Strained relations with white colleagues. Constantly having one’s credentials questioned. An unwieldy workload. Job insecurity. Lack of respect from white students. Cultural, social and professional alienation.
Many Black professors who teach on predominantly white campuses face these problems and more. Too often, the result is low morale, occasionally resulting in poor performance and, in some cases, the abandonment of the profession altogether.
Efforts to understand faculty morale are relatively new to higher education. This is because, to a partial degree, the problem of widespread low morale at colleges and universities is a recent phenomenon. In the past, although scholars never enjoyed the financial rewards of their corporate counterparts, they were at least accorded a high degree of public esteem and enjoyed the benefits of job security, autonomy, sabbatical, and summers off. Small numbers of disgruntled faculty could be found on any campus, but these malcontents usually left for other institutions. And, since most professors, administrators and students on most of the campuses in the country were white and male, homogeneity was the norm. But times have changed.
Shrinking financial resources for higher education, the public’s critical attitude toward scholarly pursuits, tension over affirmative action, and the escalating movement to eliminate tenure are eroding faculty morale. The morale of Black faculty, however, is being undermined in ways not experienced, and seldom understood, by their white male colleagues.
The Black Scholar’s Burden
According to Dr. Linda K. Johnsrud, author of “Maintaining Morale: A guide to assessing the morale of mid-level administrators and faculty,” morale is a multi-dimensional construct — “A level of well being that individuals or groups experience in reference to their work.” Morale is built with job satisfaction, commitment, enthusiasm, and a sense of common purpose, she said. The sense of meaninglessness, powerlessness, and social isolation, can erode it.
“African-American faculty often carry the burden of being viewed as affirmative action hires,” Johnsrud said. “You have to prove yourself in ways your white colleagues don’t.” Scholars in the field of Black studies have an added challenge, she said. “If you work in that area, not only do you have to do the scholarship, but then you have to justify its worth.”
