The Workplace Environment for African-American Faculty Employed in Predominately White Institutions

ABNF J. 2016 Spring;27(2):28-38.

Abstract

Diversity in academia requires attention, especially with the expected increase in minority populations in the United States (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, (AACN) 2014). Despite theoretical papers that suggest that several challenges are encountered by minority faculty employed in predominately White institutions, a dearth of research on this topic has been published. The purpose of this literature review was to analyze the published research that addressed the workplace environment of African-American faculty employed in predominately White institutions. In utilizing the keywords in various combinations, 236 articles were retrieved through multiple databases. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 15 studies were reviewed with only three related to nursing. Two themes were extracted from the review: 1) the cultural climate of the workplace environment and, 2) underrepresentation of African-American faculty. It is apparent from this review that additional research is needed to understand the experiences of this group of faculty to target effective recruitment and retention strategies.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Black or African American / psychology*
  • Black or African American / statistics & numerical data
  • Cultural Diversity*
  • Faculty / statistics & numerical data*
  • Humans
  • Job Satisfaction
  • Minority Groups / psychology*
  • Minority Groups / statistics & numerical data
  • Organizational Culture
  • United States
  • White People / psychology*
  • White People / statistics & numerical data
  • Workplace / psychology*
  • Workplace / statistics & numerical data