Unearthing the Complexities of Being Black, Pregnant, and a STEM Doctoral Student

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Centering Black Women and Girls in Education

Abstract

This singular holistic case study examined the experience of a Black pregnant mother pursuing doctoral studies in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) field at a flagship institution in the United States. Through critical race feminism, this study underscores ways in which structural racism and gender stereotypes present obstacles to the successful completion of doctoral studies. We present a counternarrative to the dominant, white-male centered STEM discourse through four emergent themes – the triple consciousness of layered Blackness, the pregnant Black tax, mapping a white man’s reality onto a Black woman’s body, and internal struggles and the intra-actions that birthed them. We conclude with recommendations for faculty and institutions that strive to better support Black mothers.

Authors

• Marsha Emelene Simon, University of West Georgia

• Jean Swindle, East Tennessee State University