Who Cares? Black Women as Contingent Faculty and the Leadership Imperative of Labor Justice

Abstract

The changing tide of faculty has brought with it increasing numbers of faculty members serving in non-tenure-track roles. Scholars have argued this increase in contingent faculty includes an increase in inequities and has created a stratified class system between tenure-track faculty (TTF) and non-tenure-track faculty (NTTF). The majority of NTTF numbers comprise women of Color, across race and ethnicity, serving in both full-time and adjunct capacities. The cultural, historical, and sociopolitical occupation of women of Color in higher education has been rife with inequity, marginalization, and oppression.  In addition to their duties across rank and appointment, women of Color faculty are more likely to take up the labor of care. Labor concerns have been raised in the both the literature of contingent faculty and women of Color faculty. Yet, few scholars have systematically studied the experiences or overlapping systems of oppression women of Color who are NTTF faculty face in the academy. Fewer still have examined the specific experiences of Black women faculty serving in contingent roles.  For our study, we used a conceptual framework comprising Black feminist thought, care work, and labor justice to analyze scholarly personal narratives  and focus group interviews of four Black women serving in full-time NTTF roles. Our study aims to provide a window into the intersected realities Black women contingent faculty members within the academy and a pathway forward for academic leadership.