The Double-Edged Sword of “Othermothering” for African American Women Faculty With Families

Abstract

Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs) have historically been both vital and beneficial as they have educated, trained, and nurtured many African Americans throughout the years. Research indicates that there are some disparities between men and women faculty at HBCUs. The chapter will review research which discusses factors that may impact African American (AA) women faculty specifically AA women faculty with families (AAWFWF) within the academy at HBCUs. AA women faculty report spending a great amount of their time supporting, mentoring and nurturing students on academic and personal matters also called “othermothering.” While HBCUs have been a haven for students, some challenges and barriers arise for AAWFWF including bias toward caregiving, bias avoidance, unequal pay, collegial incivility, and difficulty maintaining work/life balance. Formal mentoring has been shown to be beneficial for AA faculty. Strategies to create a healthy environment for AAWFWF are presented and recommendations for an AAWFWF mentoring program at HBCUs are given.