We’re Worth Fighting For: Reflections of Black Graduate Women on Engagement Within Global Black Diasporic Communities

• In Event: Focusing on Graduate Student Experiences: Reflections on Engagement and Activism for Black and Latina Students

Abstract

Research on study abroad within higher education highlights the positive academic, social, and economic outcomes these experiences have for students (Lee & Green, 2016). Black students in the U.S. make up only 6.4 percent of study abroad participants and most research focuses primarily on undergraduate students, leaving Black graduate students out of the literature (The Black Percentage, 2021). Through the use of Black feminist epistemologies and auto-ethnographies, this paper compiles reflections of four Black graduate women who have traveled abroad for academic enrichment and research experience, specifically within Black communities. We present a unique opportunity to highlight the impact that these experiences have while also advocating for higher education institutions to fund more similar opportunities for Black graduate women.

Authors

• Guerdiana Thelomar, University of Miami

• N'Dyah McCoy, University of Miami

• Monique Mahabir, University of Miami

• Melkam Mengesha, Emory University