Sustaining Sisterhood: The Role of Virtual Sister Circles in Mentoring Black Women in Academia During a Dual Pandemic

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Abstract

This paper examines sister circles as transformative mentoring ecosystems that sustained Black women doctoral students and graduates affiliated with the Urban Education Collaborative during the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice. Grounded in Black Feminist Thought and Community Cultural Wealth, the study reveals how these identity-affirming counterspaces fostered resilience, academic persistence, and professional growth amid heightened isolation and racialized institutional pressures. Using interviews, focus groups, and autoethnographic reflections, findings highlight three critical functions: emotional and psychological support, academic and professional development, and collective resistance. Virtual sister circles further expanded networks nationally and globally. The paper calls for institutions to formally recognize and fund these organic communities as essential components of equity-driven mentorship and institutional transformation for Black women in academia.

Authors

• Tiffany Hollis, Coastal Carolina University

• Tamera D. Moore, Charleston Southern University

• Jonimay J. Morgan, Texas A&M University

• Jessica R Robinson, University of North Carolina - Charlotte