Black Graduate Students Research Articles

The Relationship Between the Imposter Phenomenon and Mental Health in Black Graduate Students: Examining Moderating Effects of Perceived Social Support

Research has established a positive relationship between the impostor phenomenon and poor mental health outcomes among Black graduate students. However, the literature is scarce on psychosocial factors that could moderate this relationship. The present study investigated Black graduate students’ ( N = 200) experiences of impostorism and whether perceived social support moderated the relationship between impostor phenomenon and symptoms of depression or anxiety. The findings suggested perceived social support moderated the relationship between impostor feelings and both anxiety and depression. The findings suggested that, for the imposter phenomenon-anxiety relation, family social support weakened the association. For the imposter phenomenon-depression relation, total social support, family social support, and significant other social support weakened the association. These findings have important implications for both educational and clinical practice. For graduate programs, they must be aware of the effects imposter syndrome has on Black students and offer supportive environments to these students. For mental health professionals, the findings of this study should inform their work with Black graduate students, specifically intervention decisions to strengthen social support and sense of community.

Closer to My Dreams: Exploring Black Women’s Graduate School Aspirations and Community Uplift Through a Community Cultural Wealth and Black Feminist Approach

ABSTRACT This qualitative study analyzed what shaped the aspirations of Black women graduate student alumnae to earn advanced degrees. Using an assets-based conceptual framework of Community Cultural Wealth and Black Feminist Thought, findings suggested that the aspirational capital of Black women alumnae who obtained advanced degrees was fueled by other familial, navigational, resistance, and social capital and that they also implemented notions of Black feminisms within their trajectories into graduate education. Additionally, by bridging Community Cultural Wealth and Black Feminist Thought, the data suggests a new form of capital, which we call community uplift capital, that is rooted in elevating one’s community, family, and culture. The findings have implications for the recruitment and retention of Black graduate students and for stakeholders associated with graduate education matriculation.

If Not Us, Then Who: Supporting Black Graduate Students

Empirical studies about Black graduate students have emphasized their experiences with oppression and marginalization, related psychological impacts, and the survival practices they enable them to persist within Historically White Institutions (HWIs). Yet, some literature falls short of examining how individuals thrive despite racial trauma experienced professionally and personally. Moreover, there is a need for research to explore the role Black faculty play in assisting Black graduate students with addressing racial trauma and engaging in healing practices. Thus, this paper aimed to understand how early-career Black faculty supported Black graduate students in their attempt to do more than thrive while pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees in higher education.

“Failing to respond”: Black graduate students’ perceptions of a university president’s responses to racialized incidents.

“Failing to respond”: Black graduate students’ perceptions of a university president’s responses to racialized incidents.

On racial allyship and constructing a racial allyship framework: Black graduate STEM students’ insights and recommendations for aspiring faculty allies.

On racial allyship and constructing a racial allyship framework: Black graduate STEM students’ insights and recommendations for aspiring faculty allies.

The State of Black Sociology: A Critical Reflection of Joyce Ladner’s The Death of white Sociology

On the fiftieth anniversary of Joyce Ladner’s The Death of white Sociology, we write this critical reflection to explore the discipline’s historical, often explicit oversight and investment in Whiteness. The historical roots of “mainstream”, white sociology are inundated with pathologization, dehumanization, and exclusion of Black people, the Black community, and Black scholarship. From graduate program training and conferencing to peer-review processes and the academic job market, Black sociologists are expected to center white hegemonic ideals of professionalism and academic rigor. We write this critical reflection exploring the edited volume’s implications for discussing anti-Blackness as well as the methodological and theoretical significance of Black sociology past and present. As Black sociologists and doctoral scholars, this reflection serves as a call to the discipline to grapple with texts such as The Death of white Sociology, the discomfort it may cause, and how the exclusion of such work directly harms the training and careers of Black graduate students.

Black Graduate Students' Mentorship Experiences at a University in Western Canada

This discussion examines the mentoring experiences of Black graduate students enrolled in a Faculty of Education at a university located in western Canada between the years 2010 and 2020. The students were pursuing masters’ and doctoral degrees and were asked to reflect on the mentorship and support that they received during the course of their graduate programs. Drawing from critical and interdisciplinary perspectives about Blackness, the paper analyzes these experiences as narrated by the participants through semi-structured qualitative research interviews. Findings point to the pervasiveness of systemic racism in a culture of whiteness, along with the lack of mentorship and its impacts on the Black graduate experience. The discussion concludes with recommendations for policy and practice.

