Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Liberal Studies

Advisor

Rosa Rivera-McCutchen

Subject Categories

Academic Advising | Higher Education Administration | Higher Education and Teaching | Inequality and Stratification | Organization Development | Other Teacher Education and Professional Development | Race and Ethnicity

Keywords

Culturally Responsive, Anti-racist, Integration, Care, Teacher Diveristy, Emergent Strategy

Abstract

Institutions of Higher Education have played a foundational role in upholding racial inequities within the teaching profession. Eighty percent of public school teachers in the United States are white and female while more than 50% of the total student population is composed of minoritized students (Boser, 2014; NYSED, 2019a). There is a lack of cultural synchronicity between teachers and students in classrooms which is believed to result in unequal outcomes for minoritized students as compared to their White peers (Ingersoll, May, Collins, 2018). These findings are indicative of an underlying problem: racial and social integration has not been achieved. In order to recruit and retain more teachers of color, colleges and universities must first integrate by developing a community of care that is rooted in culturally responsive and anti-racist practices. Using the New York State Education Department (NYSED) Culturally Responsive-Sustaining framework as a guide, this paper will argue that foundational barriers to retaining teachers of color in higher education are rooted in race avoidant and deficit-based ideology, a reliance on recruitment over retention and the individualism inherent in neo-liberalism. These problems can be addressed through developing critically caring communities through relationships built on possibility, humility and accountability between students, faculty and staff. While also addressing these issues through enhanced student resources and supports driven from student needs both within and outside the institution. This paper argues that it is a combination of the interpersonal ways in which people work together, merged with the practical application of services, that will provide greater support for teacher diversity in the profession.

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