Raising awareness: African American faculty perceptions of the interview process

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN] and the National League for Nursing [NLN) recognize the importance of increasing the number of African American nursing faculty in collegiate nursing education. In other words, not hiring African American nurse faculty removes the African American perspective in advancing the tripartite mission of teaching, research, and service in academic nursing.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the interview process of African American faculty who sought employment in academic nursing.

This qualitative study, guided by Critical Race Theory (CRT), used face-to-face, semi-structured interviews to explore the feelings and perceptions of nine African American female nursing educators who sought employment in academic nursing.

Major themes that emerged from their stories associated with the interview process were the lack of clarity, lack of job security, lack of diversity within the nursing academy, and racism. Their stories provided a deeper understanding of the challenges, issues, and complexities experienced when navigating the interview process as they attempted to gain access to employment opportunities.

Through examining the lived experience of the African American nurse faculty hiring process, the CRT's framework illuminated how academic nursing institutions intentionally or unintentionally confirm the notion that nursing primarily wants to remain an 'all-white profession.'