Women Of Color Research Articles

Dismantling the Imposter Syndrome: A Case Study of Early Career Women of Color in School Mental Health Fields

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to understand how early career Women of Color (WOC) in school-based mental health fields experienced a structured, group-based approach to help them navigate the imposter syndrome. The researchers employed a case study design to examine the women’s experiences. Findings revealed that participants developed critical consciousness about imposter syndrome, recognizing the systemic and oppressive underpinnings of the construct, and acquired helpful strategies for dismantling their experiences of imposter syndrome (e.g., gaining support from other women) in their professional lives. The authors conclude this paper with implications for future research among WOC in professional careers.

Development of an Interdisciplinary Support Program for Early Career Women of Color in School-Based Mental Health Fields

The purpose of this study was to understand how 14 early career Women of Color (WOC) in school-based mental health fields (SBMH) experienced a structured, affinity-group program during the pilot phase of implementation. The researchers employed a case study design, wherein the team collected survey data after each module and conducted focus group interviews upon the completion of the program to examine the participants’ perceptions of the program. Quantitative survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics; and qualitative data emerging from the focus groups and open-ended survey questions were analyzed using a structured coding process. Core themes revealed the women credited the program for fostering an internal sense of empowerment by helping them approach their career with purpose as well as navigate and resist workplace discrimination. They also valued the objective to connect with WOC for uplift and support. Still, they desired to see the program improve by supporting other WOC and incorporating more hands-on learning activities. Overall, this study suggests that structured, affinity-group programs guided by integrative frameworks can foster professional growth and wellness among WOC in SBMH fields. Impact Statement Through an integrative theoretical framework of Intersectionality Theory, Womanism, and Healing-Centered Methodologies, this study highlights the critical need to attend to the experiences of early career Women of Color (WOC) practitioners in school-based mental health fields. Moreover, this case study shows that intentional, culture-centered affinity groups that acknowledge early career WOC practitioners’ struggles and celebrates their distinguished way of being may cultivate healing and liberation from systems of oppression during a vulnerable stage in one’s professional career.

An Intersectional Exploration of Psychological Violence, Threats, and Physical Violence of Mayors in 2021

Using an original dataset, we offer an intersectional exploration of psychological violence, threats, and physical violence against U.S. mayors in 2021 in cities of 10,000+ in population. We also explore violence that is gendered and raced. Overall, we find significant and meaningful differences among gender/race groups. Women of color and non-Hispanic white women faced higher rates of threats, gendered, and sexualized violence than men, and women of color were the only mayors to report heightened levels of gendered and raced violence. Non-Hispanic white women mayors were distinctive in that they reported higher levels of psychological violence, including being criticized for their appearance and perceptions that they were too emotional, but were least likely to be called sexist. These findings suggest that there are race- and gender-based costs of holding office. If so, the effects on democratic representation and the benefits from representational diversity will be forfeited.

Abstract A116: Assessment of equitable care for women of color with mBC

Abstract MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper in collaboration with The Chrysalis Initiative (TCI), sought to characterize the differences between the care that women of color (WOC) receive for metastatic breast cancer (mBC) compared to White women (WW), and understand the social determinants of health (SDOH) and palliative care (PC) needs that WOC with mBC face compared to WW. Twenty-eight WOC and 74 WW with mBC participated in an IRB approved telephone survey. The survey included questions on SDOH, understanding of PC, and the Edmonton System Assessment Scale which assesses symptoms common in cancer patients. WOC with mBC who participated tended to be less often married, more often had non-private insurance, and had lower educational levels and income. The only statistically significant response between the groups was that 50% of the WOC had ever heard of advance directives compared to 86.5% of WW (P<0.001). However, there were concerns for both groups including: 3 in 5 women had issues with lack of transportation to their appointments; 69% reported stress, nervousness, or anxiety; 78% were not following with a palliative care provider; 63% were dealing with pain; 59% were dealing with depression; 58% did not have a living will; 58% had not had an advanced directive discussed with them; 44% never heard of palliative care; and 40% had not had access to a social worker or nurse navigator. Also, TCI led 6 focus groups of women being treated for mBC at Cooper. Three focus groups comprised of 9 WOC with mBC, and 3 consisted of 15 WW with mBC. The goals of the focus groups were to gain insight into the factors influencing patient’s reasoning for their feelings towards the care they receive, and gain insight into the level of knowledge patients have about their breast cancer type, metastatic terminology, and other factors related to their journey. The themes identified suggest that important factors influence patients’ feelings about the care they receive including religion and faith, overall understanding of their treatment plan, willingness to research new treatment options on their own, and lifestyle and support systems that allow them to address and overcome barriers to care. WOC tended to have a poorer appreciation of their breast cancer disease and tumor characteristics and demonstrated lower health literacy or understanding of their mBC characteristics, and the relevance of these in their treatment plans. They had poorer knowledge of available support and palliative care resources and a higher incidence of feeling that they were not being listened to. Focus groups and surveys of women with mBC taught us that poor access to palliative care and social determinants of health disparities are prevalent for persons of color, and that having metastatic breast cancer is a burden for all ethnicities. Efforts need to continue to focus on educating WOC about their disease and its treatment. More importantly, we need to ensure that WOC have access to support services and opportunity to discuss their issues and concerns in a culturally competent manner. Citation Format: Evelyn Robles-Rodriguez, Ashley Weinmann, Generosa Grana, Jamil Rivers. Assessment of equitable care for women of color with mBC [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr A116.

