Investigating How Biology Faculty of Color Integrate Their Social Identities into Their Teaching and Mentoring

Although research on the experiences of science faculty of color foreground a range of challenges often complicated by institutional and disciplinary norms, not much is known about whether and how college faculty may integrate their social identities into their work. Through semistructured interviews, we investigated how biology faculty of color incorporate their social identities into their classroom teaching and research mentorship. Findings revealed that biology faculty use a range of inclusive and race-conscious approaches to support marginalized students. Although a majority do so in ways that support students in relating to scientists, some deliberately challenge dominant cultural science norms by bringing a more critical, race-conscious approach to their work, particularly in classrooms. Other insights highlight gendered and racialized tensions faced by these faculty. Over half of women-identified faculty shared having to navigate scrutiny, suggesting the influence of the double-bind in integrating identity into classrooms. This study supports previous research emphasizing the additional labor and risk faculty of color undertake to support marginalized students and promote cultural change in academic science—underscoring the need for institutions to redesign cultures and practices that do not further the cultural taxation of faculty of color and disrupts systems of oppression in STEM.