In the Academy, but Not at the Table

“The battle is tough, but it is not yours alone. Those who mentor you, those who nurtured you along the way, those outside the academy who offer wisdom, are there to help you fight as well. One of the most effective weapons of those who deem us enemies is to convince us that we are alone and isolated in silos of silence and invisibility. This book is a huge help. It is a wonderful weapon in the hands of scholars involved in the battle for self-recognition and self-respect. And tenure too. Read it. Absorb it. Pass it along. And help shape the fortunes and fate of those who sojourn by your side and those who will come behind you.”

Michael Eric Dyson, University Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University

“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track compiles narratives of experiences of marginalized academics pursuing tenure and garnering authenticity. The voices in the book speak to the struggles as well as the creative ways in which contributors have navigated hegemonic academic spaces, unspoken rules, and hidden hurdles. The courage of the editors and contributors to reflect and share their trajectories is highly commendable. The volume is a must read for all graduate students, faculty as well as leaders of higher education institutions.”

Mangala Subramaniam, Independent Researcher and Consultant, Former Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Sociology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Editor of Navigating Careers in Higher Education, Purdue University Press Book Series

“In the midst of intensifying attacks on diversity in education--from dismantling affirmative action and the federal Department of Education to censoring racial/gender justice curriculum and demonizing anything ‘DEI” – the voices of marginalized faculty like these are integral for collectively naming this moment and strategizing our intervention. In the Academy, But Not at the Table shares the singular journeys of struggle, vulnerability, fierceness, and insight of a beautiful range of faculty of color and queer/trans faculty as they help us to make sense of this moment, our institutions, and the potential for change. Read and share this book today!”

Kevin K. Kumashiro,Author of Against Common Sense: Teaching and Learning toward Social Justice, 4th Edition

“In the Academy, But Not at the Table arrives at a moment when higher education seems to be turning away from the experiences it has too long ignored. This vital collection centers the voices of marginalized faculty navigating the tenure track, scholars who have earned their place in the academy yet must continually fight for inclusion within it. With honesty, rigor, and courage, the contributors illuminate the gap between institutional espousals and the daily realities of exclusion, invisibility, and shifting goalposts. This is essential reading not just for those who see themselves in these pages, but for every department chair, dean, and senior colleague who shapes the conditions under which junior faculty sink, survive, or thrive.”

Noelle W. Arnold, Senior Associate Dean and Professor, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University

“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track is a moving and deeply important volume that brings critical attention to the experiences of faculty whose identities have been historically marginalized in U.S. higher education. It stands out for the breadth of voices gathered here and by the care with which the editors have shaped this collection. These essays are honest, insightful, and deeply resonant. The result is a resource that faculty members and administrators alike should return to as they work to create institutions where all faculty can truly thrive.”

Beth Rushing, President, Appalachian College Association

“The hidden curriculum in higher education has long been a driving force of inequity and a persistent obstacle that many faculty must continue to navigate, often with little to no systemic guidance. Despite the academy often presenting itself as a bastion of openness (to thought, to writings, to debate), the lived experiences of faculty—especially faculty from marginalized groups—expressed throughout In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track raise considerable insight into the persistent hidden and null curriculum of the tenure-track job. Exploring the hidden and null curriculum through the lens of exclusion, resistance, and resilience, authors share important lessons for the reader but, also, vital insights into higher education that we, and our institutions, ought to receive with humility and immediately begin the work of shedding a light on the hidden curriculum and reimagine mentorship to render the null curriculum as no more.”

T. Jameson Brewer, Professor of Social Foundations of Education, University of North Georgia

“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track is a bold and urgent testament to the enduring realities of racism, exclusion, and inequity embedded within higher education. This compelling collection amplifies the voices of marginalized faculty who navigate institutions that often celebrate diversity rhetorically while perpetuating systems that silence, isolate, and undervalue scholars of color and other historically excluded groups. Through deeply personal narratives and critical reflection, the contributors expose the hidden costs of surviving the tenure track while confronting racism, tokenism, sexism, cultural taxation, gatekeeping, and institutional resistance to change. Yet, amid these challenges, the authors illuminate resilience, resistance, community, and the unwavering pursuit of justice within the academy. This volume is more than a collection of stories—it is a call to action for institutions to confront systemic racism honestly and to create academic spaces where equity, humanity, and belonging are not aspirational ideals, but lived realities.”

Erinn Fears Floyd, Gifted Education Scholar, Advocate, and Consultant, Co-Managing Editor of Gifted Child Today, Founder, Equity and Excellence in Education, LLC

“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track examines the systemic barriers within higher education that have hindered the employment advancement of BIPOC populations. Although shifting social conditions and evolving institutional expectations have created limited progress toward tenure and promotion, many administrators and supervisors responsible for implementing higher education policies continue to obstruct meaningful advancement. The book confronts the long-standing inequities embedded within higher education and challenges the systems that continue to marginalize BIPOC faculty and staff. It critically analyzes the strategies institutions use to preserve the status quo, often benefiting from BIPOC labor at minimal institutional cost—paralleling the exploitative dynamics of sharecropping. Furthermore, the text seeks to uncover discriminatory practices and illuminate the ways bias is mobilized to impede or deny tenure and promotion opportunities for BIPOC faculty and staff.”

