Hispanic Professors In U.S. Higher Education Institutions: Examining Discourses of Identity Negotiation, Discrimination and Prejudice, and Workplace Experiences

Abstract

Despite all the efforts universities and colleges put into facilitating a more diverse student and faculty body, the scarcity of Hispanics in academia and the struggles they encounter once they join a department remains a problem for administrators. This study explored how Hispanic faculty members negotiated their identities in the workplace in light of their perceptions of prejudice and discrimination, and their working experiences associated with their professions. Thirty in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with college professors from seven different universities who self-identified as Hispanic or Latino(a). Using a qualitative grounded theory approach, specifically a constant comparative method (Charmaz, 2000, 2006; Corbin & Strauss, 1990), this study uncovered three themes. First, professors used different strategies to negotiate their identities depending on whether they are seeking to avoid or confront identity threats. Specifically, professors used dual identity and social creativity strategies to cope with potential identity threats. Second, professors demonstrated a constant sense of vigilance and self-reflexivity in reporting prejudice and discrimination experienced at different levels, thus revealing certain strategies outlined in the first theme. The third theme outlines the professors' perceptions of the difficulties they experienced in professional processes such as teaching and mentoring and establishing interpersonal relationships beyond the Hispanic community in academia. Ultimately, this theme highlights that their ethnic group membership is still central in the way professors perform in their professions but also in the way they relate interpersonally with different people. In analyzing Hispanic professors in United States higher education institutions, this research made four theoretical contributions by (a) expanding knowledge about how professors' identities are fluid and multiform, (b) considering the unique and constant self-reflexive process by which these professors behave, (c) expanding the nature of identity negotiation strategies, and (d) unveiling the fragile state of diversity initiatives on college campuses.