Chapter 3 Our Only Sin Was Being Black: Reflecting on Maria Franklin (1997) in the Time of Black Lives Matter in Archaeology

ABSTRACTIt has been over 25 years since Maria Franklin (1997b) asked, “Why are there so few black American archaeologists?” While low numbers can still be attributed to Black Americans choosing to pursue more lucrative careers, we must also understand that barriers instituted and perpetuated by racism also play a major factor. Through highlighting the experiences of archaeologists from John Wesley Gilbert (1863–1923) to contemporary professionals, the legacy of racism and discriminatory treatment of Black archaeologists assists in answering Franklin's question. Though numbers have increased since the creation of the Society of Black Archaeologists in 2011, the retention of Black graduate students and professionals in the field is still a challenge. Revisiting this question in the time of Black Lives Matter in Archaeology may provide some clarity.

Black Graduate Students’ Counternarratives and Interrogations of a Hate Crime

ABSTRACT Hate crimes across the country are becoming more prevalent, and there are growing concerns for higher education and college campuses. White supremacy has been noted as a potential driving force escalating hate and discrimination at disproportionate levels, especially for Black students on predominantly white campuses. This qualitative study described the murder of 2nd Lieutenant Richard Collins III by a white supremacist student, Sean Urbanski at a bus stop at the University of Maryland College Park. I used critical race theory in education and critical race methodology to analyze Black graduate students’ counternarratives and interrogations of a hate crime through semi-structured interviews. I described how the juxtaposition of this hate crime influenced campus and national conversations about Black students’ proximity to white supremacy. Lastly, participants’ counternarratives attested to widespread trauma, which adds a new layer to existing literature on Black graduate students’ experiences. Implications for this scholarship offer practice, policy, and research recommendations to eradicate hate crimes on college campuses.

“The lab isn't life”: Black engineering graduate students reprioritize values at the intersection of two pandemics

AbstractBackgroundBlack engineering graduate students represent a critical and understudied population in engineering education. Gaining an understanding of the lived experiences of Black engineering graduate students while they are simultaneously weathering two pandemics, COVID‐19 and systemic racism, is of paramount importance.Purpose/HypothesisBlack engineering graduate students hold a unique duality, as both Black people in the United States and Black graduate students in US engineering programs that espouse white supremacist ideals. Their real‐world experiences necessitate understanding, and this paper highlights the related impact on the students themselves, their adaptations to the pandemics, and how those adaptations relate to and affect their support needs and navigation of their engineering academic environments.Design/MethodAn interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach was combined with community‐based participatory action research and was situated in Boykin's Triple Quandary. A family check‐in was conducted with 10 Black engineering graduate students enrolled in doctoral programs across the country to delve deep into their lived experience as a cultural community.ResultsFindings include an emergent framework of Black engineering graduate student values in response to the pandemics. These values aligned with the Black Cultural Ethos, demonstrating an adoption of collectivistic cultural values in times of crises. Further, COVID‐19 and systemic racism differentially impacted Black engineering graduate students and, thus, the manifestations of their values.ConclusionFor institutions to be able to effectively support their Black engineering graduate students, they must gain awareness of the students' experiences, values, and needs, in general, and amid crises specifically. The findings presented here provide a critical window into this information.

“Campus racial climate matters too”: Understanding Black graduate students’ perceptions of a president’s response

This qualitative, descriptive single case study examined Black graduate students’ perceptions of campus racial climate at a predominantly white institution (PWI) and how they were shaped by a president’s response to racialized incidents. A greater understanding of how Black graduate students’ narratives reveal how whiteness inhabits the PWI and the president’s responses to racism presented. Guided by the Multi-contextual Model for Diverse Learning Environments (MMDLE) and Critical Race Theory, I unpack whether or not Black graduate students are prioritized in presidents’ responses to racialized incidents and larger campus racial climate conversations. This study’s findings further illustrate the significance of the role of the presidency when addressing issues of race and racism, and how their responses have the power to disrupt or harm both the personal experiences of individuals and the broader campus racial climate for Black graduate students.

I am Because We Are:

Despite the fact that more Black students than ever pursue graduate education, the experiences of Black graduate students in higher education and student affairs programs leave much to be discovered. This work aims to shed light on the interconnections of Black students in higher education and master's programs in student affairs, as well as the impact of peer mentoring on their transition to graduate school. This scholarship concludes with recommendations for assisting this population's growth at the outset of their academic careers.

