Keywords
graduate students
intersectionality
womanism
mentoring
How to Cite
Abstract
Research to explore the experiences of Black women graduate students in colleges and universities is limited despite the increased focus and prioritization of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, particularly at Predominantly White Institutions. This is problematic as Black women have the highest increases of graduate school attainment rates in the United States of all gender and racial/gender groups; yet, these settings are not equipped to support them. Grounded in Intersectionality and Womanist perspectives, this study explores the educational experiences of 19 Black women who recently obtained graduate degrees from Predominantly White Institutions. Findings from the study reveal that in these environments, no spaces were created to nurture them in their interlocking identities, students engaged in distancing dilemmas, diversity efforts appeared delusional, collective efforts by the students generated achievement, and positive mentoring lessened inequality gaps. Concrete and practical strategies are provided to systematically support Black women graduate students and relieve them of the burden of self-reliance.
References
Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society, 4(2), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124390004002002
Apugo, D. (2020). Black women graduate students on whiteness and barrier breaking in leadership. The Urban Review, 52, 424–442. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-020-00552-4
Ayyildiz, N. E. & Kocsoy, F. G. (2020). “Elethia” and “a sudden trip home in spring”: Alice Walker’s womanist response to the issues of black people. Adıyaman Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 13(34), 26–48.
Bailey-Fakhoury, C., & Frierson, M. (2014). Black women attending predominantly White institutions: Fostering their academic success using African American Motherwork strategies. Journal of Progressive Policy & Practice, 2(3), 213–228. https://caarpweb.org/
Baldwin, A. N., & Johnson, R. (2018). Black women’s co-mentoring relationships as resistance to marginalization at a PWI. In O. Perlow, D. Wheeler, S. Bethea, & B. Scott (Eds.), Black women’s liberatory pedagogies (pp. 125–140). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65789-9_7
Brah, A., & Phoenix, A. (2004). Ain’t I a woman? Revisiting Intersectionality. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 5(3), 75–86. https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol5/iss3/8/
Burton, L. J., Cry, D., & Weiner, J. M. (2020). “Unbroken, but bent”: Gendered racism in school leadership. Frontiers in Education, 5(52), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.00052
Candela, A. G. (2019). Exploring the function of member checking. The Qualitative Report, 24(3), 619–628. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3726
Carbado, D. W., Crenshaw, K. W., Mays, V. M., & Tomlinson, B. (2013). Intersectionality: Mapping the movements of a theory. Du Bois Review: Editorial Introduction, 10(2), 303–312.
Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing grounded theory. Sage Publications.
Chen, M. M., Sandborg, C. I., Hudgins, L., Sanford, R., & Bachrach, L. K. (2016). A multifaceted mentoring program for junior faculty in academic pediatrics. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 28(3), 320–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2016.1153476
Cho, S., Crenshaw, K. W., & McCall, L. (2013). Toward a field of intersectionality studies: Theory, applications, and praxis. Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 38(4), 785–810.
Cole, E. R. (2015). Toward a “Greenbook” for intersectionality studies in psychology. [Conference Presentation]. APA 2015 Convention, Toronto, Canada.
Collins, P. H. (1986). Learning from the outsider within: The sociological significance of Black feminist thought. Social Problems, 33(6), 14–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/800672
Collins, P. H. (1998). Fighting words: Black women & the search for justice. University of Minneapolis Press.
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge.
Collins, P. H. (2015). Intersectionality’s definitional dilemmas. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112142
Collins, P. H., & Bilge, S. (2016). Intersectionality. Policy Press.
Collins, P. H., & Bilge, S. (2020). Intersectionality (2nd ed.). Wiley.
Cooper, A. J. (2017). A voice from the south: By a black woman of the south. The University of North Carolina Press. (Original work published 1892)
Corbin, N. A., Smith, W. A., & Garcia, J. R. (2018). Trapped between justified anger and being the strong Black woman: Black college women coping with racial battle fatigue at historically and predominantly White institutions. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 31(7), 626–643.
Crenshaw, K. W. (2017). Race to the bottom: How the post-racial revolution became a whitewash. The Baffler, 35.
