Hispanic/Latinx Faculty Members’ Experiences within Academia

This dissertation research was written and pursued to explore the experience of Hispanic/Latinx faculty within academia. A phenomenological, qualitative methodology was utilized to explore this phenomenon. The researcher used listservs, Facebook groups, and snowball sampling to recruit participants. Potential participants completed a prescreening questionnaire and were then contacted to participate in the interview portion of the study. Ten individuals thoroughly described their experiences holding a Hispanic/Latinx faculty identity within academia. The following six themes emerged from data analysis of the interviews: a) Impacts of the Lack of Representation of Diverse Faculty, b) Challenging Experiences of Hispanic/Latinx Faculty, c) Positive Experiences Encourage Faculty to Stay within Academia, d) “We Need More Resources:” Missing Systemic Resources, e) Intellectualization and Rationalization, and f) “Finding Glimpses of Hope:” Coping through Social Support and Finding Community. Connections from the present research to current literature were explored, as well as the limitations of the current study. The findings indicate that intellectualization and rationalization can be effective coping strategies, the intersectionality of identities likely impacts the experiences of this population, and that building community is a crucial part of persevering through negative experiences this population faces. Further exploration of the impacts of positive experiences within academia on Hispanic/Latinx faculty members is recommended.