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Authors of our story: Black female students' experience during their first year at a predominantly White institution through a syncretic lens of critical race feminism and Afro-pessimism

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Authors of our story: Black female students' experience during their first year at a predominantly White institution through a syncretic lens of critical race feminism and Afro-pessimism

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Content
Running head: BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 1
Copyright 2018 Ashley Perryman
AUTHORS OF OUR STORY: BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS' EXPERIENCE DURING
THEIR FIRST YEAR AT A PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTION THROUGH A
SYNCRETIC LENS OF CRITICAL RACE FEMINISM AND AFRO-PESSIMISM
By

Ashley N. Perryman

________________________________________

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
December 2018

Advisory Committee:
Dr. Alan Green, Co-Chair
Dr. Briana Hinga, Co-Chair
Dr. Shaun Harper, Committee Member

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 2
DEDICATION

To all the little Black girls dreaming for more in a world that does not value you.

“Admit it. You’re dope. Stop pretending you’re less than you are to protect someone else’s ego.
Be unabashedly aware of your fresh.” - Anonymous

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To the scholars who have challenged, encouraged, and educated me: Dr. Alan Green, my
committee co-chair; Dr. Briana Hinga, my committee co-chair; and Dr. Shaun Harper; my
committee member, thank you! Thank you, to my Rossier professors, for forcing me to think
outside of the box. I sincerely thank you for all of your tireless work and effort on my behalf. I
am forever grateful.
Thank you to the young women who participated in this study. Your stories, your honesty
and your willingness to think a little bit differently has been truly appreciated by myself. Thank
you for encouraging me throughout the process. Your compliments and flexibility have been
beyond awesome. Keep fighting on and I pray you reach your goals and dreams!
Thank you to my USC colleagues, for your support, guidance, camaraderie and
tomfoolery: (introducing) Dr. Brandie Del Real, Dr. Bernice Embry, Dr. Sahar Moyashedi, and
Dr. Amber Willis; we made it! There is no way I would have been able to get through this
experience without you ladies.
Thanks especially to all who have informed, advised, assisted and loved me at every turn.
To my encouraging dad, loving mom, two crazy sisters, one cool brother-in-law, and adorable
nieces, thank you for all of your support and countless hours of motivation and encouragement.
To my other family and friends, thank you for everything. Really.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 4
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication 2
Acknowledgements 3
Abstract 6
Chapter One: Introduction 7
The Background of the Problem 8
The Statement of the Problem 12
Purpose of the Study 14
Research Question 16
The Significance of the Study 16
Limitations, Delimitations, Assumptions 19
Definitions 20
Organization of the Study 23
Chapter Two: Literature Review 25
Introduction 25
Research Question 26
Brief Overview of Chapter Two 26
Theoretical Framework 27
Figure 2.1 The Concept Model of Theoretical Framework 28
Decolonization 29
Critical Race Feminism 30
Afro-Pessimism 35
Syncretism of Theories 36
Literature Review 38
Women in Higher Education 39
Blacks in Higher Education 41
Black Women in Higher Education 45
First Year Experience 51
Summary 55
Chapter Three: Research Methodology 58
Research Question 59
Site Selection 60
Participants 60
Demographics of Interview Participants 63
Table 3.1. Participant Demographic Information 63
Table 3.2. Family Education and Income Levels 64
Data Collection and Coding 65
Interviews 69
Data Analysis 71

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 5
Ethics 73
Researcher Positionality 75
Chapter Four: Findings 77
Authors of Our Story 78
Nina 78
KeKe 81
Margaret 83
Summary 87
Table 4.1. Demographics of Interview Participants 88
Theoretical Grounding: Syncretic Lens of Afro-Pessimism 88
and Critical Race Feminism
Identity and First Year Experience 89
Black at a PWI 90
Woman at a PWI 102
Athlete at a PWI 113
Identity and Institution 121
Why is it important? 121
Did you take race and gender into account? 124
What is the institution's responsibility? 126
Hope or Wish? 127
Personal Message 130
Conclusion 132
Chapter Five: Discussion 134
Discussion of Findings 136
Syncretism of Theories 137
Identity and Experience 138
Identity and Institution 140
Implications for Practice and Research 143
Implications for Practice 145
Community 146
Opportunities 147
Presence 148
Implications for Research 149
Conclusion 152
References 153
Appendix A: Solicitation Email 163
Appendix B: Selection Screener Survey and Informed Consent Form 164
Appendix C: Interview Protocol and Interview Questions 169

