As universities examine faculty diversity amid global protests against institutional racism, they would like to consider why many black and minority-ethnic academics are regularly asked to address the issue at their institutions without additional, Called to do the work of compensation.
This phenomenon is known as 'cultural taxation', a term coined in 1994 by psychology researcher Amado Padilla of Stanford University in California. Academics from minority ethnic groups are targeted to serve on diversity, equity and inclusion committees as mentors to junior colleagues from minority ethnic groups, and to participate in other schemes that take time away from their research.
This burden falls disproportionately on their shoulders as there are very few of them in the campus. According to 2020 data from the UK Higher Education Statistics Agency, just 140 (0.7%) of 21,000 UK academics with the rank of professor are black, yet blacks comprise 3% of the population.
In the United States, black academics account for 6% of all faculty members, yet black people represent 13% of the population. Cultural taxation may be one reason why African American scientists are 10% less likely to receive funding from the US National Institutes of Health than their white colleagues.
According to a 2018 study, the most important reasons for this disparity were the number of publications in their names and the impact factors of the journals in which they are published.
Study author Donna Ginther, director of the Center for Science, Technology and Economic Policy at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, found that the publication gap widened over the course of researchers' careers, and says this may be due to cultural taxa. "African Americans can be called to serve more," she says. “Institutions should be aware of the service burdens they place on faculty members,” she adds.
Nature spoke to five researchers from minority ethnic groups about the career consequences of cultural taxation and their advice for overcoming it.
Use hypervisibility to secure key roles
Richard Reddick, associate dean for equity, community engagement and outreach in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin.
People of color, who are marginalized in education, are asked by institutions, peers and peers to do work that is without compensation, without recognition, and without reward. It is called blackening or browning. Simply put, they are asked to do things that white peers are not asked to do. For example, if you are a Spanish speaker, you may be asked to translate documents or act as a cultural ambassador when recruiting students or hosting visitors from Spanish-speaking countries.
But the most common request is to serve on university or department committees – often those set up to address diversity, curriculum, or recruitment.
And when an organization lacks diversity, the same people are asked to serve again and again. And they get burnt. Often sexual, racial or gender minorities are expected to be the voices of a marginalized group, and this can be a frustrating experience. What is even more frustrating is that often, progress is exceptionally slow.
The thing about cultural taxation is that the services requested are not in lieu of the current workload. They are in addition to that workload. However, people are more inclined to do this work because they believe it is important and they want to give back to their communities.
Frustration comes because they are not recognized for that work. At the same time, it is the job of everyone – not just the Faculty of Color – to increase diversity, equality and inclusivity. Everyone must be involved; Everyone has a role in this.
I advise faculty members from minority ethnic groups not to react immediately when asked to join a committee or initiative. Ask for time to think about it or to talk to your department head.
I also encourage people to talk. Ask what you can spare from your current responsibilities to allow time and space to do this additional work. Other forms of compensation can be time off from teaching courses, an additional office or graduate assistant. The key is determining whether your department chair will support the job.
You also have to ask yourself if the work is worth it. Not all services are equal. People of color are highly visible, and you should take advantage of that profile in some way. For example, you can use your visibility to do a service that is particularly meaningful or prominent.
If the university president or provost asks you to join a task force that will receive a lot of recognition, it's a no-brainer. Serving on promotion and tenure committees allows you to advocate for people who understand cultural taxation, who may not have lawyers in those places.
