For minority populations striving to reach new heights of academia, it is often the smaller slights that equate to feelings of marginalization. As just one example, Monique Umphrey recalls a superior handing an initiative she launched to a colleague, with that person getting the accolades.
As a Black woman near the top of her industry, Umphrey knows she is not alone when it comes to professional barriers faced by minorities and people of color. A 2022 study from LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company reported that 37% of women had a coworker get credit for their idea, as compared to 27% for their male associates.
This article is an excerpt from the current issue of the Community College Journal, the bimonthly magazine of the American Association of Community Colleges.
These day-to-day problems emphasize the much larger challenges for underrepresented populations in higher education, says Umphrey, provost with the Austin Community College District (Texas). Several studies have found that women, particularly women of color, have shorter leadership tenures than men. According to the Community College League of California’s (CCLC) CEO tenure and retention dashboard, women in CEO positions last an average of 3.7 years, while men stay for 5.7 years on average.
Considering this uneven landscape, community college officials have created affiliate councils to develop diverse leadership. These nonprofit groups — affiliated with and supported by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) — offer specialized services for Black, Latino, Asian and women administrators and students. With a focus on leadership programming and networking opportunities, the groups create camaraderie for individuals who often feel isolated in professional settings.
“People are being empowered, supported and able to develop a stronger network,” says Umphrey, president of the American Association for Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC). “They should have the social capital to pursue their dreams — if they want to be a college president, we want them to feel the confidence to pursue that.”
Building a sense of optimism, belonging
Like most of the councils under the AACC umbrella, AAWCC provides education, advancement and career development to staff and students at two-year institutions. On the ground, this work may include leadership-based apprenticeship opportunities or intensive workshops that promote transition into executive roles.
Intentionality around association programming is targeted at biases encountered by all women leaders, especially those of color. CCLC found that this demographic is beset by a host of injustices, from questions about their qualifications to an overall disrespect for their standing.
While sexual harassment is an understandably headline-grabbing issue, women are also more harshly evaluated than their male counterparts on smaller details. Umphrey points to debates over Hillary Clinton’s outfits during the 2016 presidential campaign as a public issue that can trickle down to the academic c-suite.
As women did not create these problems, the association does not operate from a deficit approach, Umphrey notes.
“Instead of having to offset these stereotypes, this is time and energy that women could be using to do their jobs,” Umphrey says. “There is a pressure to challenge stereotypes for women, because they feel if they don’t perform well, then other women won’t get opportunities after them.”
A fast-growing demographic
The National Asian/Pacific Islander Council (NAPIC) is another group helping participants procure community college CEO positions, which includes president, superintendent and chancellor. As a national voice for Asians, Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders — known collectively as AANHPI — the group navigates participants through obstacles not always endured by other minorities.
Invisibility is one such unique hurdle, says NAPIC President Rowena Tomaneng, who is president of San Jose City College. While Black and Latino leaders are certainly underserved in higher ed, these populations have made more gains than their Asian colleagues. Per data collected by Inside Higher Ed, Asians comprise 3% of administrators at two-year colleges — by comparison, about 25% are Black and 7% are Latino.
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To that end, Tomaneng’s organization represents a significant cross-section of AANHPI community college executives. The council is eager to spread the word about a fast-growing demographic expected to reach 50 million-strong by 2055, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.
Part of that work encompasses disaggregating socioeconomic data delivered by local, state and federal agencies. Although Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are often deemed as so-called “model minorities,” this rosy narrative is harmful for struggling community members. True indicators such as median income, employment rate and educational attainment do much more to highlight inequities among the population’s many sub-groups.
“We’re pushing for disaggregation because it’s about our students, too,” Tomaneng says. “When you have so many different groups lumped into one category, it’s easy to put everyone into one model minority map. We want to increase funding for student achievement, especially for low-income and first-generation students.”
Many of NAPIC’s 90 member colleges and external organizations serve Native American Pacific Islanders as well, and use federal funding for culturally responsive academic and student services programs. A commitment to professional development, meanwhile, is realized through coaching, mentoring and peer support, particularly during the job search process. The idea is to build a talent pipeline for midlevel leaders like associate deans who can then rise through the ranks, Tomaneng says.
Preparing leaders
Formal leadership training is another crucial aspect of the council’s work. In recent years, the group collaborated with California State University, Fullerton faculty member Ding-Jo Currie (a retired community college chancellor and former AACC board chair) in her work for the Leadership Institute for Tomorrow, or LIFT.
LIFT targets entry-level BIPOC participants in creating a new generation of social justice leaders, often incorporating arts into its programming. Under Tomaneng’s guidance, the council also offers online and in-person “leadership circles” where CEOs talk strategy and share their experiences. Simply seeing recognizable faces gives members a sense of optimism and belonging, Tomaneng says.
“We need to have these affinity support spaces so that we don’t feel alone,” she says. “That you’re not just imagining these behaviors that are happening. It’s a place where confidence is built, and your strengths are validated and confirmed.”
