Abstract
Drawing upon 15 qualitative interviews with early- to mid-career faculty (seven men and eight women) at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), this study examines the diverse motivations and paths those faculty members have taken to becoming professors at their respective institutions. The faculty come from a range of MSIs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, and Predominantly Black Institutions) across the country and represent a broad spectrum of disciplines. This study sheds light on factors that guide their choices of discipline and entrance into the faculty ranks at MSIs. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) was used as a lens during qualitative coding and analysis in order to develop the findings, which reveal that (1) teaching, activism, and community uplift were primary motivators to enter the professoriate; (2) supportive environmental factors, including single individuals, proved pivotal in influencing faculty to take these roles; and (3) career transitions into the academy were spurred by learning experiences that revealed disciplinary and teaching interests. The findings suggest that MSIs attract community-oriented individuals to their faculty positions, and that colleges and universities interested in diversifying their faculties should craft such roles in ways that are appealing to the populations that they are trying to recruit and retain.
Highlights
How do Minority Serving Institution (MSI) professors narrate their motivations and paths to becoming faculty members? This study provides answers to this question through examining data from 15 qualitative interviews with early- to mid-career Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) faculty, who are from a range of MSIs across the country and represent a broad spectrum of disciplines.this study captures what factors professors highlight as drawing them to the profession, how their disciplinary interests were formed, and what environmental factors influenced them on their journeys
Opportunities to teach disciplinary material and work towards community uplift were the primary motivators for these MSI faculty to become professors, and some expressed that their pursuit of professorship was motivated by their desire to work at an MSI and help them fulfill their mission of educating underserved communities
Values centered on benefitting others, such as community uplift and education for social change, emerged as more instrumental in drawing MSI
Summary
How do Minority Serving Institution (MSI) professors narrate their motivations and paths to becoming faculty members? This study provides answers to this question through examining data from 15 qualitative interviews with early- to mid-career MSI faculty (seven men and eight women), who are from a range of MSIs across the country and represent a broad spectrum of disciplines.this study captures what factors professors highlight as drawing them to the profession, how their disciplinary interests were formed, and what environmental factors influenced them on their journeys. MSIs are federally designated colleges and universities that are recognized for serving students from minority backgrounds in higher education. There are MSIs that were founded to provide educational opportunities to specific demographic groups that were historically prevented from attaining postsecondary education, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). There are MSIs that earned designations by meeting a federally defined minimum enrollment of a particular ethnic demographic and student need, the latter of which is measured by proportion of Pell Grant-eligible students at the institution. These include Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Asian American Native American Pacific Islander
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