In the Academy, But Not at the Table

Nicholas D. Hartlep serves as Researcher-In-Residence at Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity (BranchED) and holds the Robert Charles Billings Endowed Chair in Education and is the Chair of the Education Studies Department at Berea College, USA.Fred A. Bonner II is a Texas A&M University System Regents Professor and holds the Wilhelmina Delco Endowed Chair in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling in the Whitlowe R. Green College of Education at Prairie View A&M University, USA.Janeula M. Burt is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Professional Studies at Bowie State University, USA.Keesha Greer-Effs is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Education Studies Department at Berea College, USA.

“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 is a raw, necessary, and unflinching examination of a reality that far too many scholars of color know intimately. The narratives in these pages reflect experiences I have witnessed repeatedly: talented, committed faculty pushed to the margins, worn down by hostile environments, and ultimately betrayed by the very institutions they sought to enrich and serve. Hartlep, Bonner, Burt, and Greer-Effs have assembled more than a collection of personal accounts; they have created both a mirror and a reckoning. These stories illuminate the persistent gap between higher education’s rhetoric of inclusion and its lived practices of exclusion. The result is a powerful testament to the resilience of marginalized faculty and a sobering indictment of the structures that continue to undermine their success. This book is essential reading for anyone who has ever felt invited into the academy but denied a seat at the table. It is equally a call to action for institutions committed to equity in word but not yet in deed, and a warning about the consequences of failing to align values with practice.”Tracey A. Benson, CEO & Founder of Tracey A. Benson Consulting and Anti-Racism Leadership Institute, Co-author of Unconscious Bias in Schools: A Developmental Approach to Exploring Race and Racism“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track is both a powerful testimony and an urgent indictment of the enduring structures of exclusion that continue to shape higher education. The contributors reveal what many institutions remain unwilling to confront: that access to the academy does not necessarily translate into belonging, influence, protection, or equitable opportunity. Through compelling narratives, the authors illuminate the psychological, emotional, professional, and physical toll exacted by environments that celebrate diversity symbolically while often resisting the transformative changes necessary for genuine inclusion. Yet this volume is not simply a chronicle of struggle. It is also a testament to resilience, collective wisdom, and the extraordinary ways marginalized scholars continue to lead, innovate, mentor, and transform institutions despite systemic barriers. This book should be required reading for graduate students, faculty, department chairs, deans, provosts, trustees, and policymakers. If we are serious about building institutions where excellence and equity coexist, we must first be willing to listen to the emic voices in these pages and confront the truths they so courageously share.”William A. Smith, Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair & Distinguished Professor, Huntsman Mental Health Institute, School of Medicine, University of Utah“In the Academy, But Not at The Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track is a definitive masterpiece that takes the reader a deeply personal yet theoretically sophisticated examination of institutional betrayal, academic gatekeeping, faculty belonging, and the professional vulnerability experienced by scholars of color. Through his development and application of concepts such as “(Dis)accumulation Theory,” “Know-Your-Place Aggression,” the “Invisible College,” and “Tall Poppy Syndrome,” Dr. Nicholas Hartlep gives language to experiences that many scholars have endured but have struggled to articulate. His brilliance is evident not merely in his command of theory, but in his ability to make complex systems of power understandable, relatable, and impossible to ignore. What moves me most about Dr. Hartlep’s writing is that his scholarship does not come from a detached place. It comes from conviction, lived experience, faith, and an unwavering commitment to justice. Even while recounting professional disappointment and institutional harm, he refuses to surrender his integrity or become consumed by bitterness. Instead, he transforms pain into testimony, exclusion into intellectual contribution, and adversity into a roadmap for those who will come after him. Here stands a man who understands that true leadership requires the courage to tell the truth, particularly when silence would be safer. He demonstrates that academic excellence is not only measured by publications, titles, or appointments, but also by one’s willingness to protect others, challenge injustice, and remain faithful to one’s purpose.Terrance J. Bolton, The Bolton Branch Consulting www.boltonbranch.com“In the midst of a national reckoning with the fragility of academic freedom, the weaponization of tenure, and the systematic erasure of equity commitments, this volume arrives as both a diagnosis and a testament. In the Academy, But Not at the Table does not simply document the familiar litany of grievances levied by marginalized faculty — it theorizes them, names them, and bears witness to the full cost of surviving the tenure track while being treated as perpetually provisional. The editors have assembled a chorus of voices that refuse the silence that institutions too often demand in exchange for the mirage of belonging. These chapters expose the hidden curriculum of gatekeeping, the violence of 'know-your-place aggression,' and the quiet machinery of network exclusion that operates beneath the surface of faculty handbooks and diversity statements. Yet for all of its unflinching honesty, this collection is not a catalog of despair. It is a manual for resistance, a blueprint for institutional courage, and a necessary intervention for anyone who believes that the academy can—and indeed must—become something other than what it has too often been. This is essential reading for graduate students, junior faculty, department chairs, deans, and every leader who has ever wondered why their equity commitments fail to translate into lived reality for the scholars they claim to support.”M. C. Brown II, Executive Director & Research Scientist, Dr. N. Joyce Payne Research Center, Thurgood Marshall College Fund“In the Academy, But Not at the Table: Voices of Marginalized Faculty on the Tenure Track creates a significant, critical space for those of us who do not identify as marginalized to listen, hear and act. Act by doing what, exactly? is one of the necessary questions I’ve grappled with since reviewing the text. Each chapter, through the voices of the authors, leads me to reevaluate the truisms I was socialized to believe, and consequently accepted, about careers in the academy. Through the combination of individual experiences within conditions that are baked into the foundations of higher education, we learn how the details vary, but the structure repeats. In the Academy, But Not at the Table is a space to sit with discomfort and recognition of in order to determine how we each—given our social locations—will act, in response. As I am reminded by Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, no, I can’t do everything, but I can do something. I’ve watched colleagues leave or flee higher education. I’ve seen colleagues be pushed out of higher education, and I’ve heard rationalizations of every type over the years. I’ve mourned missing colleagues and the work that was abandoned because of their departures. In the Academy, But Not at the Table affirms that their experiences were valid. Importantly, the autoethnographic chapters inform me, and affirm to me that, from my location in the academy, I am responsible to do my part in creating another table.”M. Shelley Thomas, Associate Professor and Assistant Department Chair, Elementary, Middle, and Secondary Teacher Education and Co-Director, UofL Cooperative Consortium for Transdisciplinary Social Justice Research University of Louisville

