Working While Black: The Untold Stories of Student Affairs Practitioners

Working While Black: The Untold Stories of Student Affairs Practitioners will explore the narratives of student affairs professionals and how they navigate their professional experiences, particularly as Black professionals. It will offer advice on how to successfully navigate the field and will include contributions from a variety of student affairs areas and institutions. The book will add to the current press and scholarly conversations around the Black student affairs professional experience and can inform recruitment and retention strategies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 196 pages
Publication date: 30 May 2022
Publisher: Information Age Publishing

Working While Black: The Untold Stories of Student Affairs Practitioners is a book that explores the narratives of student affairs professionals and how they navigate their professional experiences. While student affairs can be a high-pressure and high-stress environment for all professionals, Black professionals are often overworked, underheard, and made to feel devalued. Therefore, it is important to consider how student affairs professionals are managing the profession, colleagues, and students while Black.

This book takes an asset-based approach, where chapter authors approach both the challenges and opportunities they have experienced due to being Black while working as student affairs practitioners. Chapter authors also provide poignant advice on how current and potential student affairs professionals can successfully navigate the field. One especially important contribution of this book is that our authors are from a variety of student affairs areas, including residence life, student engagement, career services, counseling, student conduct, athletics, student activities, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and academic advising. Additionally, chapter authors are student affairs professionals at predominantly White institutions, historically Black colleges and universities, and online universities. Given the breadth of experiences each chapter will provide poignant suggestions for student affairs practitioners across the nation as well as for institutions who are looking to better understand these experiences to better support their own employees.

Popular education press and scholarly conversations have focused on the experiences of student affairs professionals (Renn & Hodges, 2007). There has also been scholarship around the Black student affairs professional. However, there is still much to be learned about the experiences of Black student affairs professionals and how they navigate their professional lives.

This book aims to address this gap by providing a platform for Black student affairs professionals to share their stories and experiences. By doing so, we can gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that they face and develop strategies to support them.

The book is organized into four sections:

Section 1: Introduction: This section provides an overview of the book and its purpose. It also introduces the authors and their backgrounds.

Section 2: The Challenges of Being Black in Student Affairs: This section explores the challenges that Black student affairs professionals face in their professional lives. It includes topics such as racism, discrimination, and microaggressions.

Section 3: The Opportunities of Being Black in Student Affairs: This section explores the opportunities that Black student affairs professionals have in their professional lives. It includes topics such as mentorship, leadership, and advocacy.

Section 4: Conclusion: This section provides a summary of the book and its findings. It also offers recommendations for how student affairs professionals can better support Black students and professionals.

One of the key findings of this book is that Black student affairs professionals are often overworked and underpaid. They are also often made to feel devalued and marginalized in their workplaces. This can lead to a sense of burnout and dissatisfaction, which can have a negative impact on their work and their personal lives.

To address these challenges, the book offers several recommendations. These include:

Increasing diversity and inclusion in student affairs: Student affairs professionals should work to increase diversity and inclusion in their workplaces. This can include hiring more Black professionals, providing training on diversity and inclusion, and creating a culture of respect and acceptance.

Providing mentorship and support: Mentorship and support can be critical for Black student affairs professionals. Student affairs professionals should work to provide mentorship to Black students and professionals and to create a network of support.

Addressing racism and discrimination: Racism and discrimination should be addressed in student affairs workplaces. Student affairs professionals should work to create a culture of respect and acceptance and to address any incidents of racism or discrimination that occur.

Promoting diversity and inclusion in the curriculum: The curriculum in student affairs programs should be designed to promote diversity and inclusion. This can include incorporating diverse perspectives into the curriculum and providing training on diversity and inclusion.

Creating a safe and supportive environment: Student affairs professionals should work to create a safe and supportive environment for Black students and professionals. This can include providing counseling services, creating a safe space for students to express their concerns, and providing training on sexual assault and harassment.

In addition to these recommendations, the book also provides several case studies of Black student affairs professionals who have successfully navigated their professional lives. These case studies provide valuable insights into the strategies that they have used to overcome the challenges that they have faced.

One of the case studies in the book is that of a Black student affairs professional who worked at a predominantly White institution. This professional faced a number of challenges, including racism and discrimination. However, she was able to overcome these challenges by developing a strong network of support and by advocating for herself and her students.

Another case study is that of a Black student affairs professional who worked at a historically Black college and university. This professional faced a number of challenges, including a lack of resources and a lack of support from the administration. However, she was able to overcome these challenges by developing a strong sense of community and by advocating for her students.

Despite the challenges that Black student affairs professionals face, there are also many opportunities for them to succeed. For example, Black student affairs professionals can play a critical role in promoting diversity and inclusion in their workplaces. They can also provide mentorship and support to Black students and professionals and can help to create a safe and supportive environment for them.

In conclusion, Working While Black: The Untold Stories of Student Affairs Practitioners is a book that explores the narratives of student affairs professionals and how they navigate their professional experiences. While student affairs can be a high-pressure and high-stress environment for all professionals, Black professionals are often overworked, underheard, and made to feel devalued. This book aims to address this gap by providing a platform for Black student affairs professionals to share their stories and experiences. By doing so, we can gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that they face and develop strategies to support them.

Weight: 333g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781648027345