For the second year in a row, the International Colloquium on Black Males in Education kicked off by giving space to Black women in the academy to convene to discuss the challenges unique to Black women in a space that is overwhelmingly White and male.
The Black Female Forum, sponsored by Sisters of the Academy, highlighted a staggering truth: Black women represent 3% of college and university faculty, and 5% of college presidents.
“Sadly, it’s 2019 and we’re still talking about firsts,” said Dr. Tamara Bertrand Jones, president of Sisters of the Academy and associate professor of Higher Education and interim chair of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Florida State University.
“Being the ‘only’ of anything is really tiring, and it gets old really quickly,” said Dr. Joan Prince, vice chancellor for global inclusion and engagement at the University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee.
The women who have blazed trails as firsts in the academy said the key to being able to persist on a journey that is often more struggle than reward requires an immense grounding in self, and an understanding that prioritizing one’s self is not selfish, but necessary.
“You’ve got to figure out how your ‘what’ and your ‘how’ get you to where you want to be — so much of doing work is doing it so people feel whole, helps everyone grow, that empowers,” said Michelle Nettles, Chief People and Culture Officer at Manpower Group during the forum’s opening session.
Dr. Artanya Wesley, dean of students at the University of Wisconsin — Whitewater, said it is really important for Black women in particular to “celebrate the small wins, because this work can be exhausting at times, and the load can be heavy.” And find some balance, she said. “When I show up at work, I give 100%, but I love who I am outside of my job. My work does not define who I am; everything outside of it defines me.”
