Award Date

December 2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Sociology

First Committee Member

Christie Batson

Second Committee Member

Robert Futrell

Third Committee Member

Michael Borer

Fourth Committee Member

Kenyon Whitman

Number of Pages

303

Abstract

Previous research has examined the racialized experiences of Black/African American faculty at predominantly White colleges and universities through the lenses of critical race theory, identity theory, and emotion management theory. However, these studies have given limited attention to the impact of Whiteness on the lived and emotional experiences of Black faculty in these spaces, as well as the perception and enforcement of professionalism based on White values and norms. This dissertation addresses this gap by conducting thirty-one semi-structured, in-depth interviews with self-identifying Black or African American academic faculty (e.g., adjunct, tenure-track, and tenured professors) currently employed at four-year predominantly White institutions (PWIs) from 2021-2022. It explores Black faculty’s perceptions of professionalism, their choices to conform or resist, and the emotional labor involved by using Erving Goffman's self-presentation strategies and Arlie Hochschild's concepts of emotion management and emotional labor. My dissertation argues that Black academic faculty at PWIs endure a racialized professional performance, including self-presentation and emotional labor strategies to conform or resist White standards of professionalism. It explores how Black faculty navigate these standards while maintaining their Blackness and Black authenticity in a majority-White workplace. My study also explores a range of their negative and positive emotive experiences and examines the factors that contribute to their emotional labor while working at PWIs. My research contributes to the existing knowledge by shedding light on the perpetuation of Whiteness in PWIs and its reinforcement of established norms and standards of professionalism in higher education. By situating their experiences within the norms of the racialized environment, my study provides valuable insights into the challenges faced by Black academic faculty, their sources of empowerment, and offers potential strategies for navigating such environments, thereby contributing to the recruitment and retention of Black faculty in higher education.

Keywords

Black faculty; Emotional labor; Higher Education; Professionalism; Self-presentation; Standards and standardization

Disciplines

African American Studies | American Studies | Education | Race and Ethnicity | Sociology

File Format

pdf

File Size

1720 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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Available for download on Tuesday, December 15, 2026


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