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 6
Abstract
The purpose of this qualitative study was to obtain an understanding of Black female
students’ experiences in their first year at a predominantly white institution. The researcher
interviewed three Black female students to hear their lived experiences and perspectives. To
address the voices and stories of the unique experiences of Black female students at a
predominantly white institution, the researcher utilized a syncretic theoretical framework of
Critical Race Feminism and Afro-Pessimism to see how the theories merge and contradict one
another when discussing what it means to be Black and female at a PWI during a time of overt
antiblackness in America. The stories told through this study can assist higher education
administrators, student affairs staff, policy makers, and future educational researchers with
understanding the impact of the intersectionality of race, gender, and class on a student’s first
year experience and how these contexts help to define who Black female students are and their
ability to survive and thrive in a system that was not created for them in reference to their race,
gender or class. This study also highlighted the voices of Black female students’ experiences
from their own perspectives, which is too often missing from the educational literature. By
interviewing these participants, the researcher captured their unique narratives to better explain
the lived experiences of this marginalized group of women during their first year at a PWI in
Southern California and how they continue to thrive in a limiting system.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 7
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
History is repeating itself. We are in a time where anti-Black racism and the enactment of
white supremacy as represented by the killings of Black bodies, overt racist speech, and the
degradation of Black culture is at the forefront of the mind and image of the United States of
America (Dumas, 2016). This current form of anti-Black racism is bringing to light deeply
rooted adversities and tragedies experienced by Black people in America since antiblackness, or
the disdain or disgust for the Black that sees Black people as nonhuman, was introduced with the
ontology of slavery (Dumas, 2016; Wilderson, 2010). The concept of Blacks as nonhuman as a
result of the afterlife of slavery (Hartman, 2007) has given birth to the current systems, laws,
language, and gratuitous violence that are reflected in America today (Dumas, 2016; Wilderson,
2010; Winters, 2017, September 5).
Why is this relevant to a topic of education? Since Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka (1954), school integration, increased legal civil rights for Black people, economic
positivity, and the election and successful two-terms of a Black president, anti-Black racism has
been seen as a non-problem by the masses or the media since there appeared to be Black people
benefitting from the multiculturalism and antidiscrimination language that was being presented
in society similar to their non-Black counterparts (De Walt, 2011; Dumas & Ross, 2016;
Linscott, 2017). However, the killing of Trayvon Martin in 2013, and subsequently the shooting
of Mike Brown in 2014 and other anti-Black suffering and death, brought to the forefront that
deep rooted feelings of antiblackness were still lurking in the minds of everyday Americans and
heavily embedded within the system that many Black people thought they were not only a part
of, but benefitting from (Dumas, 2016; Wilderson, 2010). This new representation of
antiblackness in society has been on display in the everyday lives of current Black female
college students as they are embarking on their higher education journey and has an impact on

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 8
their individual experiences. This antiblackness has also been relevant in reinforcing the
infrastructure of educational inequity that is present in the kindergarten through twelfth grade
academic years as well as within higher education (Dumas, 2016; Dumas & Ross, 2016). For
Black female students, the public discourse and cultural politics of antiblackness has often
neglected the needs, concerns, and perceptions of their experience making Black women
invisible, marginalized, and neglected in frameworks that address their needs and explains the
intersectionality of their race, gender, and, at times, class (Dumas & Ross, 2016; Evans-Winters
& Esposito, 2010; Wilderson, 2010).
The Background of the Problem
Since 2013, the number of police shootings in America of Black men and women has
increased and has been given more prevalence in the media (Linscott, 2017). Political and social
intervention projects like #BlackLivesMatter or #SayHerName are more prevalent in the minds
and media space of young Black female students that are going to college, making their
experiences in these institutions similar to that of integration in the 1950s and 1960s (Linscott,
2017). What are these similarities? There has been high tension between Black and non-Black
students on college campuses. Pro-Black images and sayings have been defaced on and/or near
college buildings. Increased overt racist commentary has been witnessed either in action or with
words. Protests are being met with militarized police force. And yet, Black female students are
continually entering into higher education institutions during these tense times. Black female
students’ existence in these spaces is being challenged in the media, in their communities, and in
the political system. In a time of overt antiblackness, how does a Black female student deal with
societal tensions in an institution that is supposed to foster higher order thinking, create civilized
citizens for society, and prepare students for adult life as an American citizen?

