"...just keep cracking the ceiling.": black women student leaders' experiences with belonging at a historically white institution

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Date
2020-12
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University of Alabama Libraries
Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the unique experiences that Black women student leaders, at a historically White institution located in the Deep Southern region of the United States, described as contributing to their sense of belonging on campus. In this study, I used an asset-based approach to understand how five Black women, all highly-visible student leaders, described connectedness to campus, self-defined success, and satisfaction at their instutiton. To further understand their level of connectedness, I used Strayhorn’s (2012, 2018) model of college students’ sense of belonging and Black feminist thought (Collins, 1986, 1990). The guiding research question for the study was “How do Black undergraduate women student leaders at a historically White institution describe sense of belonging at their institution?”. Through a qualitative, multiple case study, I researched with the five women through individual interviews and a focus group. In order to honor their individuality and self-expression, I analyzed each of their stories individually and collectively. After within-case analysis and across-cross analysis (Stake, 1995), I wrote richly-detailed profiles of each of the five women, along with a chapter dedicated to their collective experiences. Findings from the study suggest that the Black women student leaders described feeling a sense of belonging on campus by nature of: 1) a fulfilled desire of being involved; 2) feeling proud of their Black womanhood because of their community with other Black women on campus; 3) a responsibility to be visible and approachable to Black women students who desired to be in leadership roles; 4) feeling as if they were change agents at the institution and using their leadership as advocacy for equitable experiences for all students; 5) building an institutional identity; and 6) feeling like they mattered to faculty, staff, administrators, and other students. The findings from the study add to emerging research on Black women’s success in college, particularly on historically White campuses. Practitioners and students themselves can use the findings from the study to establish, enhance, and sustain programs and policies that support Black women students’ personal and leadership development on college campuses. Researchers can use the study as an example of a qualitative, multiple case study that preserves the individual experiences of participants in addition to analyzing similarities and differences among participants. In addition to the findings on belongingness, I found that my shared experience as Black and woman with the participants was meaningful for the research process. The study adds to the body of research on Black feminism in qualitative inquiry.

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Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Keywords
Higher education administration, Higher education
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