Cultivating Excellence: Impact of Family on Black Women Faculty Persistence in the Academy

• In Event: Women of Color Faculty: Persisting in a Colonized Academy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore how the familial and educational experiences of Black women faculty (BWF) shaped and prepared them to become faculty in the academy and equipped them with the tools to persist as they encounter institutional oppression and resist the matrix of domination. Thirteen Black women wrote socio-cultural autobiographical narratives. Data were analyze using varied qualitative data analysis procedures. Findings were: BWF were shaped positively by their family support, motivation, and nurturing and by educational expectations and experiences; BWF’s identity development, community and culture, exposure to other BWF and administrators, and religious and spiritual practices equipped them with the confidence and tools to resist intersectional oppressions represented by the matrix of domination.

Authors

• Linda T. Coats, Mississippi State University

• Qiana M. Cutts, Mississippi State University

• Pamela Kay Scott Bracey, University of North Texas

• C. LaShan Simpson, Mississippi State University

• Melody Fisher, Mississippi State University