Abstract
Black, first-generation doctoral students can be classified as those who belong to the African diaspora and come from families with parents who do not have bachelor’s degrees. Data shows that over half of Black doctoral degree recipients, across all fields, have first-generation status, and literature has shown that these students experience several challenges during their doctoral journey that their peers do not. This paper details six of these challenges for Black, first-generation research doctoral students in social work programs. These challenges result in educational disparities disfavoring these students, and, as such, social workers are compelled by our Code of Ethics to work against these forms of social injustice. This conceptual discussion uses Critical Race Theory and Social Capital Theory to explain the continued existence of these challenges, followed by recommendations that social work educators, academic institutions, and educational organizations can use to improve conditions for Black, first-generation social work research doctoral students across the country. If social work educators take this critical issue, its associated challenges, and the proposed recommendations seriously, they can begin to create safe and actively anti-racist and anti-classist academic environments that are conducive to the success of this student population.
Highlights
Black, first-generation doctoral students can be classified as those who belong to the African diaspora and come from families with parents who do not have bachelor’s degrees
Available data from Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) shows that the percentage of Black graduates from social work research doctoral programs is usually higher than the 2018 national Black PhD graduation rate of 7% (National Science Foundation [NSF], 2019)
A reader may be asking why this paper focuses on Black first-generation research doctoral students as opposed to first-generation research doctoral students in general, or all first-generation research doctoral students of color
Summary
Over half of 2019 Black doctoral degree recipients across all disciplines met federal criteria for first-generation student status (NSF & National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics [NCSES], 2020) This is the highest rate among any racial group. It appears that the same circumstances are true for Black doctoral graduates, in general If both Black and firstgeneration students, regardless of race, face the same additional hurdles, individually, the ADVANCES IN SOCIAL WORK, Summer 2021, 21(2/3). Training of Black students if for no other reason than to work to create a more just society for the Black people that our discipline serves This ask may seem practice-oriented but, as mentioned earlier, the 1968 position statement from NABSW called for the recruitment of Black social work researchers, placing the responsibility on the shoulders of social work doctoral programs as well. Regardless of what Black, first-generation social work research doctoral students choose to study, this author believes that it is past time to heed this call
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