Graduation Year

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ed.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Adult, Career and Higher Education

Major Professor

Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Vonzell Agosto, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Brenda L. Walker, Ph.D., JD

Keywords

Critical Race Theory (CRT), Equal Opportunity, Hiring Policies, Institutional Practices, Policy Fiction, Waiver

Abstract

This study investigates perceptions and experiences of systemic injustices/racism, which is reflected in policy misuse and/or abuse at a large Research One (R1) university located in the Southeastern United States. In particular, the study will provide a lens for viewing the shortcomings regarding hiring practices, with the misuse of the Waiver of Advertisement, which was an initiative aimed at addressing the underrepresentation of Black and Brown professionals in faculty and staff/administrative positions. It is critical to note that the assumption of this project is that white faculty and staff/administrators are the beneficiaries of the waiver. The study will assess this by focusing specifically on the impact of the policy on Black and Brown faculty and staff professionals. By exploring both institutional and interpersonal dimensions, this dissertation seeks to illustrate the complex ways that the macrostructural and microsocial realms intersect to perpetuate racial disparities in higher education. Concerning hiring practices, which are the main focus of the study, the study examines how, through specific policies, racial/ethnic minoritized people (i.e., Black and Brown faculty and staff professionals) are excluded from tenure-track and administrative positions. The overall goal is to analyze how diversity initiatives such as the Waiver of Advertisement are policy fiction and may be insufficient to provide increased opportunities for Black and Brown faculty, including staff professionals, in spite of being created to rectify the issue. The study also uses Critical Race Theory (CRT) to investigate the Waiver of Advertisement policy, as well as how it disproportionately benefits Whites and promotes white supremacy. CRT is also used as a means of analyzing how race/racism (in)directly impacts the ability to hire Black and Brown faculty and staff professionals on an individual, institutional and systemic level.

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