“Teach Me to Navigate the System”: How McNair Programs Help Reimagine Belonging for Black First-Generation Women

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Creating Equitable Systems and Spaces in Higher Education to Support Low-Income Students (Table 28)

Abstract

While scholarship on first-generation college students continues to grow, stories of first-generation college students are incomplete. Much of the literature lacks a nuanced perspective about Black college students broadly and Black women students specifically. Centering the voices of nine Black first-generation women across three PWIs, this paper focuses on first-generation Black women’s experiences with marginalization in higher education and how institutional programs, like the McNair Scholars Program, can create belonging and ultimately retain Black first-generation college women. Using Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality to unpack the interlocking oppression that Black women face at predominantly white institutions (PWI), coupled with EAB’s five components of student belonging, we highlight ways institutions can shift to craft spaces with Black women in mind.

Authors

• Roshaunda L. Breeden, North Carolina State University

• Ashley B. Clayton, Louisiana State University

• Tiffany J Davis, University of Houston