Doctoral Studenting While Black and Male: A Consequential BlackCrit Interrogation of Doctoral Experiences

• In Event: In Pursuit of Consequential Truths: BlackCrit Interrogations of Postsecondary Education and the Black Student Experience

Abstract

Firstly, this presentation will highlight and interrogate 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 them, and thereby demonstrate consequential research with humanizing and liberatory approaches (Paris, 2011; Savage et al., 2021). Thirdly, it will make suggestions for postsecondary institution research and practices. Therefore, this presentation will argue for research and policies that further interrogate doctoral education and related research of consequence, especially pertinent to Black males.



Consistent with all the papers in this session, this presentation will highlight how BlackCrit’s three framing ideas (Dumas & ross, 2016) were used as an analytic in interrogating doctoral education and what it means to do consequential education research, in part, by engaging in research that honors and centers Black life in postsecondary contexts.



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 using a critical race methodology (CRM) (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) in particularly humanizing and liberatory ways (Paris, 2011; Savage et al., 2021). Together, therefore, critical race methodology and humanizing research comprise the modes of inquiry.



The data sources for the larger study from which this presentation will be pulled included four one-on-one semi-structured interviews with each participant, and two focus groups.



Congruent with BlackCrit, insights from the study indicated that the Black male doctoral students found their postsecondary institutions reflected oppressive cultures that enabled the sustenance of anti-Blackness in higher education. The study also indicated that participants experienced tension 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 enabled interrogation of doctoral education, as well as what it means to do consequential research. This process augmented participants’ agency, enabled them to process their experiences, and facilitated problem-solving and a liberatory and sustaining community. Together, these insights evidenced BlackCrit’s three framing ideas.



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 by critically examining their experiences as doctoral students specifically. Second, its use of critical race methodology centered in a humanizing and liberatory approach to research enabled participants’ contribution to the research process as scholars, as well as facilitated opportunities for them to process their experiences and fuel their well-being in consequential ways. Third, although much of the policy discussion in postsecondary institutions focuses on students broadly, the focus is usually primarily on undergraduate students. Therefore, this study draws important attention to some of the policy implications for doctoral students, particularly those who are Black and male simultaneously. Consequently, this study contributes to underscoring the imperative for postsecondary policies and cultures that interrogate consequential education research in pursuit of truths--attentive to Black male life.

Author

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