Feminism and Intersectionality in Academia by Stephanie Anne Shelton Jill Ewing Flynn & Tanetha Jamay Grosland

Author:Stephanie Anne Shelton, Jill Ewing Flynn & Tanetha Jamay Grosland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

My Work

I love my job.

I am an Assistant Professor of Education at a nationally ranked, faith-based, residential, liberal arts college in the US Upper Midwest. My institution is recognized as highly selective and emphasizes excellence for students and all campus members, including faculty. I love this community and feel grateful to be a part of it.

The current academic year is my fourth here; if all goes well, I will earn tenure in spring of 2020. I am the newest faculty hire in my department and in the lowermost percentile of seniority at the college overall; the top person has been here since 1971. Therefore, tenure does not feel particularly safe or reassuring for me. It is unlikely our department will grow larger, and “last in, first out” is still the law of the academic land. I feel pressure to prove myself, to be essential, while simultaneously appearing independent and unneedy: A reality I imagine is familiar to many of my untenured sisters in academia. I also know my efforts at non-needy essentialness could be futile if my department is downsized.

As I mentioned, I am a professor of education. To help my mom understand my job, I explain that “I teach people to be teachers.” I instruct an array of courses mandated by the state teaching board, supervise students during various licensure preparations, advise education majors, and in 2020 will lead a school-based January-term study-away course that I developed (to the Caribbean—don’t hate). Opportunities here, for students and faculty, are wide-ranging, very liberal arts-y, and attractive on multiple levels. As a liberal arts college graduate myself, I find our diverse offerings both familiar and tremendously appealing.

My scholarly work is equally varied, typically qualitative and narrative, exploring topics of teacher preparation and induction, equity and inclusion, and, increasingly, dis/ability, including my own (i.e., Dembouski 2018). This chapter you’re reading is a perfect example of the scholarship I most enjoy: honest, transparent, investigative, and purposeful, with an eye toward socially just change. It feels both liberating and terrifying to research and write this personally. I love adding my voice to so many academic conversations, and I am joyous when people respond positively to my contributions, especially when I write about dis/ability. I also worry incessantly about my scholarly activity and feel anxious when my marginalized selves—particularly the DHH, female ones—are ignored or considered inconsequential within the realm of academic thought and effort. Such minimizing of my scholarship, by someone in a position of power over me, has already happened in my short time on this campus. That incident, naturally, exacerbated my fears, but also fuels my resolve to continue.

My service and committee work are intentionally more focused than my teaching or scholarship. I initially chose them because of my personal interests and continue with them primarily because I see a niche on this campus that needs filling: We have too few people who understand dis/ability topics. So, I serve on committees that address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. I also participate in

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