(2022). Interrogating the Four Ps: Positionality, Privilege, Power, and Professionalism in the Rhetoric and Composition Job Market. Composition Studies, v50 n3 p20-39. This article examines academic job market experiences as an embodied performance, considering how different bodies must navigate that performance in different ways. Engaging with the critical race theory methodology of counterstory developed by Aja Martinez and the social justice heuristic developed by Rebecca Walton, Kristen R. Moore, and Natasha N. Jones, we use a framework of positionality, privilege, power, and professionalism to interrogate the politics of academic hiring. We use this framework to theorize from our personal stories and to consider how Othered job seekers interact with hiring bodies in ways that are deeply visceral and that are always implicated within institutionalized power relations. We then provide recommendations that will help hiring committees and faculty mentors move toward more equitable and inclusive academic hiring practices…. [PDF]
(2015). Critical Race Theory and Counselor Education Pedagogy: Creating Equitable Training. Counselor Education and Supervision, v54 n4 p288-301 Dec. Infusing critical race theory, the authors discuss specific pedagogical strategies to enhance educational experiences of counselor trainees. The authors then provide an evaluative checklist to facilitate and evaluate curricular integration of critical race theory…. [Direct]
(2024). Impact of Potential Changes in US Immigration Policies on Distress and Mental Health of Latinx College Students. Journal of Latinos and Education, v23 n1 p163-175. US President Donald Trump promised and delivered radical changes to US immigration policies. This study examined the extent to which a sample of college students were affected by such changes and subsequent associations with psychological health. The study was a survey of 401 college students from a large Hispanic Serving Institution. A total of 71% of participants reported being at least "a little bit" affected by potential changes in US immigration policies, and 43% were affected "quite a bit" or "very much." Latinx people were significantly more affected than other ethnicities. Importantly, increases in being affected were significantly related to increases in depression, general distress, distress specific to immigration issues, financial stress, and insomnia. These findings suggest that the impact of potential and/or actual changes in US immigration policies may lead to a number of mental health consequences for college students, particularly Latinx… [Direct]
(2024). Messaging about Race: Exploring Sorority and Fraternity Social Media. Journal of College Student Development, v65 n4 p388-406. National movements, including Black Lives Matter and Abolish Greek Life, have resurfaced attention to racial dynamics within sorority and fraternity life (SFL) communities. Often, these discussions frame SFL as a homogenous entity and ignore crucial distinctions among organizations, such as the fact that historically white sororities and fraternities were not originally created to serve Students of Color, while culturally based sororities and fraternities were intentionally created to center and celebrate People of Color. Furthermore, some historically white sororities and fraternities have been more intentional than others in implementing race-conscious initiatives and addressing their exclusionary roots. However, research has yet to explore ways (inter)national sorority and fraternity leadership across organizational types attend to matters of race and racism in organizational messaging. This qualitative critical discourse analysis explored these dynamics, examining social media… [Direct]
(2019). Grappling with Racism as Foundational Practice of Science Teaching. Science Education, v103 n1 p37-60 Jan. While current science teacher education frameworks designed to support high-quality teaching have the potential to promote equitable science learning, they do not substantively engage with how racism organizes science teaching and learning. In this critical qualitative inquiry grounded in critical race theory and sociopolitical perspectives on teaching and learning, I analyzed the contradictions that emerged in science teaching practices that were both intended to support Student of Color science learning and engaged science-specific colorblind ideologies. The critical race theory analysis demonstrated how science teaching practices such as connecting to students' experiences, creating interests in science, representing scientists as role models, and scaffolding doing science maintain unequal racialized power relations between students and science when historical and contemporary legacies of racism are not directly confronted. I also propose a science teaching practice of… [Direct]