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 9
The overt antiblackness that is increasing in the media, society and the political system is
happening at a time when Black female students are increasing their enrollment in higher
education institutions. Black female students are a unique demographic at predominantly white
institutions (PWIs) particularly because they are dealing with the intersectionality of race,
gender, and class (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Zamani 2003). It is important to take into
account the time in history that Black female students are entering into college and how it
influences them during the transition to a new environment.
There is limited representation of the voice of the Black female students’ experiences at
PWIs, specifically during their first year, which is deemed as an important time during a
students’ postsecondary academic experience. In addition, Black female students are not
discussed in the educational literature in a positive light to represent their experiences in
education. This is important because even in the midst of antiblackness, both past and present,
education in the United States of America has been championed as a civil right for Black
Americans for decades by past civil rights leaders and the experiences of Black students in
education is important to research and discuss (Smith-Evans, George, Graves, Kaufman, &
Frohlich, 2014). The history of public education in America made this statement more probable
for Black people with the case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and its progeny Brown v.
Board II (1955) to assist with the tearing down of the unequal and intentionally racist
educational structure that contributed to the limited education of students of color, particularly
Black children (Smith-Evans, George, Graves, Kaufman, & Frohlich, 2014). Fundamentally,
education and its’ policies have been a site for antiblackness in that there has been a long
struggle against anti-Black ideologies, discourses, representation, limited distribution of
materials and resources, and the physical and mental assaults on Black bodies in schools

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 10
(Dumas, 2016). The year 2014 saw the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education as well
as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Freedom Summer, which all attempted to dismantle the
system of legalized racial segregation in the United States of America and were pivotal in the
attempted advancement of the educational opportunities for all students, including Black women
and girls (Smith-Evans, George, Graves, Kaufman, & Frohlich, 2014).
Since these political moments, there has been an increase in all students receiving more
quality education. There has been a decrease overall in the national high school dropout rate
from 10.9% in 2000 to 5.9% in 2015 (NCES, 2017); national high school graduation rates have
increased and are at an all-time high at 83 percent; Black students at a rate of 75% (NCES,
2017). Between 2004 and 2014, there has been an increase in students enrolling in college
(NCES, 2016). Total undergraduate enrollment in degree granting institutions increased by 31
percent from 13.2 million in 2000 to 17.3 million in 2014 (NCES, 2016). This is particularly
pertinent to the enrollment of marginalized groups including, but not limited to, Black female
students. During this period, female enrollment increased by 32 percent (NCES, 2016). Also
during this period, Black student enrollment increased by 57%, seeing similar increases as
Hispanic students (doubled at 119 percent increase) with white students increasing enrollment by
7 percent. This increased enrollment at higher education institutions is important to note for
Black female students because at one point, Black female students were enrolling in college at a
higher rate than any other group by race or gender (United States Census Bureau, 2011).
Higher education for Black female students is important to research with more students
attending colleges to gain access and equity to the job market post-graduation. Predominantly
white institutions (PWIs) are important to focus on in higher education opportunities because in
2001, 87.1% of Black undergraduates attended PWIs and these institutions accounted for 78.5%

