Ten years ago, Dr. Kerry Ann Rockquemore thought she had everything she needed to become a successful sociology professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. She had an adviser and colleagues to turn to for career advice and a husband to provide emotional support.
However, dubious students did not take her seriously because of her youthful looks and small stature. She was overwhelmed by the unofficial minority-student advising duties that come with being among the limited number of professors of color on a predominantly White campus. She struggled to manage her time, making it difficult for her to conduct research and get published.
“I learned about research in graduate school. I learned about how to publish (research work). I just didn’t know how to do the job,” Rockquemore says. “The pressure to do these other types of things [such as student advising] can hamper you. I figured it out, but in really painful ways by making mistakes, by being embarrassed.”
Rockquemore, an author whose scholarship has focused on biracial identity, won the tenure race — at the University of Illinois-Chicago. However, she left her sociology and African-American studies professor’s position in December 2009 to run the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity.
The Chicago-based professional development organization, which boasts 3,700 members at 200 colleges and universities, seeks to help people of color and women complete a smooth transition toward tenure. The center provides writing consultation, monthly telephone conferences and on-campus workshops. Its staff includes three professors from universities across the country who work as “certified coaches” on topics such as balancing work and family, writing and turning a dissertation into a book.
One of the center’s main staples is the Faculty Success Program, a 15-week course for faculty making the transition from graduate school student to professor. These weekly conference calls allow for college and university faculty from all disciplines to discuss issues such as the importance of writing daily, handling conflicts with colleagues, managing time and balancing work and family. Each participant also receives three one-on-one sessions with Rockquemore.
Rockquemore stresses that the center doesn’t focus on diversity training, nor the institutional politics of tenure. “This is not about seeing who is a racist or not. The point of the Faculty Success Program is to bring everyone together in a community-style format,” she says.
