Faculty Incivility Toward Graduate Students: Voices of Two African American Women

Abstract

Student workers are placed at a disadvantage as they have little social power, making them vulnerable to maltreatment by those with higher social power such as supervisors and other faculty members. There is little research that documents incidences of incivility toward student workers. In this study, we delineated the experiences of two African American women who encountered faculty incivility while serving in the role of graduate student worker. The related literature offers insight into the existence of incivility, including the prevalence of workplace incivility, incivility in higher education, social identities and personal accounts. We offered the Student Worker Support (SWS) model that can serve as a reference for adult educators as they encounter, supervise, or instruct student workers.