Abstract
Deploying Russian philosopher M. M. Bakhtin’s notions of utterances or communicative interactions, we explore the life histories of two administrators at State University, a predominantly White institution of higher education in the Midwestern United States. In particular, we explore how working with White students, peers, and supervisors demands that staff members of color find means of answering overt and implied criticisms of their daily work. We name and analyze metaphors each participant uses to define ways she negotiates a campus culture that privileges some and interprets others as oppositional when they call into question long held institutional priorities and practices.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For the purposes of our research, we define staff members as those persons who hold non-teaching or research positions within the university, such as persons working in academic and student affairs, and/or persons who hold administrative positions (e.g., program coordinators and administrative assistants) (Jackson 2002, 2004; Wolfe 2010).
References
Aleman, A. M. (1995). Actuando. In R. Padilla & M. Chavez (Eds.), The leaning ivory tower: Latino professors in American universities (pp. 67–76). Albany: State University of New York Press.
Andrews, M. (2014). Narrative imagination and everyday life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Atkinson, R. (1998). The life story interview. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The dialogic imagination: Four essays (trans: Emerson, C. & Holquist, M.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays (trans: McGee, V. W.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Beck, M. (2014). Behavioral referrals in the Lake City Schools. Lake City: Lake City Times.
Bireda, S., & Chait, R. (2011). Increasing teacher diversity: Strategies to improve the teacher workforce. Washington, DC: Center for American Progress. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/report/2011/11/09/increasing-teacher-diversity. Retrieved 9 Jan 2013.
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2010). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States. New York: Rowman & Litlefield Publishers.
Canul, K. (2003). Latina/o cultural values and the academy: Latinas navigating through the administrative role. In J. Castellanos & L. Jones (Eds.), The minority in the minority: Expanding the representation of Latina/o faculty, administrators, and students in higher education (pp. 167–175). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Cole, A., & Knowles, J. G. (Eds.). (2001). Lives in context. The art of life history research. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.
Collins, P. H. (2004). Black sexual politics: African Americans, gender, and the new racism. New York: Routledge.
Dean, K. (2014). Rates of poverty for children high for African Americans. Lake City Times: Lake City.
Dentith, S. (1995). Bakhtinian thought: An introductory reader. London: Routledge.
Department of Public Instruction Information Services. (2013). Data. http://infosveweb.LakeCity.K12.wi.us/stats.html. Retrieved 9 Jan 2013.
Education Week. (2010). Diplomas count 2010: Graduation by the numbers. June 10, 2010. http://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2010/06/10/index.html. Downloaded 1 Sept 2013.
Finkelmeyer, T. (2011). Students at State University. Lake City: Lake City Press.
Flint, J., & Atkinson, R. (2004). Snowball sampling. The Sage encyclopedia of social science research methods (pp. 1043–1044). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gay, G., Dingus, J. E., & Jackson, C. W. (2003). The presence and performance of teachers of color in the profession. Landover, MD: Community Teachers Institute. www.communityleaders.org/reports. Accessed 18 Aug 2011.
Gomez, M. L. (2010). Talking about ourselves, talking about our mothers: Latina prospective teachers narrate their life experiences. The Urban Review, 42, 82–101.
Gomez, M. L., & Rodriguez, T. L. (2011). Imagining the strengths, knowledge, and needs of a Latina prospective teacher. Teacher Education Quarterly, 38(1), 127–146.
Gomez, M. L., Rodriguez, T. L., & Agosto, V. (2008a). Life histories of Latino/a teacher candidates. Teachers College Record, 110(8), 1639–1676.
Gomez, M. L., Rodriguez, T. L., & Agosto, V. (2008b). Who are Latino prospective teachers and what do they bring to U.S. schools? Race, Ethnicity, and Education, 11(3), 267–283.
Goodson, I. F. (2013). Developing narrative theory: Life histories and personal representation. London: Routledge.
Goodson, I. F., & Sikes, P. J. (2001). Life history in educational settings. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Grant, C., & Allweiss, A. (2014). Tracing the arc: The shifting conceptualizations of educational “disadvantage” and “diversity” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Social Inclusion, 2(1), 34–46.
Graue, M. E., & Walsh, D. J. (1998). Studying children in context: Theories, methods, and ethics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gutierrez y Muhs, G., Flores Niemann, Y., Gonzalez, C. G., & Harris, A. P. (2012). Presumed Incompetent: The intersections of race and class for women in academia. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.
