Re-framing Organizational Practices through a Justice Lens: A Study on the Experiences of Racialized Librarians in Academic Libraries

Silvia Si Wing Vong, Elaina Norlin, Allan Cho

Abstract

Organizational practices contribute to the workplace culture which can impact the experiences of racialized and Indigenous academic librarians. This study examines organizational practices (e.g., salary, workload, performance reviews, professional development funds) where perceptions of unfairness and inequity may emerge in Canadian and American academic libraries. In addition, the study examines how human resources or management practices may support equity or reinforce inequitable policies and procedures. The survey included closed and open questions. The open responses were coded and analyzed to identify themes related to organizational justice (distributive, procedural, interactional, and informational). By identifying problematic practices, we can find ways to counter and redress issues in organizational policies and practices to ensure the retention of racialized and Indigenous librarians. 

Keywords

Leadership and Management; Organizational Development and Training

References

References

Adams, J. S., & Freedman, S. (1976). Equity theory revisited: Comments and annotated bibliography. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 9, 43-90. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60058-1

Adams, J. S. (1963). Towards an understanding of inequity. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(5), 422–436. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040968

Alabi, J. (2015). “This actually happened”: An analysis of librarians’ responses to a survey about racial microaggressions. Journal of Library Administration, 55(3), 179–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2015.1034040

Alsulami, S. A., & Sherwood, G. (2020). The experience of culturally diverse faculty in academic environments: A multi-country scoping review. Nurse Education in Practice, 44, 102777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2020.102777

Anantachai, T. & Chesley, C. (2018). The burden of care: Cultural taxation of women of color librarians on the tenure-track. In Chou, R. & Pho, A. (Eds.), Pushing the margins: Women of color and intersectionality in LIS (pp. 301-327). Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press.

Atkins, L.C., & Mahmud, A. (2021). Informational justice: Equity of access, implementation, and interaction. In W. Leal Filho, A. Marisa Azul, L. Brandli, A. Lange Salvia, P.G. Özuyar, T. Wall (Eds.), Peace, justice and strong institutions: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (pp. 417-428). Springer.

Bloch, R., Hartl, J., O’Connell, C., & O’Siochru, C. (2022). English and German academics’ perspectives on metrics in higher education: evaluating dimensions of fairness and organisational justice. Higher Education, 83(4), 765-785. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-021-00703-w

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: a practical guide. Sage.

Brewster, L., Jones, E., Priestley, M., Wilbraham, S. J., Spanner, L., & Hughes, G. (2022). ‘Look after the staff and they would look after the students’ cultures of wellbeing and mental health in the university setting. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 46(4), 548–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2021.1986473

Brook, F., Ellenwood, D., & Lazzaro, A. E. (2015). In pursuit of antiracist social justice: Denaturalizing whiteness in the academic library. Library Trends, 64(2), 246-284. http://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2015.0048

Caragher, K., & Bryant, T. (2023). Black and non-Black library workers’ perceptions of hiring, retention, and promotion racial equity practices. Journal of Library Administration, 63(2), 137–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2022.2159239

Carrell, M. R., & Dittrich, J. E. (1978). Equity theory: The recent literature, methodological considerations, and new directions. Academy of Management Review, 3(2), 202-210. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1978.4294844

Colquitt, J. A., & Zipay, K. P. (2015). Justice, fairness, and employee reactions. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational. Behavior, 2(1), 75-99. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032414-111457

Colquitt, J. A., Greenberg, J., & Zapata-Phelan, C. P. (2005). What is organizational justice? A historical overview. In J. Greenberg & J. A. Colquitt (Eds.), Handbook of organizational justice (pp. 3–56). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.

Covarrubias, A., Nava, P. E., Lara, A., Burciaga, R., & Solórzano, D. G. (2018). Expanding educational pipelines: Critical Race quantitative intersectionality as a transactional methodology. In J. T. DeCuir-Gunby, T. K. Chapman, & P. A. Schutz (Eds.), Understanding critical race research methods and methodologies (pp. 138-149). Routledge.

Damasco, I. T., & Hodges, D. (2012). Tenure and promotion experiences of academic librarians of color. College & Research Libraries, 73(3), 279–301. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl-244

Deborah, S. O., & Eunice, O. O. (2022). Organisational justice as correlate of turnover intentions among academic librarians in South-West Nigeria. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 21, 1-12.