Mentoring: Perspectives for a Diverse FCS Profession

The value of mentorship for family and consumer sciences (FCS) professionals is emphasized by inclusion in five leadership development programs offered by FCS professional organizations. The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) Leadership Academy, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) Leadership Institute, Council of Administrators of Family and Consumer Sciences (CAFCS) Emerging Leaders Workshop, Board on Health & Human Sciences (BHHS) Fellows Program, and the National Extension Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS) Extension Leadership Conference each include mentoring content and opportunities. Each organization, whether seeking to develop emerging, current, or future leaders, includes mentoring as a tool for developing FCS leaders. Components of each, including the models applied and the curriculum offered, include elements of mentoring (see Table 1). The purpose of this analysis is to examine perspectives on mentoring in FCS education and the profession, especially for women of color (WOC), as illuminated by the extant literature and the lived experiences of FCS students.

Violence as a “Generational Experience” of Growing Up in Post-Wall East Germany? Female Experiences of Racist Othering and Assault in East Germany 1989–2000

As an often-overlooked period of conflict, the era of transformation after German re-unification represents a time of collective and individual identity crisis for East Germans, who experienced a loss of their Lebenswelt (lifeworld; Edmund Husserl) and a devaluation of their life achievements that often led to severe discontent, causing conflict both in and between East and West Germany. During this period, People of Colour experienced a discharge of the general tension through a sharp increase in violence directed against them by radical right-wing actors. Since then, their experiences have gone largely unnoticed in popular media and publications, having only recently found their way into a broader discourse of remembrance. This paper seeks to contribute to a shift away from a discussion about People of Colour and towards a position that focuses on their narratives, experiences and opinions. In doing so, it takes a firmly female-centred perspective, using written and video-recorded material from Women of Colour as a doubly marginalised group.

Medical Mistrust and Healthcare Seeking Among Women of Color with Chronic Vulvovaginal Pain

Medical Mistrust and Healthcare Seeking Among Women of Color with Chronic Vulvovaginal Pain

You Are Worthy, Queen: Black Women and Women of Color’s Struggles in the Labor Market Continue

You Are Worthy, Queen: Black Women and Women of Color’s Struggles in the Labor Market Continue

Maternity Care at the Intersections of Language, Ethnicity, and Immigration Status: A Qualitative Study.

Women of color and immigrant women are more likely than US-born White women to report mistreatment and poor quality of care during their reproductive health care. Surprisingly little research exists on how language access may impact immigrant women's experiences of maternity care, particularly by race and ethnicity. We conducted qualitative in-depth, one-on-one semi-structured interviews from August 2018 to August 2019 with 10 Mexican and eight Chinese/Taiwanese women (n=18) living in Los Angeles or Orange County who gave birth within the past 2 years. Interviews were transcribed and translated, and data were initially coded based on the interview guide questions. We identified patterns and themes using thematic analysis methods. Participants described how a lack of translators and language- and cultural-concordant health care providers and staff impeded their access to maternity care services; in particular, they described barriers to communication with receptionists, providers, and ultrasound technicians. Despite Mexican immigrants' ability to access Spanish-language health care, both Mexican and Chinese immigrant women described how lack of understanding medical concepts and terminology resulted in poor quality of care, lack of informed consent for reproductive procedures, and subsequent psychological and emotional distress. Undocumented women were less likely to report using strategies that leveraged social resources to improve language access and quality care. Reproductive autonomy cannot be achieved without access to culturally and linguistically appropriate health care. Health care systems should ensure that comprehensive information is given to women, in a language and manner they can understand, with particular attention toward providing in-language services across multiple ethnicities. Multilingual staff and health care providers are critical in providing care that is responsive to immigrant women.

