Exploring the Mentoring and Faculty Interactions of Black Women Pursuing Doctoral Degrees

• In Event: Mentoring While White: Culturally Responsive Practices for Sustaining the Lives of Black College Students

Abstract

African-Americans earned 6.7 percent of the doctoral degrees awarded at US institutions in 2017 and of these doctorates earned, Black women earned 68.4% of all research doctorates and 64.5% of all professional doctorates (Ginder, Kelly-Reid, and Mann, 2018). A study conducted in 2018 found that 61.9% of Black women in undergraduate and graduate students reported needing mental health services or supports to cope with anxiety and depression from their educational experience (Lipson, Kern, Eisenberg, & Breland-Noble, 2018). Black female doctoral students face unique obstacles rooted in racial and gender biases and discrimination that include a lack of adequate mentorship and support, and challenges with faculty and peer groups (Johnson-Bailey, 2004; Love, 2017; Robinson, 2013). These women use a variety of support and strategies to persist academically and despite success in academic endeavors, their overall well-being is put at risk as they continue to feel like “perpetual outsiders” (Shavers & Moore, 2019).
This presentation will explore how the intersections of race, gender, and other identities combine to impact Black women in doctoral programs. Specifically, this presentation will examine the mentoring experiences because relationships with faculty are an important component of the doctoral experience. Furthermore, the session will explore the literature on Black women doctoral students and use narratives and qualitative interviews to provide insights on recruiting and retaining, and sustaining, Black women doctoral students.

Author

• Marjorie C. Shavers, Heidelberg University
  Presenting Author