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 11
of undergraduate degrees conferred to Black students (Provasnik & Shafer, 2004). The authors
also found that in comparison to Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), 12.9% of
Black undergraduates attended HBCUs, yet graduates accounted for 21.5% of undergraduate
degrees conferred. This indicates that although a higher percentage of Black students are enrolled
at PWIs, graduates account for a disproportionately lower percentage of degrees awarded to
Black students, when taking PWIs and HBCUs into consideration (Provasnik & Shafer, 2004).
This shows the substantial shift of the demographic makeup of PWIs (Hannon, Woodside,
Pollard, & Roman, 2016). Cokely (2000) studied Black students in both HBCUs and PWIs and
found that although students attending PWIs entered with higher grade point averages (GPAs)
than those attending HBCUs, Black students at PWIs reported lower academic achievement in
college and exhibited lower academic self-concept than students attending HBCUs. This may
indicate that PWIs have not been effective in supporting and, thus, retaining Black students
(Rodgers & Summers, 2008).
Research shows that Black students deal with difficulties before enrollment, such as lack
of readiness for the postsecondary experience, absence of paternal support, or lack of awareness
of academic rigor of higher education (Benton, 2001) as well difficulties while enrolled at PWIs
such as campus-wide internalized oppression, negative classroom experiences, and
underdeveloped support systems (Glenn & Johnson, 2012; Rodgers & Summers, 2008). Due to
the colonized history of higher education institutions, it is important to look at PWIs as a site of
antiblackness and ascertain how it has manifested itself in the equipping and support of Black
students, particularly Black female students present on the campuses.
With the increase of Black female students enrolling into higher education institutions,
the transition to these institutions comes with both academic and socio-cultural challenges

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 12
(Morosanu, Handley, & O’Donovan, 2010). The first year experience is important to focus on
because it has influence on student success, satisfaction, retention and students’ experience of
learning (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008; Trautwein &
Bosse, 2017). The first year experience is a topic worth focusing on because it is relevant to
many stakeholders including educational policy makers who aim to provide access to higher
education; university administrators who want to ensure completion rates; student affairs
professionals who want to provide supports and interventions; and students who are trying to
graduate and enter into the workforce post-graduation (Hannon, Woodside, Pollard, & Roman,
2016; Jamelske, 2008; Trautwein & Bosse, 2017). Current research on the first year experience
focuses mostly around the issue of equity and the way the university influences students’ lives
(McInnis, 2001). This is important to note for Black female students and other often
marginalized groups because the experience in higher education universities often mirrors the
‘real world’ experience these students may have in the professional realm and can have impact
on a student’s identity, self-concept and mental health while in higher education spaces (Hannon,
Woodside, Pollard, & Roman, 2016; McGee & Stovall, 2015).
The Statement of the Problem
This study focuses on understanding the experiences of Black female students during
their first year at PWIs. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as
reported by the United States Census Bureau, Black women were able to surpass all other groups
in college entrance based upon race and gender with 9.7% of Black women enrolling into a
college or university (United States Census Bureau, 2011). Historically, Black female student
enrollment has shown increase with a growth of 60% in Black women pursuing bachelor’s
degrees (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). General research on the African American

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 13
experience in college settings often focuses on a grouped experience of male and female students
or may leave women out of the research altogether (Hannon, Woodside, Pollard, & Roman,
2016). A void exists in the literature regarding the Black female students’ experience in the
college setting, which is problematic since this group represents a unique population due to the
historical, political, social, and individual contexts of identifying as both African American, or
Black, and as women (Hannon, Woodside, Pollard, & Roman, 2016; Watt, 2006). Black female
students’ experiences are not well reflected in educational literature especially from their own
perspectives. Often times, the experiences of Black female students have been constructed by
those outside of their communities and have lacked a critical lens, which treats their experiences
insignificantly (Patton & Croom, 2017). With the increase of Blacks and women in higher
education institutions, the transition of Black women into these educational spaces is important
to study to ensure that the voices of this group are included in the discussion on access, equity
and the dismantling of colonial perspectives in higher education. Available literature on Black
women in education often focuses on the negative, or deficit, perspective of their experiences
through colonized approaches to research and does not always obtain information from the
group’s perspectives. This is important to note because despite the odds, Black women continue
to excel in education when given the chance.
The problem identified is that Black female students’ experiences at PWIs are not widely
reported in educational literature especially from the voice of Black female students. There is
even less literature about how the first year at a PWI has an influence on the overall academic
experience of Black female students. Research indicates that the first year experience is critical
for the overall academic achievement within post-secondary education. Due to the importance of
this time in a student’s higher education academic career, more information is needed to create

