Intersectional Trauma of Women of Color in Academe: Cultivating Trauma-informed Organizations

Abstract

Women faculty of color endure gendered racial (intersectional) trauma in the workplace that often results in posttraumatic stress symptoms (e.g., cognitive intrusions and avoidance) and poor work outcomes. However, organizational interventions often place the onus on the worker to alleviate such deleterious stressors rather than eradicating its discriminatory practices on a systemic level. Oppressive and psychological injurious practices toward women of color in academe include isolation from academic networks, epistemological exclusion, and invisible labor. Facing both sexism and racism, women faculty of color are also uniquely ascribed stereotyped gendered racial roles (e.g., Strong Black Woman and lotus blossom) and are more sexually harassed and objectified than White women and men of all races and ethnicities. Such harmful encounters elicit trauma-induced safety checking coping behaviors that prioritizes the needs of the dominant group over that of their own. A multilevel trauma-informed approach, however, could attenuate the psychological demands of the worker and generate accountability at organizational and management levels. As such, this symposium will highlight the use of intersectionality theory and the public health intervention model (primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions) as an integrated framework to cultivate trauma informed organizations, thereby mitigating re-traumatization and promoting the well-being and career advancement of women faculty of color.