ERIC Number: EJ1341784
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Elephants in the Room: Examining and Understanding the Black Assembly Line
Dilworth, DaShawn
Journal of Student Affairs, New York University, v16 p83-91 2020
Despite the increase in efforts to recruit Black student affairs professionals in the field to keep pace with the growing level of Black students entering university doors, Black student affairs professionals are still heavily underrepresented across campuses in proportion to their White counterparts. This is attributed to the often subtle, yet constant, barrage of discrimination and discomfort Black professionals are made to feel within predominantly White and homogenous spaces. Due to discrimination, power hierarchies, and the continuous lack of adequate support systems, there are high attrition rates of many Black practitioners, contributing to this concept of the Black Assembly Line. Rooted in the original idea of the P.O.C (People of Color) assembly line introduced by Browning and Palmer (2018), which addresses the toxic workplace cultures that bring in professionals of color, overworking and undervaluing them while also tokenizing and further marginalizing them leading to the attrition of P.O.C professionals, the conception of the Black Assembly Line seeks to build on Browning and Palmer's (2018) initial idea of the systematic treatment of professionals of color within student affairs. Instead of hiring and forcing another staff of color to endure the cycle of toxic workplace culture, this analysis of the Black Assembly Line aims to investigate the environmental culture's impact on the attrition. The narrative of the Black Assembly Line also is creating a platform to outline the specific experiences of Black student affairs professionals navigating toxic work environments that impact their presence in the field. Ultimately, the question remains: how do we combat the Black Assembly Line, in order to solidify and affirm the presence of Black professionals within the field of student affairs?
Descriptors: Student Personnel Services, Student Personnel Workers, African Americans, Recruitment, Disproportionate Representation, Racial Discrimination, Career Pathways, Racial Bias, Work Environment, Labor Turnover, Cultural Relevance, Supervision, Personnel Selection, Human Resources
New York University. 82 Washington Square East 7th Floor, New York, NY 10003. e-mail: josa.nyu@gmail.com; Web site: https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/journal-student-affairs
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A