Doan, J. M., & Kennedy, R. B. (2022). Diversity fatigue: Acknowledging and moving beyond repetitious emotional labor. In Practicing social justice in libraries (pp. 145-153). Routledge

Donglong, Z., Taejun, C., Julie, A., & Sanghun, L. (2020). The structural relationship between organizational justice and organizational citizenship behavior in university faculty in China: the mediating effect of organizational commitment. Asia Pacific Education Review, 21, 167-179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-019-09617-w

Galbraith, Q., Kelley, H., & Groesbeck, M. (2018). Is there a racial wage gap in research libraries? An analysis of ARL libraries. College & Research Libraries, 79(7), 863. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.79.7.863

Glazier, R. A., Boydstun, A. E., & Feezell, J. T. (2021). Self-coding: A method to assess semantic validity and bias when coding open-ended responses. Research & Politics, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680211031752

Gravett, S., & Anderson, S. (2020). Enacting organizational justice and institutional learning in faculty dispute resolution processes: Lessons learned from a study of the UNC system. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 32, 167–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-020-09350-2

Greenberg, J. (1990). Organizational justice: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Journal of Management, 16(2), 399-432. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639001600208

Greenberg, J. (1987). A taxonomy of organizational justice theories. Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 9-22. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1987.4306437

Griffith, E., & Dasgupta, N. (2018). How the demographic composition of academic science and engineering departments influences workplace culture, faculty experience, and retention risk. Social Sciences, 7(5), 71-96. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7050071

Guh, W. Y., Lin, S. P., Fan, C. J., & Yang, C. F. (2013). Effects of organizational justice on organizational citizenship behaviors: Mediating effects of institutional trust and affective commitment. Psychological Reports, 112(3), 818-834. https://doi.org/10.2466/01.21.PR0.112.3.818-834

Guss, S., Stout, J., & Cunningham, S. (2023). # NotAllLibraries: Toxicity in academic libraries and retention of librarians. Proceedings of ACRL 2023, Pittsburgh, PA. https://www.ala.org/acrl/conferences/acrl2023/papers

Güven, S., & Güven, B. (2020). Organizational justice and being a woman; What female lecturers say. International Journal of Progressive Education, 16(4), 302-311.

Hoang, T., Suh, J., & Sabharwal, M. (2022). Beyond a numbers game? Impact of diversity and inclusion on the perception of organizational justice. Public Administration Review, 82(3), 537-555. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13463

Hoy, W. K., & Tarter, C. J. (2004). Organizational justice in schools: No justice without trust. International Journal of Educational Management, 18(4), 250-259. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513540410538831

Hulbert, I. G., & Kendrick, C. (2023, April 18). By Any measure: The racial demographics of librarians. https://doi.org/10.18665/sr.318716

Jahangiri, P., Hashempour, L., Heshmati, B., & Saberi, M. K. (2020). Predicting the quality of work life of librarians in public libraries based on organizational justice dimensions. LIBRES: Library & Information Science Research Electronic Journal, 30(2), 68-80.

Jennings, A., & Kinzer, K. (2022). Whiteness from the top down: Systemic change as antiracist action in LIS. Reference Services Review, 50(1), 64–80. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-07-2021-0027

Joseph, T. D., & Hirshfield, L. E. (2023). Reexamining racism, sexism, and identity taxation in the academy. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 46(6), 1101-1108. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2022.2143719

Judge, T. A., & Colquitt, J. A. (2004). Organizational justice and stress: The mediating role of work-family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89(3), 395–404. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.89.3.395

Kendrick, K. D., & Damasco, I. T. (2019). Low morale in ethnic and racial minority academic librarians: An experiential study. Library Trends, 68(2), 174–212. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0036

Khan, I. U., Idris, M., & Amin, R. U. (2021). Leadership style and performance in higher education: The role of organizational justice. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2020.1854868

Kumaran, M. (2015). Succession planning process that includes visible minority librarians. Library Management, 36(6/7), 434–447. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-12-2014-0138

Kumaran, M., & Cai, H. (2015). Identifying the Visible Minority Librarians in Canada: A National Survey. Evidence-Based Library and Information Practice, 108-126. https://doi.org/10.18438/B8ZC88

Leftwich, A. M., Dai, J. Y., & Rawls, M. (2022). Temporary invitations to the party: Reflections on recruitments as performative action in diversity residencies. In P. Gorecki & A. Petrovich (Eds.), Residencies revisited: Reflections on library residency programs from the past and present (pp. 307-326). Library Juice Press.

Leventhal, G. S. (1980). What should be done with equity theory? New approaches to the study of fairness in social relationships. In Social exchange: Advances in theory and research (pp. 27-55). Boston, MA: Springer US.

