the ways racial and gender oppression uniquely impact the experiences of women faculty of color working at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). HSIs are federally defined as accredited, not-for-profit two- or four-year institutions of higher learning whose total full-time student enrollment is at least 25 percent Latin@, and whose Latin@ population is at least 50 percent economically underprivileged (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities). Examining her own experience at one HSI, the author argues that lack of institutional Hispanic identity contributes to a climate in which white and Latino male students feel more comfortable disrespecting Latina faculty. In essence, racist patriarchy becomes the idiom through which students navigate their cultural marginalization within the university. The overwhelmingly assimilationist educational project pursued at the institution helps reinforce the existing mentality that women faculty of color are inherently less legitimate, competent, and valuable because of their race and gender. The educational reproduction of systemic racial and gender oppression allows, even encourages, male students--white and Latino alike--to disrespect women faculty of color. By negating the unique cultural knowledge, social experiences, and academic needs of Latino students, a HSI without a clear commitment to Hispanic heritage of its students can reinforce the dominant status of men more generally, and white men in particular. This institutional culture, by promoting a culture of ethnic self-hatred, emboldens white-identified students to attack professors whose pedagogical approaches challenge white supremacy while encouraging Latino students to emulate racialized patriarchal behavior. Herein, the author discusses how her identity as a woman, a Latina, and a professor clashed with the institutional values and departmental curriculum in ways that elicited both faculty and student aggressions.
University of Illinois Press. 1325 South Oak Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6903. Tel: 217-244-0626; Fax: 217-244-8082; e-mail: journals@uillinois.edu; Web site: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals.php
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A