Shifting Pathways: Rural Black Students and Postsecondary Education Access and Success

• In Event: Rural And...: A Symposium on Intersectional Diversity in Rural Education Research

Abstract

I am a Black, queer scholar from the suburban South, but I was raised by grandparents from the rural South whose education was hindered because of racism. My positionality shapes my approach to rural education research, recognizing the critical need to address racial injustices and inequities. In Fall 2017, I met eight Black students from rural high schools in their senior year who chose to participate in a one-year study on their pathways to postsecondary education. At the end of the first year, a few students suggested we continue the study for an additional year to “see what happens” after they graduated from high school. Thus, the study turned into a two-year, longitudinal qualitative study that examined: (a) the critical mechanisms and systemic barriers that shaped rural Black students’ pathways to postsecondary education and, if applicable, the first year of postsecondary education and (b) shifts in postsecondary education pathways and what led to these changes.

I employed an asset-based framework (Community Cultural Wealth; Yosso, 2005) and an ecological model (The Iloh Model of College-Going Decisions and Trajectories; Iloh, 2018) to develop a more robust understanding of the postsecondary education pathways for rural Black students. Drawing upon Critical Race Theory, Yosso (2005) proposed a model of Community Cultural Wealth which consists of “an array of knowledge, skills, abilities and contacts possessed and utilized by Communities of Color to survive and resist macro and micro-forms of oppression” (p. 78). The Iloh Model of College-Going Decisions and Trajectories is an ecological model that “focuses on three different contexts—information, time, and opportunity—to highlight how diverse prospective students, who are social actors embedded in complex ecosystems, decide on their higher education pathway” (p. 235).

The eight student participants in the study were nominated by school staff members to participate in the study because they had expressed interest in pursuing postsecondary education (e.g., certificate, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree). The eight students participated in up to six semi-structured interviews over two years. I engaged in holistic analysis to understand the conditions that influenced each participant’s postsecondary education pathways and categorical analysis to identify patterns across student participants (Josselon, 2011).

The findings from the study indicate students experienced racism, classism, sexism, and spatial inequities during their pathways to postsecondary education. For example, Dena discussed having to navigate and resist racism and sexism as a Black woman due to receiving messages that questioned her abilities. Students encountered challenges with postsecondary education costs, which led three students to change postsecondary education plans the summer between their senior year and first year of college. The students also discussed how their social networks and their own aspirations supported their postsecondary education pathways. This study has significant implications for practice and policy. I have gained a more comprehensive understanding of the pitfalls that need to be addressed through practice and policy to better support the postsecondary education pathways for rural Black students, while positioning the critical mechanisms that educators and policymakers can build upon that already support rural Black students.

Author

• Darris Roshawn Means, University of Pittsburgh