(2019). A Latina Mother on TV: Challenges of Intragroup Advocacy for Equity in a Latinx Community. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), v32 n10 p1270-1288. This article analyzes a 'critical race moment' in an ethnographic study to examine intragroup advocacy in a diverse Latinx community. In this moment, a Spanish-language TV newscast used an image of the first author and her young son to report on local Latinx leaders' advocacy to address disparities impacting the broader Latinx community. Informed by Critical Race Theory, Latino Critical Race Theory, and Chicana Feminist Epistemology, this paper employs a unique analytical approach of unpacking a 'critical race moment' to examine the "intragroup representative messages" used by leaders. While their advocacy efforts led to investments in educational programming, Latinx leaders at times employed deficit ideologies about low-income, Spanish-speaking, immigrant Latinx families as they spoke to policymakers. Findings reveal the potential political binds Latinx leaders may encounter when they seek to advocate and speak "for" (rather than "with") other Latinx… [Direct]
(2019). Ticking the 'Other' Box: Positional Identities of East Asian Academics in UK Universities, Internationalisation and Diversification. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, v3 n1 p94-119. This article critically interrogates East Asian academics' positional identities in UK universities, internationalisation and diversification against the Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework. Contemporary UK policy promoting racial equality and diversity is often over-generalised, while the critical race theory-based literature has focused on hegemonic notions of 'white privilege'. Neither discourse provides an adequate, comparative perspective of power relations within diverse racial and ethnic groups. In advancing this perspective, the article compares the experiences of two groups of East Asian academics working in UK universities. One group is foreign-born but has strong British identities following their English √©lite education. The other group came to the UK for postgraduate studies and/or chose to work in Britain. The paper changes the picture of a static, black and white perspective in the BME policy and CRT literature by offering a… [Direct]
(2023). Gatekeepers to the Community College Presidency for Leaders of Color. New Directions for Community Colleges, n202 p47-62 Sum. Research has identified a clear underrepresentation of race and gender diversity in the community college presidency and scant progress in diversification. This phenomenological study used critical race theory (CRT) and glass ceiling theory (GCT) lenses to examine the lived experiences of minority community college presidents, including those who identified as African American, Asian Pacific Islander, and Latino/Hispanic and spanned 12 states and every region of the U.S. The counter-narratives of the participants were examined using a modified interpretative phenomenological approach concept model with cultural domain analysis (CDA) for validation. Participants were categorized by generational definitions and their associated community college development leadership styles. Findings include evidence of a leaky pipeline, a flawed hiring process with gatekeepers along the hiring continuum, and biases and stereotypes encountered, illustrating leaders' perceptions of underrepresentation… [Direct]
(2025). When Good Intentions Go Awry: A Critical Policy Analysis of Equity-Focused Policies Intended to Reduce Racial Disparities in Special Education. Exceptional Children, v91 n2 p187-210. In the U.S. education system, students of color experience multiple forms of marginalization at the intersection of markers of difference. These injustices manifest in multiple forms, such as higher rates of inappropriate referrals to special education, misidentification, conferring stigmatizing labels, and subsequently placing students of color in more segregated spaces. To combat this persistent racial injustice within special education practices and programs, policymakers have formulated regulations under the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) aimed at ensuring equal educational opportunities and outcomes for students of color. In particular, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs introduced 20 State Performance Plan and Annual Performance Report (SPP/APR) indicators in 2004 to monitor states' implementation of IDEA. Building upon an interdisciplinary and intersectional lens informed by the cultural historical approach to… [Direct]
(2016). Critical Race Theory 20 Years Later: Where Do We Go From Here?. Urban Education, v51 n3 p253-273 Mar. As the nation's schools become increasingly diverse along ethnic and racial lines, examining and understanding the racial complexities in the United States is more germane now than ever in the nation's history. To that end, critical race theory (CRT) has been a transformative conceptual, methodological, and theoretical construct that has assisted researchers in problematizing race in education. As we reflect on 20 years of CRT, it is essential to examine in what ways, if any, CRT is influencing school practice and policy. Given the disparate educational outcomes for students of color, researchers have to inquire about the influence of CRT on the lived experiences of students in schools. In this article, the authors lay out the historical trajectory of CRT, discuss its influence on educational research, and then evaluate to what extent, if any CRT has had on school policy and practice. The article will conclude with research, practice, and policy implications that may influence CRT's… [Direct]