Crenshaw, K. W. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. www.jstor.org/stable/1229039
Crump, L., Haskins, N., Dean, L., & Avent Harris, J. (2020). Illuminating social-class identity: The persistence of working-class African American women doctoral students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 13(3), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000109
Donovan, R. A., & Guillory, N. (2017). Black women’s college experience: Influence of sociostructural stressors. In L. D. Patton & N. N.
Croom (Eds.), Critical perspectives on Black women and college success (pp. 158–169). Routledge.
Dennis, K. N. & Jason, K. J. (2018). Black women academics: Artistic expression through teaching, research, and social activism. Issues in Race & Society: An Interdisciplinary Global Journal, 6(1), 86–109.
Drew-Branch, V., Richardson, S. C., & Conner, L. (2019). To be new, Black, female and academic: Renaissance of womanism within academia. In N. Chaddock, & B. Hinderliter (Eds.), Antagonizing White feminism: Intersectionality’s critique of women’s studies and the academy (pp. 105–136). Lexington Books.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903). The souls of Black folk. Oxford University Press.
Else-Quest, N. M., & Hyde, J. S. (2016). Intersectionality in quantitative psychological research: II. Methods and techniques. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 40(3), 319–336. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316647953
Fries-Britt, S., & Kelly, B. T. (2005). Retaining each other: Narratives of two African American women in the academy. The Urban Review, 37, 221–242. https://doi.org//10.1007/s11256-005-0006-2
Geertz, C. (1973). Thick description: Toward an interpretive theory of culture. In C. Geertz (Ed.), The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays (pp. 3–30). Basic Books.
Geyton, T., Johnson, N., & Ross, K. (2022). “I’m good”: Examining the internalization of the strong Black woman archetype. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 32(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2020.1844838
Griffith, A. N., Hurd, N. M., & Hussain, S. B. (2017). “I didn’t come to school for this”: A qualitative examination of experiences with race-related stressors and coping responses among Black students attending a predominantly White institution. Journal of Adolescent Research, 34(2), 1115–139. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558417742983
Hall, R. M., & Sandler, B. R. (1982). The classroom climate: A chilly one for women? Association of American Colleges.
Harley, D. A. (2008). Maids of academe: African American women faculty at predominately White institutions. Journal of African American Studies, 12(1), 19–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-007-9030-5
Holton, R. J., & Turner, B. J. (1989). Max Weber on economy and society. Routledge.
Houston, M., & Davis, O. I. (Eds.). (2002). Centering ourselves: African American feminist and womanist studies of discourse. Hampton Press .
Howard‐Hamilton, M. F. (2003). Theoretical frameworks for African American women. New Directions for Student Services, 2003(104), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.104
Hurtado, S., Han, J. C., Sáenz, V. B., Espinosa, L., Cabrera, N., & Cerna, O. (2007). Predicting transition and adjustment to college: Biomedical and behavioral science aspirants’ and minority students’ first year of college. Research in Higher Education, 48, 841–887. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-007-9051-x
Hurtado, S., & Ruiz, A. (2012). The climate for underrepresented groups and diversity on campus. Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. https://heri.ucla.edu/briefs/URMBriefReport.pdf
Kelly, B. T., Raines, A., Brown, R., French, A., & Stone, J. (2019). Critical validation: Black women’s retention at predominantly White institutions. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 23(2), 434–456. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025119841030
Kimchi, J., Polivka, B., & Stevenson, J. S. (1991). Triangulation: Operational definitions. Nursing Research, 40(6), 364–366.
King, N. S., & Upadhyay, B. (2022). Negotiating mentoring relationships and support for Black and Brown early career faculty. Science Education, 106(5), 1149–1171. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21755
Kwak, N., Gavrila, S. G., & Ramirez F. O. (2019). Enacting diversity in American higher education. In T. Christenson, A. Gornitzka, & F.
Ramirez (Eds.), Universities as agencies (pp. 209–228). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92713-8_8
Lewis J. A., Mendenhall, R., Harwood, S. A., & Browne Hunt, M. (2016). “Ain’t I a Woman?”: Perceived gendered racial microaggressions experienced by Black women. The Counseling Psychologist, 44(5), 758–780. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000016641193
Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. H. (1995). Analyzing social setting: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis. Wadsworth.
Lorde, A. (1984). Sister Outsider. Crossing Press.
Jones, M. C., & Shorter-Gooden, K. (2009). Shifting: The double lives of Black women in America. Harper Collins.
