We’re Here, We’re Queer, and We’re Tenured: Queerness in post-secondary tenure policy

• David Jacobson, Psychology, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Stephanie Del Tufo, School of Education, University of Delaware

The post-secondary tenure process is ambiguous and confusing for minoritized faculty, with a lack of research into how queer faculty experience tenure leaving several gaps in existing literature. This, combined with no previous analysis of tenure policy, has left queer faculty out of important conversations regarding tenure. This study begins to fill in those gaps. We specifically ask how tenure policy views queer existence in the post-secondary workplace, and how tenure policy protects the autonomy of queer faculty. Tenure policies were located largely through faculty/university handbooks available on the institution’s website. Faculty demographics were located via the Common Data Set (CDS).

A qualitative content analysis was performed on located tenure policies, using four rounds of an integrated coding method. Application of an equity-focused, intersectional theoretical framework (e.g. The Queer-Democratic Framework [Leonardi & Moses, 2021]). provided further insights. Preliminary results indicate that tenure policy is unclear how to interpret queer existence, and autonomy offered by tenure policy may shift in relation to the institution’s faculty demographics. This study shows institutional interpretation of both tenure and the rights of faculty differ significantly, demonstrating the need for further analysis of tenure policy. Implications include tenure moving away from its original purpose, and tenure policy being written in ways that reinforce existing inequalities in post-secondary education.