| dc.description.abstract | This study intended to investigate the perceptions of faculty of color to understand why they chose to teach in independent schools. For this research, faculty of color is defined as participants who self-identify as African American, Latinx, and Asian/Middle Eastern, representing an underrepresented minority group within the school. Beyond the initial recruitment, hiring, and onboarding processes, this exploration probes more in-depth to learn why these faculty of color decide to remain at independent schools despite the complexities of working within such cultural, social, and racial predominately white, homogenous school communities. The content of this critical research has two simple questions: 1) Why did faculty of color initially choose to teach at an independent school and 2) Why do faculty of color choose to continue teaching at an independent school? The research utilizes Weick’s Organizational Properties of Sensemaking (1995) to define the seven properties of sensemaking and describe how faculty of color attempt to make sense of why they choose to teach in independent schools. Significant attention has been invested in correlating the central theme of sensemaking to identify two central themes, retrospection and identity. The findings elaborated upon the central themes of retrospection and identity to recognize five reasons (autonomy of teaching, relationships with students, class size, collaboration and collegiality, and compensation) why faculty of color choose to teach in independent schools. The researcher also offers vignettes of faculty of color using their own words, actions, and actions of their schools as evidence of how and to what end they negotiated the multiple contexts, multiple identities, and the social-political dimensions of race. The research explored comprehensive implications for practice, policy, and future research and provides insight for decision makers as they work to improve recruitment, hiring, and supporting faculty of color. | |
