Institutions, Intuitions, and Inhibitions: Nuancing the Role of HBCUs on Black Women’s Socialization Constructs

• In Event: Dismantling Barriers: Perspectives, Learning, and Campus Climate

Abstract

HBCUs continue to be a hub and model for Black student success. For Black women, specifically, such institutional types have pronounced effects on personal identity and professional development. Using interview data from the United Negro College Fund’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, we center the experiences and perspectives of 25 Black women HBCU alumnae. We examine various roles that HBCUs play in socializing Black women from pre-enrollment to graduation through their careers. Our analysis points to three findings: (1) Nurturing a Typology of Womanhood, (2) Standardizing Black Womanhood, and (3) Affirming Black Womanhood. Findings from our work suggest that HBCUs socialize legacies and networks of Black people and HBCUs' proven capacity to cultivate evolving iterations of Black womanhood.

Authors

• Natasha K. McClendon, Spelman College

• Kamia F Slaughter, Indiana University

• Danie Marshall, Georgia State University

• Joseph-Emery L. Kouaho, Kindred Futures