Date of Award

12-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Executive Leadership

First Supervisor

Josephine Moffett, PhD

Second Supervisor

Janice Kelly, EdD

Abstract

Given the lack of retention of employees of color from 1991 to 2001, this qualitative descriptive case study investigated the benefits of, barriers to, and strategies for the retention of faculty of color at a community college in New York State. The participants were five administrators and eight faculty members who self-identified as people of color and as White people. Each participant was interviewed using semi-structured questions via Zoom and all interviews were recorded. A notebook was created, and participants’ interviews were transcribed and coded.

Six categories were identified through the coding process, which included the social, psychological, physical, intellectual, economic, and mental barriers to retention and strategies for retention. The participants indicated that there was sometimes a hostile environment that became a psychological barrier and destroyed their sense of belonging as faculty members. Another area mentioned by the participants as a major economic barrier was the amount of extra work faculty of color felt they needed to do to survive. The findings highlight the need for specific strategies to be implemented to break the barriers to the retention of faculty of color. Strategy recommendations highlighted the need for mentoring, purposeful recruiting, and effective onboarding activities.

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