Understanding faculty experiences with discrimination: The role of intersecting identity and institutional characteristics

Abstract

Understanding the experience of faculty members has been an important focus of higher education literature, particularly the prevalence of discrimination for underrepresented populations. Experiences with discrimination have the potential to negatively impact aspects of faculty overall experience, including satisfaction and retention and perceptions of campus climate. Most previous literature focuses on one or two specific identity characteristics (e.g. gender and race/ethnicity) and less attention has been paid to ways in which various identity characteristics intersect in one's experience. Using a large-scale multi-institution data set, this quantitative study examines faculty experiences with discrimination by identity and institutional characteristics, its impact on faculty ability to work, and perceptions of institutional support. Findings indicate nearly half of faculty who experienced discrimination indicated it was based on two or more identities and of the identities provided, academic rank was the highest reported reason for discrimination.