Larry C. Bryant, Assistant Professor of Special Education, University of Texas, Arlington

“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track offers a powerful and deeply touching collection of narratives that expose the structural inequities of US higher education while illuminating the creative, courageous ways minoritized scholars navigate and resist them. Across diverse institutional and geographical contexts, the volume gathers voices of faculty whose intersecting identities position them in ways the academy rarely acknowledges or supports. The contributors do more than recount the dilemmas of the tenure track. They theorize their experiences, name the hidden curriculum that gatekeeps belonging, and chart intersectional pathways of resistance toward a more inclusive and humane academy. In the current political climate, where diversity, equity, and inclusion in education face intensifying attacks, this is essential reading for graduate students, faculty, administrators, and anyone committed to transforming higher education from within.”

Wenyang Sun, Associate Professor of Education, University of Utah

“Deeply moving... my eyes and my soul were glued to the pages as I read every word. Not only did I feel seen, reading these narratives felt like both power and pain, a church sermon and a funeral eulogy, promise and failure. Rather than describing pain just for the sake of it, this publication truly provides thoughtful mechanisms for the repair and re-imagination of higher education. This book interrupts complacency and exposes the complicit behaviors of U.S. higher education doing ‘business as usual’ for marginalized faculty members. Structures which secretly value mediocrity over merit, and reward cronyism and isolation over acumen or productivity. In this current political climate, it is important that everyone is allowed to come to the table not only as our whole resplendent selves, but also as a community. In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track is a must read for those who need to pause, reflect, heal, move forward, and lead.”

Valeisha Ellis, Associate Professor, Delaware State University

“The familiar adage, ‘If you are not at the table, you are on the menu,’ takes on profound meaning in In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track. Across these chapters, contributors illuminate the many ways the Academy marks, excludes, and diminishes faculty because of race, language, gender, sexuality, disability, and other dimensions of identity. Yet these narratives are not merely stories of harm; they are testimonies of endurance, agency, and hard-won wisdom. With striking honesty and vulnerability, each author reveals what it means to navigate institutions that too often fail to recognize their full humanity. This volume is essential reading for graduate students, junior faculty, mentors, and academic leaders who seek to understand the realities marginalized scholars may face—and the strategies they use to persist, resist, and thrive. Readers are invited not only to witness these stories, but to reconsider who has been denied a seat, who has been misread as expendable, and who, despite it all, has transformed survival into scholarly power. I highly recommend this book!”

Michelle Frazier Trottman Scott, Professor, Assistant Dean, and Interim Chair of Counseling, Higher Education, and Speech-Language Pathology, College of Education, University of West Georgia

“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track is an important contribution to the existing research on marginalized faculty in tenure-track positions. Contributing scholars examine closely both the invitation they receive to be tenure-track faculty positions in higher education, and the ways in which those same institutions put into place gate-keeping mechanisms and obstacles that make it difficult for these same faculty to succeed in those same institutions and keep their ‘seat at the table.’ The contributing authors write critically and powerfully about the ways in which they hope to continue to transform higher education by their work and presence, and the ways in which these same institutions must change the ways in which they operate. This book is an important read for graduate students who are preparing to enter academia, for faculty who have just started their careers, and for department chairs, deans, and university administrators who can learn deeply from the experiences and reflections of marginalized faculty who have carried the weight of exclusion and isolation for far too long. Change is needed in higher education for marginalized faculty on the tenure-track, and the authors of this book provide a clarion call for action and a catalyst for that much needed change.”

Kevin Roxas, Dean and Professor, Woodring College of Education, Western Washington University, Editor of Multicultural Perspectives

“When I entered my doctoral studies a few semesters ago, it was with full and complete belief in bell hooks’ description of the classroom as the most radical space of possibility in the academy. As I progressed to candidacy, I found myself observing that the same structures of oppression I came to the academy to fight with the stories I could tell were reinforced in the academy’s own classrooms. In conversation with colleagues, mentors, and friends I found myself wondering whether my ambition to join the academy as a professor, the very reason I entered the doctoral program, was a goal I cared to continue to pursue. I am indebted to the authors, editors, and mentors who have contributed to In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track; their voices, stories, and scholarship offer a foundation on which I can build – if I care to fight for my seat at the table come graduation day.”

Sophie Gallagher, Doctoral Student, California State University, Long Beach

“At its core, In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track is a prophetic call for higher education to reckon with its contradictions and a powerful reminder that the flourishing of marginalized scholars cannot occur without truth, justice, accountability, institutional integrity, and structural change. The contributors to this seminal text recount what it means to labor within the metaphorical plantation of American higher education as its house continues to burn. The contributors unapologetically acknowledge the expectations to contribute, serve, and lead, yet they are frequently denied full belonging, recognition, authority, and power. This is an essential reading for faculty, administrators, trustees, and policymakers. This brilliant tome challenges readers not merely to diversify the academy, but to transform it into a place where all scholars can thrive, belong, and contribute without sacrificing their identities, dignity, well-being, or sense of purpose.”

Sydney Freeman, Jr.,President and Chief Research Scientist, Dr. Freeman, LLC

“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track