Holquist, M. (1983). Answering as authoring: Mikhail Bakhtin’s trans-linguistics. Critical Inquiry, 10, 307–318.
Jackson, J. (2002). Retention of African American administrators at predominantly White institutions: Using professional growth factors to inform the discussion. College and University, 78(2), 11–16.
Jackson, J. (2004). Engaging, retaining, and advancing African Americans in executive-level positions: A descriptive and trend analysis of academic administrators in higher and postsecondary education. The Journal of Negro Education, 73(1), 4–20.
Jackson, J. F. L., & Flowers, L. A. (2003). Retaining African American student affairs administrators: Voices from the field. College Student Affairs Journal, 22(2), 125–136.
Johnsrud, L. K., & Sadao, K. C. (1998). The common experience of “otherness:” Ethnic and racial minority faculty. Review of Higher Education, 21, 315–342.
King, J. (1991). Dysconscious racism: Ideology, identity, and the miseducation of teachers. Journal of Negro Education, 60(2), 133–146.
King, K., & Watts, I. E. (2004). Assertiveness or the drive to succeed?: Surviving at a predominantly White University. In D. Cleveland (Ed.), A long way to go: Conversations about race by African American faculty and graduate students (pp. 110–119). New York: Peter Lang.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1997). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2005). Is the team all right? Diversity and teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 56(2), 229–234.
Lake City Schools. (2012–2013). Lake City Schools Data. Lake City: Data Bank.
Lake City Schools. (2011–2012). Lake City Schools Data. Lake City: Data Bank.
Lake City Schools. (2010–2011). Lake City Schools Data. Lake City: Data Bank.
Lake City Schools (2009–2010). Lake City Schools Data. Lake City: Data Bank.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980, 2003). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Linde, C. (1993). Life stories: The creation of coherence. New York: Oxford University Press.
Maynes, M. J., Pierce, J. L., & Laslett, B. (2008). Telling stories: The use of personal narratives in the social sciences and history. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Mishler, E. G. (1990). Validation in inquiry-guided research: The role of exemplars in narrative studies. Harvard Educational Review, 60(4), 415–442.
Mishler, E. G. (2004). Storylines: Craftartists’ narratives of identity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Morris, P. (Ed.). (1994). The Bakhtin reader: Selected writings of Bakhtin, Medvedev, Voloshinov. New York: Routledge, Chapman, & Hall Inc.
Morson, G. S. (1986). Who speaks for Bakhtin? In G. S. Morson (Ed.), Bakhtin: Essays and dialogues on his work (pp. 1–19). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Oponien, J. (2013). Poor national test results for African American students. Lake City Times: Lake City.
Plan 2008. (1998). Plan 2008: Educational quality through racial and ethnic diversity. Lake City: State University Board of Regents.
Royster, J. J. (2000). Traces of a stream: Literacy and social change among African American women. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
Sadao, K. C. (2003). Living in two worlds: Success and bicultural faculty of color. Review of Higher Education, 26, 397–418.
Segura, D. A. (2003). Navigating between two worlds. The labyrinth of Chicana intellectual production in the academy. Journal of Black Studies, 34, 28–51.
Stanley, C. A. (2006). Winter). Coloring the Academic landscape: Faculty of color breaking the silence in predominantly White colleges and universities. American Educational Research Journal, 43(4), 701–736.
State University Data Digest (2012–2013, 2011–2012). Lake City: State University.
Sue, D. W. (2010). Microagressions in everyday life. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Turner, C. (2002). Women of color in academe. Journal of Higher Education, 73, 74–93.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (2000). United States census. http://www.census.gov/census/2000/states.U.S.html. Accessed 30 Aug 2013.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (2010). United States census. http://www.census.gov/census/2010/states.U.S.html. Accessed 30 Aug 2013.
Viernes Turner, C. S. (2007). Pathways to the presidency: Biographical sketches of women of color firsts. Harvard Educational Review, 77(1), 1–38.
Wolfe, B. L. (2010). When being black isn’t enough: Experiences and persistence strategies of six African American administrators at a PWI. Austin, TX: University of Texas-Austin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gomez, M.L., Ocasio, K., Lachuk, A.J. et al. The “Battlefield”: Life Histories of Two Higher Education Staff Members of Color. Urban Rev 47, 676–695 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-015-0329-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-015-0329-6