Abstract
While mentoring is part of being a faculty member, Black faculty carry the heavy burden of being perceived by colleagues and students to be the only ones who can adequately mentor minority students. With this heavy burden of mentoring on top of teaching, service, and research, many Black faculty are unable to balance the load, and ultimately one or more areas of their teaching, service, and research suffer. This chapter provides guidance, strategies, and tools from the authors that provide Black faculty with the skills necessary to be successful in academia and avoid burnout. This chapter also provides personal insights from the authors' experiences with burnout.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Tenure: When a tenure-track faculty member receives job security in an institution for work in teaching, research, and service.
Burden: The weight Black faculty feel to serve minority students and also fulfill the requirements of a tenure-track position.
Balance: Being able to provide the attention needed to all areas of a tenure-track position (teaching, research, and service) so that you do not reach the level of burnout.
Strategies: Tools, advice, and guidance to help faculty be successful in the areas of teaching, research, and service.
Success: Thriving in the areas of teaching, research, and service in a tenure-track faculty position.
Promotion: When a tenure-track faculty member moves from assistant professor to associate professor to full professor.
Burnout: When a faculty member is doing so much that they are overburdened by their job and are no longer interested in doing the work they need to do to be successful in the job.