An Online Photovoice Study Designed by Researchers from Art and Social Work to Better Understand the Experience of Chronic Pain by Women of Color

In 1980s British feminist artist-photographer Jo Spence used phototherapy to challenge normative and medicalized constructions of the female cancer patient by documenting her illness and was then employed as a consultant by hospitals who, through her work, recognized the need to change physicians’ practices and attitudes, which objectified patients. Photovoice, a Community Based Participatory Design method where participants take photographs and combine them with short text narratives, is similar to Spence’s artistic method. It has been used widely in health and social work settings. Healthcare professionals are aware of the power of images as catalysts for meaning making in medical encounters with people in pain; as part of multidisciplinary analysis, because images can enhance a person’s sense of agency in relation to their pain, especially in clinical contexts. Photographs can also establish a common ground for discussing meaning, therefore Photovoice can make the hidden experience of pain visible through collaborative photo-texts. These are subsequently shared with other patients and healthcare workers to aid them in specialist consultations. However, few studies have addressed gender and race-related health disparities in treating chronic pain. This paper draws on the authors’ study with twenty women of color who created photo-text works about their experiences living with and being treated for chronic pain. In this novel online Photovoice study, participants engaged with asynchronous videos created by an artist-professor about the meanings viewers make of a photograph, including how perspective, angle, and lighting can affect the viewer’s emotional response to photographs. Participants then deployed Photovoice through six synchronous sessions led by a social work professor with extensive experience designing and facilitating Photovoice studies. The resulting image-text works by study participants address health inequity and argue for health equity as a hallmark of social justice in healthcare by focusing on exposing and reducing healthcare disparities.

From the Margins to the Center: Cultivating Collective Healing with Soulcial Work Praxis

ABSTRACTBlack, Indigenous, and Women of Color (BIWOC) educators working in predominantly White institutions (PWIs) disproportionately experience violence rooted in historical, structural, and interpersonal oppressions that negatively impact mental and physical health which necessitates multi-level healing. In response, a BIWOC educators’ healing circle incorporated Critical Transformative Potential Development (CTPD) to create a collective and collaborative healing process from the harm of institutional gendered racism. The BIWOC circle integrated decolonial strategies, including storytelling and healing spaces, to encourage the cultivation of sustainable health and wellness practices. Through the reflective narratives of four BIWOC healing circle participants, we consider the ways CTPD can be a decolonizing force. Participant narratives support the introduction of Soulcial Work Praxis (SWP), and its evolution from CTPD, as a decolonizing theoretical framework for soul care, transformation, and healing, proclaiming that rebellion is our salvation, community is our protection, and healing is our liberation. The SWP dimensions within participants’ reflections highlight our pillars of humanity: space, grace, time, and opportunity. Considerations for broader application in social work education, research, and practice are also presented.

Mentoring at the intersection of student and faculty retention at Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCUs) masters of public administration programs

ABSTRACTMentoring is essential for the retention and success of not only students but early-career junior faculty as well. Yet, mentorship and mentoring become an issue of equity where those with the resources (financial, human, etc.) receive and provide better mentoring. This article is a collaborative autoethnography triangulated with program documents to better understand the role, perceptions, and experiences of mentorship for Women of Color (WOC) faculty in NASPAA-accredited HBCU graduate programs. This research uses a framework where student success depends on faculty success, and investing in faculty is as important as investing in students. We found the way that faculty perceive their role as mentors is strongly influenced by past mentoring experiences, how roles and responsibilities are defined, and how these roles and responsibilities are supported and measured within retention, tenure, and promotion (RTP). We provide recommendations to retain and develop faculty to become highly effective mentors at HBCUs.