Li, Y. (2021). Racial pay gap: An analysis of CARL libraries. College & Research Libraries, 82(3), 436-454. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.82.3.436

Lopez, E. (2022). Improving dysfunctional recruitment and retention in academic libraries by honoring the whole person. In S. Acadia (Ed.), Libraries as Dysfunctional Organizations and Workplaces (pp. 72–94). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003159155-3

Matteson, M. L., Ming, Y., & Silva, D. E. (2021). The relationship between work conditions and perceptions of organizational justice among library employees. Library & Information Science Research, 43(2), 101093. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2021.101093

Niehoff, B. P., & Moorman, R. H. (1993). Justice as a mediator of the relationship between methods of monitoring and organizational citizenship behavior. The Academy of Management Journal, 36(3), 527–556. https://doi.org/10.2307/256591

Nyunt, G., O’Meara, K., Bach, L. & LaFave, A. (2022). Tenure undone: Faculty experiences of organizational justice when tenure seems or becomes unattainable. Equity & Excellence in Education, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2021.2010013

Norlin, E. (2021). The six-step guide to library worker engagement. ALA Edition.

O’Connell, C., O’Siochru, C., & Rao, N. (2021). Academic perspectives on metrics: Procedural justice as a key factor in evaluations of fairness. Studies in Higher Education, 46(3), 548-562. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1643306

Oates, E. Q. (2023). Battered but not broken: A composite of the experiences of Black librarians at public, 2-Year colleges. Community College Review, 51(2), 147–172. https://doi.org/10.1177/00915521221145313

Ontario Human Rights Commission. (2017). Under Suspicion: Research and Consultation Report on Racial Profiling in Ontario. https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/under-suspicion-research-and-consultation-report-racial-profiling-ontario

Padilla, A. M. (1994). Research news and comment: Ethnic minority scholars; research, and mentoring: Current and future issues. Educational Researcher, 23(4), 24-27. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X023004024

Pifer, M. J., Baker, V. L., & Lunsford, L. G. (2019). Culture, colleagues, and leadership: The academic department as a location of faculty experiences in liberal arts colleges. The Review of Higher Education, 42(2), 537–564. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2019.0006

Polk, D. M. (2022). Equity theory: Evaluating fairness. In D. Chadee (ed.), Theories in Social Psychology (pp. 217-249). 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Pritchard, R. D. (1969). Equity theory: A review and critique. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 4(2), 176-211. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1016/0030-5073(69)90005-1

Ray, V. (2019). A theory of racialized organizations. American Sociological Review, 84(1), 26-53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122418822335

Revitt, E., Magnus, E., Schrader, A., & Wright, J. (March 25, 2019). 2018 Census of Canadian Academic Librarians User Guide and Results Summary. https://capalibrarians.org/statements/census-of-academic-librarians/

Riley-Reid, T. (2017). Breaking down barriers: Making it easier for academic librarians of color to stay. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 43(5), 392–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2017.06.017

Scheyett, A. (2021). Voice and justice. Social Work, 66(1), 5-7. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swaa051

Shan, S., Ishaq, H. M., & Shaheen, M. A. (2015). Impact of organizational justice on job performance in libraries: Mediating role of leader-member exchange relationship. Library Management, 36(1/2), 70-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-01-2014-0003

Shearer, J. J., & Chiewphasa, B. B. (2022). Radical re-imagination: centering a BIPOC library workforce in an asset-based autoethnography. Reference Services Review, 50(1), 113-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-07-2021-0029

Sood, A., Rishel Brakey, H., Myers, O., Greenberg, N., Tigges, B., Sigl, D., & Wilson, B. (2020). Exiting medicine faculty want the organizational culture and climate to change. The Chronicle of Mentoring & Coaching, 4(SI13), 359–364. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33244484

Vassie, C., Smith, S., & Leedham-Green, K. (2020). Factors impacting on retention, success and equitable participation in clinical academic careers: A scoping review and meta-thematic synthesis. BMJ Open, 10(3), e033480. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033480

Walker, S. (2015). Critical Race Theory and the recruitment, retention and promotion of a librarian of color: A counterstory. In R. Hankins & M. Juárez (Eds.), Where are all the librarians of color? The Experiences of people of color in academia (pp. 135–160). Library Juice Press.

Williams, M. T., Khanna Roy, A., MacIntyre, M. P., & Faber, S. (2022). The traumatizing impact of racism in Canadians of colour. Current Trauma Reports, 8(2), 17-34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40719-022-00225-5

Wiseman, J., & Stillwell, A. (2022). Organizational justice: Typology, antecedents and consequences. Encyclopedia, 2(3), 1287–1295. https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia2030086

Copyright Silvia Si Wing Vong


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Article Views (By Year/Month)