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 14
the support needed for this population as well as ensure retention in PWIs, which is needed for
both the students as well as the institutions they attend (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, &
Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to highlight the experiences and perspectives of Black female
students during their first year of attendance at a PWI while anti-Black racism is at the forefront
of the students’ psyche and everyday experience. Focusing on the stories of Black female
students will allow for Black female students to share their experiences at a PWI that deal with
what it means to be both Black and a woman in an organization that was not initially created for
them and has since attempted to adapt policies, structures, and practices to provide for them with
very little academic research available to ensure that these attempts for equity and access are
appropriate and echo the needs of these students. A secondary purpose is to increase the
available literature on Black female students in educational research and to help create dialogue
on how to better serve this population in higher education spaces especially during a time of
importance such as the first year.
Patel (2016) discussed the paradigm of decolonization in educational research, which
looks at the interplay of colonization on the current educational system and argues that
educational research needs to be decolonized in order to best represent those who are recipients
of the educational product. This relates well to the theories used in this study including Critical
Race Feminism (CRF) and Afro-Pessimism. CRF is a multidisciplinary framework that uses
Critical Race Theory and notions of feminism in order to bring women of color to the center
rather than on the margins of the experience and acknowledges that their experiences are distinct
to that of men of color and white Women within educational spaces (Berry, 2009; Evans-Winters

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 15
& Esposito, 2010; Wing, 1997). In the context of this study, CRF looks to use the relevancy of
CRT to Black girls’ education with female scholars of color viewing the limitations of CRT as
not conceptualizing the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in educational spaces (Evans-
Winters & Esposito, 2010).
Afro-Pessimism shares the skepticism of CRT as it relates to racial progress and focuses
on the distinction of antiblackness from other forms of racism (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, &
Luke, 2017). Antiblackness is the idea that the creation of Blacks as nonhuman structures the
status of all other racial groups (Sexton, 2016). Afro-pessimism explores the relationship of the
Black-white binary and how it inaccurately portrays the role of racial inequality often found in
organizations (e.g. educational institutions) but changes it to an antagonism between Blacks and
non-Blacks and it is antiblackness, not white supremacy, that explains the conditions of Black
people globally (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016). These ideals from
Afro-Pessimism, and more constructs, bring about questions about how this would impact Black
women. In the context of this study, Afro-Pessimism looks to better define the presence and
importance of race beyond skin color and its subsequent comparisons often found in educational
research discussing Black students, and specifically, Black female students.
For this study, CRF and Afro-Pessimism are juxtaposed against one another to see how
each theory is represented in the stories of the three students. The purpose is to highlight the
intersectional experiences of race, gender and class in higher educational spaces while focusing
on the antagonism of Blacks as nonhuman in an educational space that purports to advance
humanity, that Black people are not represented within, and increasing the representation of the
Black female students’ experience in higher education at a time of overt antiblackness in society
(Dumas, 2016; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Linscott, 2017; Ray, Randolph, Underhill, &

