“Haul Me out the Classroom?”: Faculty Resistance, Anti-Adei Pressures, and the Defense of Social Work Education for the Common Good

Background and Purpose: Social work researchers, educators, and administrators are increasingly confronted with escalating attacks on academic freedom, particularly targeting antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion (ADEI). In a sociopolitical moment where democratic principles and inclusive inquiry are increasingly restricted, understanding how faculty respond to anti-ADEI legislation and related institutional pressures is critical. Yet limited research examines how faculty sustain justice-centered teaching, research, and service under these conditions. Such inquiry can clarify how social work may remain ethically grounded while contributing to the common good and advancing rigorous, inclusive inquiry and practice amid increasing restrictions.

This paper offers applied insight into how faculty are experiencing and responding to anti-ADEI policies across teaching, research, and service. It highlights how faculty practices not only respond to constraints but may sustain and, in some cases, reimagine inclusive, equitable educational spaces foundational to a thriving democracy, reflecting resilience, innovation, and hope.

Methods: This multi-site qualitative collective case study included social work faculty (N = 11) across U.S institutional and sociopolitical contexts. Participants primarily self-identified as female or female presenting (64%), based in the Southeast (64%), held clinical faculty roles (36%), and worked in public institutions (55%). Racial and ethnic identity included white (including Jewish and non-Hispanic) (55%), Black (36%), and Black and Native Indigenous (9%).

Participants were recruited via professional networks and completed semi-structured interviews and demographic questionnaires, with an opportunity for transcript review to enhance credibility. Data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis, with independent coding by each researcher and collaborative theme development. Guided by Critical Consciousness Theory, the interview protocol centered reflection, political efficacy, and action, emphasizing agency and resistance over passive compliance. Interviews explored participants’ experiences, interpretations, and responses to anti-ADEI policies and pressures, illuminating adaptive strategies grounded in social work’s social justice foundations.

Results: Through inductive and deductive analysis, five themes emerged: Critical Reflection; Context and Perception of Political Efficacy; Critical Praxis vs. Active Compliance; Emotional and Identity Labor; and Ethical, Professional, and Personal Obligation. These themes illustrate how faculty perceive anti-ADEI conditions and adapt their practices in response. They extend Critical Consciousness Theory within the current sociopolitical context, illuminating tensions between institutional pressures and professional ethics while highlighting strategies that sustain justice-centered teaching, research, and service. Collectively, they reflect innovation, relational support, and situated hope.

Conclusions and Implications: Despite mounting anti-ADEI pressures, faculty are actively adapting their work to sustain antiracist and equity-focused teaching, research, and service. This study documents emergent changes, including curricular and linguistic revisions, informal support networks, and critical dialogue strategies. It identifies tactics that may help sustain justice-centered education under restrictive conditions. Findings suggest these adaptations may inform social work’s efforts to advance rigorous inquiry for the common good and strengthen commitments to racial and social justice in challenging political contexts.

Implications include stronger protections of academic freedom, investment in collaborative infrastructures across institutions and roles, and support for justice-centered pedagogy. Findings also point to future research on how these practices may influence student learning, program development, and institutional change over time.