‘We especially welcome applications from members of visible minority groups’: reflections on race, gender and life at three universities

This autoethnographic account documents and analyses university life as a racialised woman who has worked in both Canadian and American universities. The theoretical framework draws from critical perspectives on race, black feminisms and narrative and autoethnographic research methodologies. The study involves a range of data sources that provide sociohistorical and sociopolitical contexts in which to ground the Personal: academic writings on race and gender, university reports, email correspondence, relevant newsmedia artifacts, as well as personal written accounts, conversations with colleagues and life experiences. This article critiques the pervasive institutional practices of white and male privilege and gendered racism. It offers some suggestions to reshape disciplinary knowledge, curricula and the workplace for black and marginalised women faculty. It is hoped that the results and conclusions contribute to our understandings of life as it is lived in the margins of race and gender, and in this way, contribute to understanding black women’s experiences in North American universities.