Faculty Feelings Matter: Environmental Experiences of Queer Faculty of Color

Abstract

Despite an emphasis on diversifying the professoriate, higher education has failed to make significant progress in recruiting and retaining diverse faculty in the academy. Literature points to issues of campus climate, discrimination, and workplace stress as common reasons for diverse faculty to leave their positions. Using the College + University Teaching Environment framework, Quare Theory, critical methodological philosophies, and a large-scale multi-institution quantitative dataset, this study examines affective components of a faculty environment for queer faculty, faculty of color, and queer faculty of color. Results indicate strong relationships between perceptions of support, sense of belonging, mental health, and stress with faculty persistence in their role as well as additional stress for LGBQ+ faculty of color.