Motherscholars Traversing the Educational Pipeline through Moments of Sacred Pause

By focusing on three Chicana Motherscholars pláticas, traversing the Educational Pipeline, I conceptualize sacred pauses as moments of joy, gratitude, and love (Tuck, 2009) as resistance and refusal. Sacred pauses refute the neoliberal university indoctrination of hyper-productivity (Hidalgo et al., 2022). This paper expands on the complex journeys of the academic bridges to what Gloria Anzaldúa (2002) calls 'passageways, conduits, and connectors' to illustrate the sacred journeys of overcoming barriers traversed through the Educational Pipeline towards doctoral degree completion for Chicana/e and Latina/e Motherscholars with children. The Motherscholar narratives characterize the potential of reciprocity and healing in bridge makers in Parents of and Women of Color.

Transatlantic Women at Work: Service in the Long 19th Century

This special issue focuses on “Transatlantic Women at Work” in the 19th century, with attention paid specifically to the labor women performed that was deemed by family, community, government, and often the women themselves as “service.” Our introduction briefly describes the six articles and responses included in this issue, and their origins in an online forum in 2021 and 2022, three poems, and one fictional work. The overview of contributions is followed by an attempt at theorizing the understanding and conception of the idea of “service” from a diachronic perspective. This exploration of varying notions and the accompanying politics of “service” is organized in sections as follows: “The Evolving Concept of ‘Service’ in the Long 19th Century,” “Theorizing: What Is this Thing Called Service,” “The Tradition of ‘Service’ as a White, Middle-Class Notion,” “Women’s Service and Reform,” “Municipal Housekeeping as Service to the Community,” and “Women of Color and ‘Service to Their Race’.” Our examination of 19th-century conduct books and reform texts by and for women illuminates how evolving notions of service as benevolence was primarily connected to a well-to-do class of White women and conceptualized against a notion of servitude as hard (enumerated) labor associated with poor women and Women of Color. We show how since the beginning of the century Black activists fought against such racial essentialism. However, White service notions lastingly influenced both 19th-century (segregated) ideas of women’s social roles and 20th/21st century women’s historiography that continued to center White concepts of True Womanhood. We conclude by acknowledging that in our own 21st century, women (especially Women of Color) too often continue in the vicious cycle of being relegated to lower paid and lower status service work, professions which remain lower paid because they are held by women. As we point out, the recent Covid pandemic shed renewed light on this transatlantic reality.

What’s Next? On Better Supporting Women of Color Clinicians in University Counseling Centers

As university counseling centers (UCCs) are diversifying, research on the experiences of clinicians of color, particularly women of color (WOC), and how they navigate their sociocultural identities at UCC workplace settings remains limited. We used a qualitative thematic analysis approach to explore the current support they receive, suggestions for UCCs to better support WOC, and suggestions for other WOC interested in pursuing a career at UCCs. A total of 56 participants responded to an online survey. Two broad themes emerged with the data around (a) existing and expanding support from UCCs for WOC and (b) advice for WOC interested in pursuing a career in UCCs. Subthemes delineated were (a) professional development and support and (b) workplace climate. While most participants named how their agencies supported them, many provided suggestions on how UCCs can improve from the process of recruitment, retention, leadership, and professional development to being respectful of WOC’s boundaries and needs. Related to workplace climate, participants appreciated the spaces created for either them or their clients of color. They suggested UCCs to be strategic in providing spaces where genuine feedback can be provided, creating various spaces for WOC (e.g., listserv, lunch group), and facilitating ongoing diversity training and discussions. Participants also imparted their wisdom to WOC through encouragement and practical advice. This study centers the voices of WOC clinicians and discusses the importance of self-advocacy, the various supports needed from institutions, and how White supervisors and mentors can better serve their WOC supervisees and trainees.

Women of colour and somatic movement: an emerging narrative

Throughout the 20th century, somatic and dance-making pioneers have given rise to narratives of body. The dominant voice, however, within somatic literature, has historically emphasised a Eurocentric worldview - the legacy of which has left women of colour underrepresented. This article aims to substantiate female voices of colour by addressing what progress has already been made in the academic sphere. Further, this article puts forth a qualitative study examining eight women of colour and their experiences participating in a somatic movement intervention. The design model for this research involved two six-hour somatic workshops comprised of: Authentic Movement, embodied writing, and embodied presence. Methodology includes: Narrative Inquiry, Autoethnography, Practice-Led Research, and Organic inquiry. Findings were examined through thematic analysis and body-based reflection, themes discovered were: “Communality, Home, Solidarity, Sisterhood”, “Ancestry-Ritual Space”, and “Womanhood, Healing”. This research is a contribution to the emerging non-Eurocentric narrative in somatic movement.