Margolis, E., & Romero, M. (1998). The department is very male, very White, very old, and very conservative: The functioning of the hidden curriculum in graduate sociology departments. Harvard Educational Review, 68, 1–33.
https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.1.1q3828348783j851
Miller, B., & Sujitparapitaya, S. (2010). Campus climate in the twenty-first century: Estimating perceptions of discrimination at a racially mixed institution. New Directions for Institutional Research, 145, 29–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.321
Museus, S. D., & Griffin, K. A. (2011). Mapping the margins in higher education: On the promise of intersectionality frameworks in research and discourse. New Directions for Institutional Research, 151, 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.395
National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). Degrees conferred by race and sex. U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=72
National Center for Education Statistics. (2015). Digest of Education Statistics 2016. U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d16/tables/dt16_315.20.asp
Pena, M., & Wilder, J. (2011). Mentoring transformed: When students of color see diversity in leadership. In G. Jean-Marie, & B. Lloyd-Jones (Eds.), Women of color in higher education: Changing directions and new perspectives (pp. 345–363). Emerald Group.
Perry, B. L., Harp, K. L., & Oser, C. B. (2013). Racial and gender discrimination in the stress process: Implications for African American women’s health and well-being. Sociological Perspectives, 56, 26–48.
Rousseau, N. (2013). Historical womanist theory: Re-visioning black feminist thought. Race, Gender & Class, 20(3), 191–204. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43496941
Shavers, M. C., & Moore, J. L. (2019). The perpetual outsider: Voices of Black women pursuing doctoral degrees at predominantly White institutions. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 47(4), 210–226. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmcd.12154
Stanley, C. A. (2006). Coloring the academic landscape: Faculty of color breaking the silence in predominantly White colleges and universities. American Educational Research Journal, 43(4), 701–736. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312043004701
Thomas, G. D., & Hollenshead, C. (2001). Resisting from the margins: The coping strategies of Black women and other women of color faculty members at a research university. Journal of Negro Education, 70(3), 166–175. https://doi.org/10.2307/3211208
United States Census Bureau. (2019). Educational attainment in the United States: 2018. U.S. Department of Commerce. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2018/demo/education-attainment/cps-detailed-tables.html
Walker, A. (2008). Lest we forget: An open letter to my sisters. The Black Scholar, 38(1), 44–46. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41069299
Walker, A. (1983). In search of our mothers’ gardens: Womanist prose. Harcourt.
Walkington, L. (2017). How far have we really come? Black women faculty and graduate students’ experiences in higher education. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 39, 51–65. https://www.jstor.org/stable/90007871
Welton, A. D., Mansfield, K. C., & Lee, P. L. (2014). Mentoring matters: An exploratory survey of educational leadership doctoral students’ perspectives. Mentoring and Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 22(5), 481–509. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2014.983330
Wilson, S. (2012). They forgot mammy had a brain. In G. G. Muhs (Ed.), Presumed incompetent: The intersections of race and class for women in academia (pp. 65–77). University Press of Colorado.
Woods, K. C. (2013). The strong Black woman archetype and intentions to seek therapy for depression: A cultural application of the theory of planned behavior. Michigan State University.
Ysseldyk, R., Greenaway, K. H., Hassinger, E., Zutrauen, S., Lintz, J., Bhatia, M. P., Frye, M., Starkenburg, E., & Tai, V. (2019). A leak in the academic pipeline: Identity and health among postdoctoral women. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1297. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01297
Zambrana, R. E., Wingfield, A., Lapeyrouse, L. M., Dávila, B. A., Hoagland, T. L., & Valdez, R. B. (2017). Blatant, subtle, and insidious: URM faculty perceptions of discriminatory practices in predominantly White institutions. Sociological Inquiry, 87(2), 207–232. https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12147
Authors retain copyright control of articles published in the journal. Reprints cannot be granted for articles in new issues. Except in these cases, those who wish to reprint articles, large excerpts, figures, graphs, tables, or images should contact authors directly. When referencing any published articles from this online journal, JAAWGE is to be credited as the publication outlet. We suggest including the URL link to JAAWGE. Permission to copy an article is provided to all subscribers, but cannot be sold, except by its author(s). Authors are free to disseminate and post their articles.