Becoming an Africana Activist Scholar: David C. Turner, III and Black Graduate Student Activism as Professional Development, A Case Study

This article examines the lived experiences of Black graduate student activist David C. Turner, III. It explores his intellectual and academic development in his masters program at the University of Pennsylvania and doctoral program at UC Berkeley. It also explores Turner’s on and off campus activism, including his involvements in the Black Liberation Collective, Black Youth Project (BYP) 100, and Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition. Highly involved Black graduate student activists that successfully balance their studies and activism make themselves increasingly prepared for the job market in general and for the professoriate in particular. This article asserts that highly engaged activism coupled with advanced education prepared Turner for a career as an Africana activist-scholar in the academy. The article reveals his preparation by connecting Turner’s lived experiences with proven effective practices. The objective of this case study is to highlight the on and off campus experiences of one 21st century Black student activist, Turner, to reveal the link between Black graduate student activism, intellectual and scholarly development, and career preparation drawing upon informal conversations and semi-structured interviews.

“We're drawn to this place”: Black graduate students’ engagement with a Black cultural center.

“We're drawn to this place”: Black graduate students’ engagement with a Black cultural center.

Use of Critical Race Theory to Understand the Experiences of an African American Male During School Psychology Graduate Education

This study used an exploratory case study approach to explore the race-related experiences of a Black male specialist level school psychology graduate student. We used the CRT tenets of racism as normal and permanent and intersectionality and antiessentialism to help us make sense of the findings. Findings revealed that race and racism did not negatively impact the case study participant’s experiences within his school psychology program at the university. However, racism was pervasive during his internship year, as it influenced interactions with white teachers and parents. Implications for school psychology graduate education are discussed, including the need for school psychologists to actively engage behaviors that disrupt systems of oppression like racism if the profession is to meet its antiracist aims. Impact Statement This case study uses Critical Race Theory to help us make sense of a Black male’s experiences in a school psychology program. Findings showed the participant did not perceive his race or racism as a barrier to relationships with program peers or faculty, but racism negatively impacted his experience at his field-based internship sites. Implications suggest the need for school psychology graduate programs to enroll students who are inclusive and open to engaging racial issues, faculty who engage culturally-responsive mentoring practices, and the presence of school psychologists of color as university professors and supervisors in PK–12 schools.

Generations Later: The Same Furious Passage of the Black Graduate Student

In this article, the author relies on a narrative based format to explore the interactions between everyday race-making processes and the white space of academia. Recognizing the unique ways systems of power interact with their experiences in the social world, they chronicle their engagements detailing the pervasive ways rules of white space are placed. The article recognizes three informal rules of white space in academia: the accepted reification of white sociological thought; the acceptance of white professional standards; and the continued centering of white comfort.

Interview with John Baugh

The following interview was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2021. By that time, I had known John Baugh for about eighteen years after having taken my first class on Black English with him at Stanford. I have always been fascinated by John’s ability to merge innovative and culturally relevant, justice-focused research with liberatory outcomes for Black people and Black language. It was a rare treat for me to talk with my long-time mentor now as a faculty member. In the wake of finally having a critical mass of Black scholars in linguistics and after George Floyd’s murder and a new push to decolonize linguistics, it only seemed fitting to hear the experiences that shaped John’s life, the life of a Black man in linguistics, and how that life has given rise to his groundbreaking scholarship. There is nothing linear about his path. And as the field pushes to admit more Black graduate students and hire more Black faculty, it dawned on me that many in the field might not recognize the exceptional journey of navigating academia as a Black person. Please enjoy this candid snapshot of the life that birthed such a storied career from the upcoming president of the Linguistic Society of America: a unique opportunity to learn how to do better. Consider this a one-time invitation to the cookout.

Advocacy, Social Justice, and Counselor Identity During the Black Lives Matter Movement

Advocacy, Social Justice, and Counselor Identity During the Black Lives Matter Movement

Faith got us through: Using scholarly personal narrative to explore spirituality and transition in a higher education graduate program

AbstractDrawing on scholarly personal narrative as a methodological technique, this article aims to catalog the ways in which faith served as an anchor in the transition for both a Black graduate student and faculty member in a Higher Education Administration graduate preparation program. Using the Hebrew Biblical text as a guide, the authors share their reflections on research, teaching, and service. Practical recommendations for both Higher Education faculty and graduate students are provided.

Endarkened narrative inquiry: a methodological framework constructed through improvisations

This paper traces the improvisational moves the authors had to make, as a Black woman graduate student and an Indian woman dissertation supervisor in a predominantly white space in academia, to cultivate a framework informed by Black feminist thought, womanism, endarkened feminist epistemology, and narrative inquiry in qualitative research. Conducting culturally situated inquiry in hostile spaces characterized by disproportionate power relations and multiple interconnected oppressive structures makes us vulnerable in the bodies in which we do this work. In this paper, we discuss the creation of an endarkened approach to narrative inquiry through methodological improvisation.