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 16
Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016). These theories have synergy in that they focus on the plight of Black
people in spaces created under the construct of whiteness; however, they contradict one another
in how they see blackness, antiblackness, and the root of the problem and how the change for
Black people in these spaces should come about.
Through a decolonial approach to research methodology and the theoretical framework
using a syncretic lens of Critical Race Feminism and Afro-Pessimism, the researcher wants to
share the voices of Black female students’ first year experiences attending a PWI. This
framework looks to highlight how Black female students perceive a PWI’s ability to address
their needs as Black female students as it relates to their ability to survive and thrive in an
organization that was not created for them to succeed. This qualitative study is being conducted
to hear about the experiences of the first year in higher education of three Black female students.
Research Question
1. How do Black female students perceive and characterize their experiences during their
first year at PWIs?
The Significance of the Study
The goal of this research study is to provide first hand experiences of Black female
students in higher education and to determine what shapes their initial experiences at higher
education institutions to either help or hinder their overall experience and ultimately their
attrition. The significance of this study is to provide additional literature on Black female
students, an often overlooked and understudied population in educational research (Shavers &
Moore, 2014). This information is important because it can help multiple stakeholders with
ensuring that Black female students are successful which in turn allows them to ensure that all
students are successful. Stakeholders can include senior-level university administrators,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 17
policymakers, academic researchers, and student affairs professionals (Guiffrida & Douthit,
2010; Hannon, Woodside, Pollard & Roman, 2016; Harper, 2012; Rodgers & Summers, 2008).
Within a higher education institution context, this study could help administrators create
programs for Black female students to help with retention, academic achievement, and
graduation rates during a time of heightened and overt racial overtones in both social, systemic
and political contexts (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Harper, 2012;
Jamelske, 2008). This is also important for senior-level administrators because the more that is
known about what may impact a student’s collegiate experience, the more administration can
focus on creating supports and environments that can help students finish college in a timely
manner and the school’s ability to retain students appropriately (McInnis, 2001; Tinto, 1987).
Not only can systems change within higher education contexts, but educational policy on
access and equity can assist often marginalized groups in the K-12 setting to aim at providing
access to higher education for students from diverse backgrounds (Childers-McKee & Hytten,
2015; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Harper, Patton, & Wooden, 2009; Zamani, 2003).
Understanding the perspectives of Black female students during their first year experience could
open up dialogue as to how to best prepare students from diverse backgrounds for college to both
transition to and graduate from these institutions, which is beneficial to both the K-12 and higher
education settings (Guiffrida & Douthit, 2010). More information about the first year experience
is needed to help develop policies that can increase access to higher education for students from
often marginalized groups, particularly Black female students. It’s not only about access to
higher education but the focus should also be on managing retention and supporting student
success Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008; Tinto, 1987;
Trautwein & Bosse, 2017).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 18
This study is important because it is contributing to the vast array of educational literature
on first year experiences within higher education institutions. Research continues to look at first
year experience as an important time period for students at higher education institutions that has
a direct impact on a student’s ability to continue in a college or university and succeed outside of
the environment as well (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008;
McInnis, 2001; Morosanu, Handley, & O’Donovan, 2010). Focusing on Black female students is
important because 1) current educational research often misses this group as a focus of research
(Shavers & Moore, 2014); 2) overlooks the increased rise of attendance and graduation of this
population (NCES, 2011; Shapiro et. al, 2017), and 3) generally focuses on negative images of
this group in a deficit-approach when discussing successes and/or failures within higher
education (Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015).
Another stakeholder in the study includes the student affairs professionals that often
create programs for students to succeed in higher education spaces. Studying the first year
experiences of Black female students in PWIs would help these professionals to realize that the
university environment produces different experiences for marginalized groups and may be the
impetus for developing culturally relevant supports and interventions that are particular to the
dual world of being both Black and a woman (Chavous & Cogborn, 2007; De Walt, 2011;
Glenn, 2010; Museus, 2008). These programs and interventions would be beneficial for both
students and the universities they attend to increase academic success (Briggs, Clark, & Hall,
2012; Morosanu, Handley, O’Donovan, 2010).
Lastly, it is very important to center the conversation in educational research on the
voices of Black female students. Limited research is available that shares the experiences of
Black female students at PWIs (Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015; Evans-Winters & Esposito,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 19
2010). The literature that does exist focuses on the upperclassmen and/or doctoral experiences of
Black female students or focuses on small parts of their experiences through the lens of the
researcher (Hannon, Woodside, Pollard & Roman, 2016; De Walt, 2011; Glenn, 2010; Shavers
& Moore, 2016). More literature is needed to explore the unique voice and experiences of Black
female students (Collins, 1999; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Shavers & Moore; 2014;
Zamani, 2003).
Limitations, Delimitations, Assumptions
One of the limitations of this study was time. The researcher was not able to do a
longitudinal study on the participants to see the influence of the first year experience on their
overall academic career. Additionally, the participants were interviewed only once to obtain their
perspectives on the topic. Another limitation was the sample size. There were only 3 students
interviewed for the study. Lastly, a confinement to the study was the number of school sites used
to interview the participants. The researcher had access to only one university, which limits the
generalizability of the Black female student experience to other campus experiences for other
Black female students. Qualitative researchers seek to capture as close to objective “truth” and
“reality” as possible; but, since that can never happen, the researcher engaged in various
strategies to increase the credibility of the findings (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
To ensure credibility and trustworthiness, the researcher used strategies when collecting
and analyzing the data including member checks (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016); reflexivity
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014); and, collecting rich, thick
descriptions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Credibility is important because a researcher wants the
findings to match the reality of the participants’ shared information (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
To ensure credibility and trustworthiness in the findings, the researcher crosschecked with the