• PART I: The “On the Track, But Out of the Loop” Experiences of African American Scholars in U.S. Higher Education 1. Looking Back and Wondering How I Got Over: Strategies for a Path to Success on the Tenure Track for BIPOC Faculty 2. “Here They Come Y’all, Here They Come”: Why Black Faculty at PWIs Should Consider Teaching at HBCUs 3. Navigating Exclusion in Higher Education as a Black Male Professor with a Stuttering Disability 4. Setting the Tone: The Adventures of a Black Woman Protagonist in Search of a Sense of Belonging to Tenure 5. The Importance of Compassionate Leadership During Challenging Times: An Autoethnographic Reflection 6. From Mentorship to Sponsorship in Counselor Education: Using the ABCD Model to Support BIPOC Faculty Advancement PART II: The “On the Track, But Out of the Loop” Experiences of Asian/American Scholars in U.S. Higher Education 7. “The Ones Who Walk Away From Berea College”: Institutional Betrayal and the Mirage of Belonging in Higher Education 8. Speaking Out of Turn: Advocating for Visibility as a Japanese American Woman Through Promotion and Pregnancy 9. Racial Expulsion in Academia: Insights from an Asian/American Woman Scholar on Differential Promotion and Tenure Expectations at Predominantly White Institution 10. The Pragmatics of Language, Emotions, and Leadership: How Non-Native English Affects an Immigrant East Asian Woman’s Leadership PART III: The “On the Track, But Out of the Loop” Experiences of Latinx Scholars in U.S. Higher Education 11. The Beast of Academia and the Rat Race of Tenure and Promotion: A Latina’s Testimonio of Cultural Dissonance and Resistance 12. “Never Enough”: A Journey Through Linguistic Marginalization in Academia PART IV: The “On the Track, But Out of the Loop” Experiences of Indigenous Scholars in U.S. Higher Education 13. “When the Table No Longer Served Me”: The Power and Possibility of Life Beyond the Academy 14. Left in the Dark: The Real Cost of Supporting BIPOC Graduate Education at an R1 University 15. When Dreams Become Nightmares: Realizing the Horror and Harms of the Ivory Tower for an Indigenous Scholar PART V: The “On the Track, But Out of the Loop” Experiences of Diverse and LGBTQIA2SNQ+ Scholars in U.S. Higher Education 16. Academic Houses: Gay Black and Latino Men Serving Academic Realness 17. “In the Academy, But Not at the Table”: Mentorship, Belonging, and Survival for an Afro‑Caribbean, Queer, Neurodivergent Educator 18. t4t: Surviving Together as Trans Writers in Academia