Confronting IMean Girls/I Niceness: Conceptualizing Whisper Care to Disrupt the Politics of Niceness in Academia

While the current literature on Niceness in higher education has examined the discourses and practices of Niceness in academic spaces, making it more identifiable, less is known about how minoritized faculty navigate and disrupt the culture of Niceness. The purpose of this article is to offer a resi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEducation sciences Vol. 14; no. 5
Main Authors Gutierrez, Rose Ann E, Silva, Carolyn S. F, Batz, Ruby
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published MDPI AG 01.05.2024
Subjects
Education parks
Education, Higher
Fey, Tina
Political aspects
School facilities
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:While the current literature on Niceness in higher education has examined the discourses and practices of Niceness in academic spaces, making it more identifiable, less is known about how minoritized faculty navigate and disrupt the culture of Niceness. The purpose of this article is to offer a resistance-based framework to combat academia’s Niceness culture through the lens of the authors. Using theory in the flesh as theory and methodology, we use collaborative autoethnography to conceptualize Whisper Care to give language and articulate an orientation and philosophy rooted in Kindness. Our findings present a process to confront Niceness while guiding, supporting, and protecting each other in higher education institutions. We conclude with implications for future research and practice for faculty and higher education leaders.
ISSN:2227-7102
2227-7102
DOI:10.3390/educsci14050473