Designed to Destroy: The Mental and Physical Strain of Black Doctoral Students in Engineering and Computing

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: Examining the Challenges of Race and Academic Rigor

Abstract

Black engineering and computing doctoral students manage racialized experiences in the academy by working twice as hard to compensate for lowered expectations. Working twice as hard often means forgoing self-care and operating in what some participants described as “survival mode.” In this study, we used a phenomenological approach to analyze in-depth interview and focus group data from 45 Black doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers in engineering and computing departments, most of whom were attending predominately white institutions (PWIs). Our study participants described the PhD process as toxic and sadistic, driven by the callous nature of STEM departments and strained interpersonal relationships with their advisors, peers, professors, and administrators. As a result, students detailed a host of mental and physical complications.

Authors

• Ebony Omotola McGee, Vanderbilt Peabody College

• Stacey Houston, Vanderbilt University

• Derek Griffith, Vanderbilt University

• Devin Thomas White, Vanderbilt University