The Non-White Man's Burden in LIS Education: Critical Constructive Nudges

Association for Library and Information Science Education. 4 Lan Drive Suite 310, Westford, MA 01886. Tel: 978-674-6190; Fax: 978-250-1117; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://www.alise.org/jelis-2

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Library Science; College Faculty; Males; Minority Group Teachers; Diversity (Faculty); Race; Ethnicity; Sexual Orientation; Gender Differences; Racial Bias; Gender Bias; Social Justice; LGBTQ People; Social Bias; Information Science Education; Whites; Foreign Countries

0748-5786

Traditionally, American library and information science (LIS) education and librarianship have been predominantly white and female-oriented professions. As an international gay male person of color (originally from India) in its ranks, I have embraced social justice scholarship outside and within our bastion institutions of higher learning during a 14.5-year tenure as an LIS educator in the United States. This article reflects on select experiences as a minority along multiple intersectional dimensions of human experience and socially constructed identity markers, including race/ethnicity, national origins, sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Indulging in these musings allows me to decipher layers of complexities shaping faculty interpersonal microaggressions, a perceived lack of equal/equitable recognition of contributions, and limited comparable administrative growth/opportunities. These are discussed as hypothesized encounters in the form of few imagined scenarios or key episodes connected in the form of a searching narrative. It develops an alternative "voice" to identify possible directions that might transform LIS education beyond its "feel good" practices/policies surrounding diversity, inclusion, and collegiality and give it greater relevance in the twenty-first century. The goal is to engage authentic conversations that address behaviors of perceived prejudice, bias, abuse, and discrimination (intentional or unintentional) by LIS faculty/administrators targeting male faculty of color and "marginalized" others (e.g., first-generation graduates) in academic and professional networks.

As Provided

2019

EJ1222832