Attempts to achieve diversity in the faculty in institutions of higher education have increased in recent years. Despite these attempts, faculty of color and women are still underrepresented in the higher ranks. This paper presents autobiographies focusing on the career trajectories of three junior faculty members at one institution: a divorced black woman, a married white woman raising two small children, and a young married white male. These portraits are presented as a way of providing a view from the trenches on why gender and race/ethnicity disparities persist in the faculty ranks. In addition, some preliminary data are presented to contextualize the experiences of these three assistant professors. The paper concludes by calling for more attention to be directed toward retaining female faculty and faculty of color. These efforts should be directed at providing a supportive work environment that recognizes differences and contributions that diversity brings to institutions of higher education. An appendix contains the faculty diversity questionnaire with which background data were collected from a diverse sample of faculty respondents. (Contains 2 figures, 2 tables, and 21 references.) (Author/SLD)