2019 Annual Conference

Workforce Development, Continuing Education, and Professional Development

Concurrent Session (45 minutes)

This session will provide practitioners and researchers with space to discuss historical and contemporary perspectives of respectability, primarily from the perspective of the Black/African American community. Participants will receive a historical overview of the origins of respectability politics and engage in conversation about its impacts on society today.

This session will be helpful to educators, practitioners, and researchers who identify as a person of color, as much of the session will be devoted to exploring experiences of those in their daily lives. Those looking to learn more about the experiences and challenges as people of color in professional life are also welcome to attend.

● Define respectability politics
● Discuss the historical and contemporary perspectives of respectability politics
● Examine issues associated with respectability politics
● Explore how to mitigate one’s own notions of respectability within one’s professional life

Identity and sense of self are nuanced and complex topics that influence how one presents themselves to as an educator, research, and practitioner. Social, cultural and political dynamics directly that exist outside of learning environments and in society influence the learning environment, especially how learners perceive educators and how learners perceive each other. For people of color, especially people within the Black/African Diaspora, identity and representation have led to a complicated existing in professional and public life. For instance, research has shown that black women are viewed as less friendly and more confrontational, which presents real challenges in engaging learners (Johnson-Bailey & Cervero, 1998). Some choose to or have been relegated to performing respectability as a means to survive within spaces unwelcoming or hostile to their own existence.

The purpose of this session is to provide participants with an opportunity to discuss historical and contemporary perspectives of respectability within the Black Community. Participants will receive a historical overview of the origins of respectability and engage in conversation about the impacts of society today. Current event examples will be incorporated throughout the presentation to provide context to this nuanced and complex concept. I will also engage participants in conversation regarding authenticity within professional environments, providing strategies, tips, and points to consider for the future.

This session will be delivered in an interactional format. This session with begin with an overview of the content, including the design, purpose, and implementation. Participants will engage in a discussion and other interactive activities related to their own understanding and experience with respectability in their professional lives. The session will end with considerations for how to lead authentic work lives, given the realities of experiencing a world where navigating identity across race and gender is complex and nuanced.