A Meta-Ethnographic Review of the Experiences of African American Girls and Young Women in K–12 Education

Abstract

There has been a paucity of research on the educational experiences of young Black women in U.S. K–12 education. Although both Black male and female students experience constrained opportunities to learn, the popular and academic conversation has almost unilaterally focused on the plight of Black boys and men. Drawing on critical race theory, this meta-ethnographic literature review synthesizes what is currently known about the advantages and obstacles young Black women encounter within public schooling contexts given their marginalized racial and gender identities. The data were drawn from a careful systematic search of electronic databases, key journals, books, and the reference lists of key articles, which yielded 37 sources for review. The analysis revealed that school officials positioned young Black women to be undisciplined in their academic habits and unequivocally misaligned with school norms. As such, they were viewed as unapproachable, unteachable, and ultimately fully responsible for the limited academic opportunities they experienced. On the other hand, young Black women spoke of themselves as highly ambitious and driven learners. They felt unfairly handicapped in their pursuit of educational and occupational success at the hands of school officials who misconstrued their identities, and given institutional policies that targeted them and failed to meet their needs. The review discusses implications of these varied perspectives in viewing the school experiences of young Black women and offers future directions for study and practice.