Faculty of Color and the Tenure Process in Academia
This paper critically reviews Diggs, Garrison-Wade, Estrada, and Galindo's 2009 article "Smiling Faces and Colored Spaces," which investigates the challenges faced by faculty of color pursuing tenure at a predominantly white research institution. The review outlines the article's central research questions, theoretical grounding in Critical Race Theory, and mixed methodology combining a literature review with a qualitative self-study. Key findings identify race, ethnicity, and gender as significant barriers to tenure, producing experiences of marginalization, alienation, and difficulty in professional performance. Themes of mentoring, safe space, academic identity, and confronting diversity emerge as focal points of challenge. The review also evaluates the article's strengths and limitations.
- Introduction and Problem Statement: Race, gender, and tenure barriers for minority faculty
- Research Questions and Context: Impact of demographics on minority faculty retention
- Theoretical Frameworks and Methodology: Critical Race Theory, literature review, and self-study
- Main Findings: Racism, alienation, mentoring, and safe space themes
- Implications of the Research: Need for dedicated spaces and mentoring support
- Strengths, Weaknesses, and Audience: Sincere but stylistically uneven; useful for administrators
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What makes this paper effective
- Follows a clear, structured format that walks through each component of the source article methodically — problem, questions, methodology, findings, implications, and critique.
- Integrates direct quotations from Diggs et al. (2009) to substantiate each analytical point, grounding the review in textual evidence rather than paraphrase alone.
- Offers an honest evaluative conclusion that identifies both strengths (sincerity, exhaustive literature review) and weaknesses (prose quality), demonstrating critical engagement rather than simple summary.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates article critique writing, a common undergraduate exercise requiring students to move beyond summary to evaluation. The author isolates the article's theoretical framework (Critical Race Theory) and methodology (literature review plus qualitative self-study), then assesses whether those tools adequately illuminate the research questions — a hallmark of competent critical review.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized around six guiding prompts that correspond to standard article-review criteria: problem identification, research questions, methodology, findings, implications, and overall assessment. Each section is self-contained but builds logically toward the final evaluative judgment. This scaffold makes the argument easy to follow and reflects an undergraduate-level response to a structured assignment.
Introduction and Problem Statement
The primary problem addressed in this article is the difficulties faced by members of historic minority groups attempting to maintain careers in academia. Specifically, the article examines common scenarios that befall faculty members "of color" (Diggs et al., 2009, p. 312) as they strive to achieve tenure. The authors also consider the effect that gender has on such faculty members, drawing frequent comparisons between the experiences of minorities and women and those of Caucasian men. The inherent differences arising from these demographic dissimilarities form the core of the discussion. From this perspective, the problem addressed is the effect of race, ethnicity, and sex on individuals in academic positions within higher education.
Research Questions and Context
The main research question concerns what impact race and ethnicity have on members of historic minority groups attempting to secure long-term faculty positions within scholastic settings. This question is explored within the context of university and collegiate environments in which those of European descent form the majority. The researchers seek to determine what effects demographic differences have on minority faculty members and how those differences factor into the retention of such individuals in academia. They also aim to identify which specific impediments confront these faculty members in predominantly white institutional environments (Diggs et al., 2009, p. 313).
References
Diggs, G., Garrison-Wade, D., Estrada, D., & Galindo, R. (2009). Smiling faces and colored spaces: The experiences of faculty of color pursuing tenure in the academy. Urban Review, 41(4), 312–333. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-008-0113-y
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