(2020). Using Critical Race Mixed Methodology to Explore the Experiences of African Americans in Education. Educational Psychologist, v55 n4 p244-255. The goal of this article is to explore the relationship between a researcher's inquiry worldview and methodological choices. In the analysis, I explicate my own racialized positionality and Critical Race Theory (CRT) inquiry worldview. Also, I explain my use of critical race mixed methodology (CRMM), the combining of CRT and mixed methods. In doing so, I give specific examples from my program of research. The discussion ends by my providing implications for conducting CRMM in educational psychology…. [Direct]
(2019). Contributing Factors to Earning Tenure among Black Male Counselor Educators. Counselor Education and Supervision, v58 n2 p82-97 Jun. The authors used a phenomenological research design and a critical race theory lens to examine interviews with 8 Black male counselor educators and learn what contributed to their earning tenure. Participants described requisite personal dispositions and institutional support as contributing factors. Recommendations include facilitating programmatic sociocultural awareness, assessing faculty experiences, and coordinating mentoring opportunities…. [Direct]
(2023). Gatekeepers to Gateway-Makers: Reimagining Partnerships, Collaborations, and Celebrations of the Many Movers of University Campuses. Research in Dance Education, v24 n2 p99-114. Many college campuses across the United States are home to numerous extracurricular dance clubs that embrace a broad range of dance styles and cultural contexts that welcome all students to engage with dance. These extracurricular clubs often exist in stark contrast to dance major programs in the US which have conventionally centred embodied Whiteness in their curricular structure and goals resulting in the exclusion of atypically trained dancing bodies from entering dance major programs. In this article we ask, where did these dancing bodies go? This research seeks to locate the dancing bodies that either by departments' refusal to admit, or by choice, dance on university campuses outside the dance department. Using Critical Race Theory in relation to where, how, why, and what dance occurs across campus, this article asks dance educators to carefully consider if we are gatekeepers or gateway-makers when it comes to providing students access to professional aspirations via a college… [Direct]
(2023). More than a Framework: Adopting an Equity Mindset Action Steps for School Leaders to Enact Change. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Illinois State University. To secure the economic well-being of our country in the current global society, we must be concerned with all students, and all means all. This qualitative research study asserts the need to stop focusing on the achievement gap and work to close opportunity gaps through equitable school practices. This narrative inquiry study critically analyzed equity frameworks and sought to understand how equity directors translate theory into praxis. Their counternarratives shared their approach to praxis during their journey. This study used Critical Race Theory (CRT) and CRT in Education theoretical frameworks to examine the equity directors' experiences. Their stories provided wisdom and guidance along with concrete, actionable steps for new equity directors and school leaders to enact change. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone… [Direct]
(2023). "It's Not a System That's Built for Me": Black Youths' Unbelonging in Ontario Schools. Review of Education, Pedagogy & Cultural Studies, v45 n5 p458-480. Through exploration of Black Caribbean youths' feelings of unbelonging and exclusion in Ontario schools, this paper argues that how Whiteness is systemically engrained in the education system negatively affects the learning experiences of Black youth due to predetermined measures of belonging. The present article draws on data from 32 qualitative interviews and four focus groups with 23 Black Caribbean youth. Findings reveal challenges youth commonly face when navigating relationships with peers and educators that hinder their academic success. These challenges are exacerbated for youth who are also involved in the state's child protection system. Participants described feeling disadvantaged in the education system due to perceptions that they are academically unprepared and thus unable to excel. Through a Critical Race Theory and Anti-Black Racism analytical framework, the findings illustrate how systemic barriers coupled with the normalization of low expectations impact the… [Direct]