Articulation of identity in Black undergraduate women: Influences, interactions, and intersections

Abstract

The identity development of Black undergraduate women has been forced to fit within the constrained dimensions of theoretical frameworks based on the “perceptions and agendas of members of the dominant society” (Howard-Hamilton, 2003, p. 20). Previous theories fail to encapsulate the experiences of Black undergraduate women because they lack a more holistic perspective-one based upon their cultural, personal, and social contexts and intersections of identities. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to conceptualize how Black undergraduate women enrolled at a predominately White institution (PWI) articulated their identity as Black women by exploring factors that influenced their development before and during college. Exploring participants’ experiences resulted in a conceptualization of identity defined by socialization processes, interactions with others, and intersections of identities. This study is important because current theories and models of student development have neither accurately represented nor critically analyzed the gendered and racialized experiences of Black undergraduate women. While there have been recent empirical and conceptual examinations of college students’ race, gender, and class (Banks, 2009; Harper and Hurtado, 2011; Howard-Hamilton, 2003; Strayhorn and Terrell, 2010; Torres, Howard-Hamilton, and Cooper, 2003; Winkle-Wagner, 2009), little is known specifically about the identity development of Black undergraduate women.