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 20
interviewees the emergent codes that came from the individual interviews and verified the codes
with the interviewees (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This method was used to present findings that
were plausible, believable and accurate to the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Miles,
Huberman, & Saldana, 2014). It also allowed for the voice of the Black female student
experience to be the main focus of the results instead of the voice of the researcher. Additionally,
the researcher collected rich data to provide a full, in-depth picture of what was taking place.
Trustworthiness is established by presenting credible findings based on developing a rich
knowledge of the topic (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Another strategy used to ensure credibility is
that of researcher position, or reflexivity, which is how the researcher affects and/or is affected
by the research process (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This strategy was employed based on the
researcher’s positionality as a PWI-educated African American woman studying a phenomenon
that, in part, includes the researcher, which can be based on bias and assumptions. At the
beginning of the study, the researcher entered with assumptions of what the responses might be
from participants based on prior experiences. This had to be regulated to ensure that the
assumptions did not allow for researcher biases to show through during interviews and the data
analysis process, for example, when choosing emergent codes based on participant responses
(Maxwell, 2013). The researcher ensured that the terminology used was participant-defined and
was not from the researcher’s voice (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Furthermore, the researcher
searched for discrepant data to make sure she did not dismiss or ignore critical findings to satisfy
her own biases.
Definitions
African American: According to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB)’s, “Black
or African American” refers to a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 21
Africa. The Black racial category includes people who marked the “Black, African Am., or
Negro” checkbox. It also includes respondents who reported entries such as African American;
Sub-Saharan African entries, such as Kenyan and Nigerian; and Afro-Caribbean entries, such as
Haitian and Jamaican. Sub-Saharan African entries are classified as Black or African American
with the exception of Sudanese and Cape Verdean because of their complex, historical heritage.
North African entries are classified as white, as OMB defines white as a person having origins in
any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa (US Census, 2011).
Afterlife of Slavery: the representation of skewed life chances, limited to access to health and
education, premature death, incarceration, and impoverishment related to the devaluation of
Black lives that has been entrenched in the political systems centuries ago (Hartman, 2007).
Antiblackness: The notion that the construction of Blacks as nonhuman structures the status of
all other racial groups (Sexton 2016).
Black: See African American. Used as a synonym of African American (however imperfect) to
be understood as a “self-determined name of a racialized social group that shares a specific set of
histories, cultural processes, and imagined and performed kinships (Dumas, 2016). It is
capitalized to reference Black people, organizations, and cultural products.
Class: is used to refer to a group sharing the same economic or social status; social rank that
includes privilege (Morris, 2007).
Critical Race Theory: focuses on five tenets that potentially inform educational research,
curriculum and policy formation: (1) that race and racism are central, endemic, permanent and
fundamental in defining and explaining how U.S. society functions; (2) challenges dominant
ideologies and claims of race neutrality, objectivity, meritocracy, colorblindness, and equal
opportunity; (3) is activist in nature and propagates a commitment to social justice; (4) centers

