The salience of university professors in the work for social justice

Social justice work is as relevant in the 21st century as it has ever been. Society abounds with inequalities in the various facets of life. In today's society some continue to believe in the influence of universities to promote social justice work; however this work may be cast as the responsibility of those that need the change and not of those who know how to get change accomplished. The research questions for this study are: what are the institutional constraints to professor engagement in social justice work? How do professors overcome institutional constraints to social justice work? The theoretical basis for this study is Cultural Studies and the work of Stuart Hall. The data was gathered through thirteen surveys and four interviews with college/university faculty. Results indicate that various impediments to social justice work exist. Professors carry large work loads in their teaching responsibilities, they must be able to bring up students who do not have the ability to complete work at the university level, they have the obligation to complete and publish research, and many do not have bonds with their student body or their university community because they teach only one course as part of a growing and changing adjunct teaching faculty. They find themselves bogged down by the bureaucracies universities have become. All of these factors must be dealt with before professors can consider how to promote social justice in their own communities. The time and energy professors' need for these responsibilities is such that any interest for social justice work becomes an afterthought instead of the conduit for progress and change. Universities consider themselves successful not by the impact they make on society but on the marketability and employability of students, the size of their endowments, and the ranking of their athletic teams. Universities have the dual role of upholding the status quo and being a place where people can learn how to change power structures. University professors although they may be inclined to help are bound to responsibilities that make little difference to the lives of those suffering outside of the ivory tower.