ABSTRACT
The purpose of this auto-ethnographic study is to examine social and cultural experiences that have influenced the contours of my own scholarship at a predominantly White institution (PWI). It situates the experiences within a one-year appointment as president of a 1,000-member nonprofit organization using a socio-cultural perspective, which emphasizes the interaction between people, their culture, and the society in which they live. This chapter is concerned with two broad research questions that guided the study: The contributing factors that inform an African American womans scholarship at a PWI and scholarship that focuses on social justice empowered her and others to transcend barriers. The significance of this chapter lies in its exposure of experiences that influence racial and ethnic research of faculty of color who's epistemological and ontological perspectives include areas that differ from mainstream scholarship. This study contributes to the growing body of literature that accepts the invitation to conduct studies on the under-examined experiences of underrepresented faculty of color.
