Learning the Game: A Narrative Inquiry Into Tenure-Track Black Women Faculty’s Perceptions of Institutional Support

The first Black woman professor in the U.S. was hired in 1859, yet Black women are still underrepresented in faculty roles and experience the academy in unique ways. While Black women faculty offer special contributions to research, teaching, and service rooted in their Blackness and womanhood; unfortunately, certain barriers to their professional success exist that, if unaddressed, result in their departure from the academy, and therein lies the problem. The purpose of this narrative study was to investigate the ways Black women faculty on the tenure track author their experiences in the academy based on their perceptions of support from the institutions where they work. Using Black feminist thought and perceived organizational support as frameworks, this study’s data was collected through individual interviews and journal entries from six Black women faculty on the tenure track at 4-year Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) in Texas. Four themes emerged from the data: the participants’ (1) foundational narratives, (2) positive perceptions of support, (3) negative perceptions of support, and (4) response to institutional support or the lack thereof. The study’s findings contributed to recommendations that support a change in behavior for higher education administrators, encouragement for new and aspiring Black women faculty on the tenure-track, and the underresearched area of Black women faculty’s experiences at HSIs.