Date of Graduation
2013
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
Department
Leadership Studies
Program
Organization & Leadership EdD
First Advisor
Patricia Mitchell
Second Advisor
Betty Taylor
Third Advisor
Brian A. Gerrard
Abstract
Faculty members of color time and again encounter the greatest number of challenges and barriers (e.g., discrimination, isolation, marginalization, tokenism, inundated with workloads and service commitments, devalued research, and delayed promotion and tenure) in both entering academia and succeeding within academia.
The purpose of this study was to explore the personal and professional lived experiences of eight self-identified native-born Mexican-American and Chicana/o tenured and tenure-track faculty members employed at four California Catholic institutions of higher education.
This study utilized a qualitative narrative methodology employing the critical race tenets of counter-storytelling and the permanence of racism. Through use of this methodology, La Raza counter-story narratives shed light on various degrees of racism pertaining to their social and cultural climate, tenure and promotion process, and level of job satisfaction as ethnic minority faculty members in Catholic higher education.
Themes elicited from La Raza faculty narratives were compared against the associated master narratives. Although La Raza participants' lived experiences marginally substantiated previous findings related to faculty of color, their narratives enhanced limited findings with more depth and detail specific to Mexican-American and Chicana/o faculty in Catholic higher education.
In addition, La Raza faculty provided numerous recommendations to assist Mexican-American and Chicana/o scholars in their pursuit of academic careers in Catholic higher education; current Mexican-American and Chicana/o faculty toward tenure and promotion; and academic administrators in their recruitment, promotion, and retention of Mexican-American and Chicana/o faculty in Catholic higher education. Apparent in their counter-story narratives, each La Raza participant has made personal and professional commitments and contributions to sustain the cultures of both their self-identified ethnicity and of their university.
Recommended Citation
Serrano, F. V. (2013). Counter-Narratives of La Raza Voices: An Exploration of the Personal and Professional Lived Experiences of Mexican-American/Chicana/O Faculty at California Catholic Institutions of Higher Education. Retrieved from https://repository.usfca.edu/diss/60
