The Triple Hurdle: The Socialization Experiences of Doctoral Students of Color at Predominantly White Universities

• In Event: Multicultural/Multiethnic Education: Experiences of Students in Underrepresented Contexts

Abstract

The years of doctoral study are widely considered the period during which emerging professionals acquire and internalize the attitudes, values, expectations, and norms of their chosen discipline, a process termed ‘disciplinary socialization.’ Emerging professionals acquire core knowledge base expected of disciplinary experts through mentoring, advising, teaching, research, and service. Doctoral education scholars have argued that doctoral students undergo a unique double socialization in that they are simultaneously socialized to the discipline and the role of the graduate student. In this paper, we use in-depth narratives of students of color who earned their doctorate at elite Predominantly White Universities to posit that these students undergo a triple socialization process: To discipline, graduate student role, and underrepresented doctoral student of color role.

Authors

• Spencer Platt, University of South Carolina - Columbia

• Michelle A. Maher, University of South Carolina

• Telesia E. Davis, University of South Carolina

• Martin E. Ford, George Mason University