Toxic Ivory Towers

"The Stress of Being a Minority Faculty Member" by Peter Monaghan

— Chronicle of Higher Education

“Through an insightful examination of relevant literature and original research, Ruth Zambrana offers a unique and compelling perspective on the entry, retention and advancement of diverse professionals in science- and health-related careers from a historical and contemporary viewpoint. These are individuals who often find themselves in systems where they are marginalized and/or undervalued because of intersections related to race, ethnicity, gender and being “other.”  Toxic Ivory Towers moves the dialogue and the strategic action-agenda and as such contributes significantly to understanding knowledge gaps and illuminating intervention points to advance diversity in the scientific workforce.”

 

— Joan Y. Reede, Harvard Medical School, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership

"This book presents the most complete picture to date of faculty of color in elite HWCUs (historically white colleges and universities). It shows how higher education institutions promote unwelcoming climates that adversely affect their career trajectories and the health and well-being. A fascinating read with both frustrating and triumphant moments, the book provides a necessary analysis of the professional lives of an important intellectual group in the academy."

— Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, author of White Out: The Continuing Significance of Racism

"Zambrana unmasks the misleading data that a lot of universities publish on the 'success' of diversity initiatives; she offers constructive language for URM faculty to help name their experiences; and, her work provokes responses that challenge the status quo....Every academic leader (presidents, deans, department chairs, and so forth) who wants positive change in these areas will benefit from interacting with Zambrana’s research, and virtually every URM faculty member will benefit from her adeptness at naming the workplace stressors that they experience."

— Reflective Teaching

“Toxic Ivory Towers is a thorough review of relevant literature and critical analysis. It contributes to the literature a unique and nuanced examination of workplace stress and the health issues faced by minority faculty. A robust collection of survey and interview data, this book is an important read for educators leading the way toward intentional inclusion within the professoriate.”

— Caroline Turner, author of Diversifying the Faculty: A Guidebook for Search Committees

“In Toxic Ivory Towers, Ruth Zambrana deftly and painfully explores the life experiences of underrepresented minority faculty of color in the academy. The author demonstrates how hegemonic white cultures and structures create and sustain systems of exclusion and discrimination that result in extensive workplace psychological stress for many minority scholars. She goes further than most, locating these academic inequities in the broader and historical contexts of racial and economic injustice in the academy and the society at large.”

— Mark Chesler, Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan, co-editor of Faculty Identities and the Challenge of Div