From our own words: Centering Black women collegians’ voices and their needs for on-campus programming

• In Event: Journeying From Home to Everywhere: Centering Black Girls and Women Across Learning Environments

Abstract

Objective:
Due to Black women having increased college enrollment and degree attainment rates (NCES, 2019a), they are currently combating the myth of the “new model minority” (Kaba, 2008), implying that they can achieve academic success despite their non-majority social status.. This myth endangers the advocacy and visibility of Black women collegians who matriculate through college environments (Patton et al., 2017) and the support structures/programming they need to successfully thrive. While Black women’s scholastic achievements are admirable, they still have unique college experiences because they encounter both racist and sexist forms of oppression (Combahee, 1977/2014; Crenshaw, 1990; Patton & Croom, 2017; Porter et al., 2022; Williams et al., 2020; Winkle-Wagner et al., 2019). Due to these oppressive experiences, some Black women students seek support through learned leadership skills (Lee-Johnson et al., 2022), counterspaces (Keels, 2020), and mentorship (Jones & Wilder, 2013) to assist them in navigating college. Hence, the above scholars recommend that colleges should intentionally support and create spaces for Black women so they can thrive on campus. To date, these environments and programs and how it might influence Black women’s collegiate experiences and success have been underexplored within research. The purpose for this qualitative paper was to investigate how Black women collegians define and describe their experiences in a Black women-led student affairs program and why they believe these types of university programming should exist at PWIs.

Theoretical Framework:
For this study, I utilized Black Feminist Thought’s Politics of Empowerment, which details how Black women in tandem aim to empower themselves and others; and The Power of Self Definition, where Black women promote themselves and other Black women to sculpt their own identities (Collins, 2000). Additionally, I employed bell hooksian theoretical concepts of love, sisterhood, and community (2001a, 2001b, 2002).

Methodology:
This study is a part of a larger critical qualitative six-month ethnographic study that investigated 21 self-identifying Black women students and student affairs practitioners in a Black-women lead student affairs diversity program at a large PWI in the South. I employed a purposeful sampling selection process (Merriam, 2009) to recruit participants and conducted interviews and focus groups. I then transcribed teh data and performed multiple rounds of inductive and deductive coding (Creswell & Poth, 2016).

Data:
The findings indicated that participants overwhelmingly experienced a sense of belonging, love, community, and sisterhood within the program, and that participating in the program assisted many with retention and building self-confidence.

Significance:
The significance of this manuscript centers Black women students and how their experiences and relationships within a Black women-led university program for Black women students influenced their understanding of self and their overall collegiate experiences, success, and retention. This study has implications for policy makers, faculty, and administrators to help support, fund, and advocate for better collegiate experiences for Black women students, and to better understand the plight of marginalized students’ at PWIs and what they declare is needed for them to matriculate and thrive at PWIs.

Author

• LaShawn Faith Washington, University of Texas at Austin