Exposing the "Culture of Arrogance" in the Academy: A Blueprint for Increasing Black Faculty Satisfaction in Higher Education,
Gail L. Thompson and Angela C. Louque, Stylus Publishing, 2005.
Reviewed by Susan J. Marnell Weaver, Director of Teaching and Learning University of the Cumberlands

Many people in higher education envy what appears to be a limitless set of opportunities for minorities. Authors Gail Thompson and Angela Louque challenge this perception as they present their findings based on a survey of 136 Black faculty and follow-up interviews with 16 of the survey respondents. Their data was collected in 2003 at conferences of the National Association of African American Studies, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity. The depth of their data analysis provides valuable information about employment conditions that lead to satisfaction and dissatisfaction among minority faculty in higher education.

W.E.B. DuBois spoke of the "double consciousness" that persons of color experience while negotiating society with the awareness that they are being perceived and judged by others as a person of African descent. There is a different set of rules tacitly understood only by other minorities. Thompson and Louque use their research results to deconstruct layers of this process in higher education.

The difference in the reality facing minorities in higher education is apparent in relationships with students, departments, administrators, and the campus community. There are intermittent reminders of uniqueness from students who express surprise and sometimes trepidation when they learn that they have a Black professor. Interactions with colleagues result in mixed signals. Incivility in the classroom and lack of collegiality and support in the department take on an intensified sharpness when racial overtones are involved.

The opposite occurs within the campus community. Black faculty are typically recruited by virtually every committee on campus. Despite the time and work involved, they are painfully aware that saying "no" has broad implications because they are the only persons available to represent the minority perspective in setting agendas and formulating policies. Unfortunately, time spent doing committee work is less valued than time spent on teaching or scholarship and ultimately can be costly to academic careers 

In addition to lack of time for research, there also seems to be a prevailing belief that research by Blacks is generally inferior to research by Whites. This leads to stereotype threat that can interfere with the ability to confidently move forward with a research agenda. Moreover, minority research about race is generally devalued as too personal.

Although scholarship about race is devalued, individuals face a prevailing sense of being scrutinized and critiqued as representatives of their race. As a result, they feel that they must be vigilant to times when others might judge their response to racist comments, jokes, or stereotypes offered even by liberal colleagues and administrators. For example, one first-year professor was challenged to find a good way to help her otherwise exemplary college president understand why the N word was offensive regardless of the context.

Although three-fourths of those surveyed feel that they are adept at handling racially or culturally challenging situations at work, minority faculty yearn for peer mentors and confidants. Unfortunately, most predominately white institutions do not have a critical mass of persons of color to provide a reference group. The result is that minority professors experience a sense of being culturally and socially alienated; they need contact with persons who share a similar standpoint (i.e. unique social placement within society and within the group). Heightened sensitivity to the need for support leads to obligations to take on mentoring responsibilities. This role takes time and diligence and provides painful reminders of the parallel difficulties that minority students face as they negotiate race on campus. Thompson and Louque offer the example of a mentor counseling a student whose professor referred to her as "Little Miss Buckwheat".

A reader might be inclined to dismiss these aspects of academe as being simply a laundry list culled from isolated incidents but Thompson and Louque provide qualitative and quantitative data to counter this objection. They admit that their data is not collected from a representative sample but they expose clear patterns. For example, over half of the respondents have experienced discrimination from a department chair or dean. Half of the respondents feel that speaking out against racism causes one to be labeled as a troublemaker. Sixty-four percent feel that they have been undermined by colleagues. Two-thirds of the respondents said that their campus racial climate causes them stress.

This review focused on the negative factors that support the premise that there is a culture of arrogance in the academy but Thompson and Louque present positive aspects, too. For example, eighty-eight percent of the respondents indicate that they are supported by non-black administrators.

The book fulfills its promise to provide a blueprint for increasing Black faculty satisfaction in higher education through "consciousness raising" that highlights issues as well as sources of satisfaction. The blueprint rests on reasonable expectations shared by all faculty who desire a climate of professional growth characterized by respect, appreciation, autonomy, resources, and mentoring. The authors provide additional specific recommendations garnered from experience, literature, and surveys so that administrators can address the pernicious nature of discrimination.

Both of the authors have overcome the odds and obstacles to achieve success as scholars and academics. Gail L. Thompson is an associate professor at the Claremont Graduate University. She has written several books and numerous articles. Anglea C. Louque is the department chair of Educational Leadership and Curriculum and a full professor at California State University, San Bernardino.

The authors' comprehensive literature review, data analysis, and personal narrative and discussion provide insights that make this book an excellent resource for administrators and faculty who support the ideals of higher education. It is a well-written, interesting, and thought-provoking read and has the potential to become a classic.