Women of Color in the Aviation Industry

Women of Color in the Aviation Industry takes a gallant position on the contemporary state of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives within U.S. aviation through the lenses of several women of color working in the industry. The exploration of their experiences as women of color aviation professionals provides a compelling and nearly irrefutable backdrop for the many inequities, challenges, and barriers they face as a function of their race and/or gender. The author contends these inequities persist because aviation entities are engaged in “performative DEI” measures rather than reflecting upon their extant structures and systems to ascertain what is causing the inequities and why minoritized groups, particularly women of color, are adversely impacted. The text strives to encourage readers to critically reflect upon the reason(s) why minoritized groups, specifically women of color, continue to have low participation rates in an industry that proclaims to be committed to DEI to make a more just workforce. Such a conundrum is explored through semi-structured interviews with numerous women of color who hold various aviation positions. This approach was most apt to obtain first-person accounts of the challenges women of color and presumably other minoritized groups experience. Consequently, industry leadership can leverage these experiences and focus efforts on making equity-centric change instead of concerning themselves with remaining on the “right side” of DEI. The author provided several robust examples of how current DEI efforts, coupled with a lack of reflection, do more harm than good because they propagate a “diversity that maintains Whiteness.” Combined with the six commonly used controlling images, these examples help refute the state of social equity many believe the U.S. is in. The primary messages are written to make it easy for the layperson to understand, but the text falls short of providing actionable recommendations leadership can implement. Despite this limitation, the text may benefit a broad audience, especially for leadership overseeing commercial airlines, government, and collegiate aviation programs. Further, the experiences described have some transferability to sectors and industries external to aviation, meaning they can be incorporated within the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to enhance public administration and social policy to make a more just society.

A Dynamic Dyadic Systems Perspective on Communication of Real-Time Support Between Graduate Women in STEM and Their Mentor

ABSTRACT Women of Color (WoC) in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) leave doctoral programs at disproportionately high rates. Supportive mentorship is key to increasing belonging and rates of retention, yet little is known about how conversations between mentees and their mentors on academic and personal stress topics unfold in real-time. Applying the lens of Social Cognitive Career Theory to communication dynamics between mentees and mentors, the present study utilized a dynamic dyadic systems (DDS) perspective to examine observationally coded data from six mentee-mentor dyads. First, hierarchical clustering analysis was applied to identify speaking turn types. Then, sequence analysis was used to identify common multi-turn patterns or conversation motifs (CM). Results showed five predominant CMs: (CM1) support provision through listening; (CM2) focus on mentor’s experience; (CM3) support provision through advice; (CM4) mentee’s making a bid for support; and (CM5) mentor dominated conversations. This study demonstrates methods for identifying potentially meaningful patterns of support in stress conversations between mentees and mentors. The application of such methods with larger samples may aid in understanding ways to increase retention among WoC in STEM through mentor support provision.

Living at the Intersections of Race and Gender in Diversified Mentoring: Experiences of Minoritized Women Leaders in Higher Education

Problem There is chronic underrepresentation of minoritized women in higher education leadership positions. A primary reason is that mentoring support is either lacking or rarely considers how the intersection of their race and gender creates a double bind. Further, there is a dearth of studies examining the lived experiences of mentoring support received by minoritized women leaders. Solution Through semi-structured interviews of fifteen participants, our interpretative phenomenological study adds to the extant literature by exploring how women of color (WOC) leaders navigated the challenges posed by the differences in gender and/or racial identities with their mentors in diversified mentoring relationships (DMRs). Our findings indicate that aspiring minoritized women leaders can thrive under the double bind in DMRs with successful coping strategies. Stakeholders University administration and HRD practitioners can apply the findings to leverage DMRs as a critical tool for developing the leadership identity of women of color in higher education.

Discrimination in Fortune 500 Companies: How Women of Color in Leadership Positions Cope

Discrimination in Fortune 500 Companies: How Women of Color in Leadership Positions Cope