Black Males and the University: Critical Considerations for Cultivating Equitable Postsecondary Educational Systems

• In Event: Humanizing and Liberatory: Imperatives for Equitable Postsecondary Education Systems in the 21st Century

Abstract

Firstly, this presentation will highlight aspects of the doctoral experiences of five Black males at multiple institutions across the US. Secondly, it will provide insights into the research process with rather than on others, and in so doing demonstrate approaches to humanizing and liberatory research. Thirdly, it will make several suggestions for postsecondary institution research, policies and practices. Therefore, this presentation will advance research and policies for more equitable doctoral educational systems today and in the 21st century.

BlackCrit (Dumas & ross, 2016) was the theoretical framework for this study. Dumas and ross (2016) frame three key ideas regarding BlackCrit. First, anti-Blackness is endemic. Second, there is tension between Blackness and the neoliberal multicultural imagination. Third, Black people engage in liberatory fantasy. These three ideas guided the lenses of this study and highlight important considerations about the ways HPWIs may contribute to cultivating equity in the postsecondary education system now, and for the 21st century.

Using a critical race methodology (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002), this presentation will discuss the experiences of five Black male doctoral students at HPWIs in the northeastern, southeastern and south central regions of the US. Additionally, the study facilitated a humanizing approach to research, which Paris (2011) describes as “a methodological stance, which requires that our inquiries involve dialogic consciousness-raising and the building of relationships of care and dignity for both researchers and participants” (p. 141). Together, therefore, critical race methodology and humanizing research comprised the modes of inquiry.

The data sources were four one-on-one semi-structured interviews with each participant, as well as two focus groups with participants as a collective.

Insights from the study indicated that the Black male doctoral students found their HPWIs reflected oppressive cultures that enabled the sustenance of anti-Blackness in higher education. They also indicated that participants experienced tensions and were acutely aware of the ways their Black male identities were salient in their experiences as doctoral students. Importantly, the study underscored that the humanizing and liberatory approaches of the research process augmented participants’ agency, enabled them to process their experiences, and facilitated problem-solving as well as a liberatory and sustaining community.

Taken as a whole, the presentation is of scholarly significance for a combination of reasons. First, it contributes to the literature on Black male experiences in postsecondary institutions (e.g. Goings, 2018) by critically examining their experiences as doctoral students specifically. Second, its use of a humanizing and liberatory research approach (Paris, 2011) enabled participants’ contribution to the research process as scholars, as well as fueled their well-being. Third, although much of the policy discussion in postsecondary institutions focuses on students broadly, the focus is usually primarily on undergraduate students (Brooms, 2017). Therefore, this study draws important attention to some of the policy implications for doctoral students, and particularly those who are Black and male simultaneously. Consequently, this study contributes to underscoring the imperative for postsecondary policies and practices that help in cultivating equitable educational systems--attentive to Black male life.

Author

• Shawn S. Savage, University of North Carolina - Wilmington