African American Faculty Scholarship in Schools of Social Work: Overcoming Barriers and Achieving Research Productivity

Rationale: This study is third in succession on a knowledge-building journey related to exploring African American scholarship in the U.S.  There are no other empirical studies written about this subject matter. 

Background and Purpose:  Universities worldwide have become more corporatized and drawn to outcomes in the past decade, resulting in more research/scholarship about productivity, culture, and performance measures.  Our previous study on African American scholarship identified the top 14 scholar’s h-indices in the top U.S. 25-ranked social work schools.  This study went back and interviewed 10 of these scholars to determine how they achieved such performance impact in primarily white institutions.  It answered two research questions: How did you achieve such scholarship in your academic career?, and What barriers did you experience to achieving your scholarship?

Methods:  Qualitative interviews over the phone using pre-tested questionnaires were conducted during April – August of 2015 by two PhD students. Inter-rater reliability was 98.7% and where there were differences, they were resolved by a team discussion. Major and minor themes from these 60-minute interviews were coded using the triangulation method (Padgett, 2008).

Major Findings: Surprisingly, 71% of the original sample [in the previous study] were interviewed.  The main findings, each of which had 2-3 sub-categories were related to the main research question: a) mentorship, b) collaboration, c) time management, and d) strategic planning and selective venues for higher impact dissemination.  Mentorship, particularly from a research and cultural perspective was deemed to be most highly valued by these scholars.  If the mentorship was not apparent in the immediate social work unit, these scholars reached across other departments both within and outside of their social work unit, seeking mentorship.  Consistent with the literature, a significant barrier to publication for these scholars was being placed on, and advising, the majority African American students in these schools of social work.  As such, they became ‘all things African American’ to the unit, which was a time concern for many of them. 

Implications: The experiences and strategies highlighted by these African American scholars would be of great utility for those seeking to enhance their social scholarly productivity and impact overall, particularly for: a) junior faculty, b) female faculty, c) African American and other minority faculty, and d) doctoral research students and candidates.  They also speak to the importance for social work departments building more effective cultures of mentorship for African American faculty.