Race, Research, and Tenure

Abstract

Conventional wisdom suggests that colleges and universities act in objective ways that are guided, in large measure, by an unrelenting quest for the truth. This article, however, draws on the literature on the power of race to demonstrate how some universities use tenure and promotion committees, as well as other resources, to show that private universities are more susceptible to the interests of alumni and, as a result, are sometimes less interested in safeguarding the interests of faculty of color, who are involved in controversial research on racial issues. This suggests that institutions vary in their willingness or ability to facilitate incorporation among faculty of color in academia.