Where Are All My Sista’s @?!: Exploring the Graduate School Experiences of Black Women and Implications on Faculty Career Choice

Abstract

As access to higher education, including graduate school, is pushed to the top of the education agenda, individuals from minoritized groups have enrolled in graduate school in increasingly large numbers (Hannon, Woodside, Pollard, & Roman, 2016). While this may all sound promising, a serious problem still exists. The number of Black female faculty members has not followed pace. This qualitative pilot study used Black Feminist Thought to understand how Black women’s experiences in graduate school influence their decision to pursue faculty careers. This study exposed the importance of socialization, advising, and mentoring for promoting Black women’s success in graduate school and to create a pipeline of Black female faculty members.