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 22
the experiences and voices of the marginalized and oppressed; and, (5) is necessarily
interdisciplinary in scope and function (Bell, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2000; Evans-Winters
& Esposito, 2010; Solórzano & Yosso, 2000).
Decolonization: looks at the interplay of colonization on the current educational systems. She
argues that educational research needs to be decolonized in order to best represent those who are
recipients of the educational product. Educators, and those that research the field, are implicit in
their continued participation in educational systems that are rooted in Eurocentric, colonialist,
and oppressive traditions. Decolonization of educational research requires the removal of the
non-neutrality of the text that is embedded with contextually situated meanings that interact with
materiality that influences outcomes. It is the reduction of Eurocentric teachings that place
women, some men, minorities and other marginalized groups into a simplistic viewpoint.
Decolonizing educational research is removing the intentional colonial framework from research
that often glosses over the impact of colonial worldviews (Patel, 2016).
Gender: state of being male or female as determined by social and cultural differences rather
than by biological science
Intersectionality: coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (1995) and claims that the study of
identity politics overlooks intragroup differences. This is very apparent in the experiences and
political concerns of women of color that are overlooked when initiatives are focused on gender-
based or race-based initiatives. For women of color, their lived experiences are influenced by
both their identities as women and as persons of color (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010).
Racism: institutional power that people of color in the United States of America have never
possessed (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 23
Synergy: the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents
to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. (Merriam-Webster,
2018)
Organization of the Study
In the first section of the literature review, the researcher will share the conceptual
framework that discusses both Critical Race Feminism and Afro-Pessimism within a decolonial
paradigm. The purpose of these theories is to critique available literature on Black women in
higher education and the first year experience and how the research corroborates or challenges
the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in educational spaces.
The next sections of the literature review will provide historical context of women in
higher education as well as the positive and negative history of Blacks in higher education in the
United States. Until relatively recent in American history, women were excluded from the
educational system (NWHM, 2007). The first college in the United States was Harvard College
founded in 1636 (Rudolph, 1961). However, women were not admitted to colleges until nearly
200 years later at Oberlin College, which was chartered in 1833 (NWHM, 2007). The earliest
access for Black students in higher education was initiated in the 1820s with individuals like
Alexander Lucius Twilight being the first African American to complete his studies and two
other students receiving degrees from similar colleges during that decade, which lead to a
movement to gradually extend college opportunities to freed slaves (Harper, Patton, & Wooden,
2009).
The following section of the literature will focus on the Black female student in higher
education. The first Black female college graduate occurred at Oberlin College in 1862 with
Mary Jane Patterson, which, at the time, was considered progress since access to higher

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 24
education was limited to those with the status of both African American and woman during that
era (Katz, 1969, as cited in Harper, Patton & Wooden, 2009). Research literature on the
experience of Black women in education is limited and often focuses on a deficit-approach to
how they function in these entities.
Additionally, the literature review will discuss the importance of the first year experience
as an important part of the higher education experience. First year experience (FYE) is said to
have influence on student success, satisfaction, retention and students’ experience of learning
(Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008).
The final section of Chapter 2 will summarize the key points of the varied
experiences in higher education and how the Black female students’ experience is unique and
underrepresented in educational literature. The researcher will further investigate how the voices
of this population are crucial to helping higher education stakeholders engage in supportive acts
and utilize information from Black female students to help benefit their overall collegiate
academic career.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 25
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand to the unique experiences of the
first year experience in higher education for three Black female students attending predominantly
white institutions (PWIs). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as
reported by the United States Census Bureau, Black women have surpassed all other groups in
college entrance based upon race and gender with 9.7% of Black women enrolling into a college
or university (United States Census Bureau, 2011). In general, women in the United States
outnumber men to a high degree, as recent college graduates (Buchmann & DiPrete,
2006). Bachelor’s degrees earned by Black female students are currently awarded to Black
students by 67% (Buchmann & DiPrete, 2006). According to the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES, 2016), from the years 2009-2010 Black women earned 68 percent of
associate’s degrees, 66 percent of bachelor’s degrees, 71 percent of master’s degrees, and 65
percent of doctor’s degrees awarded to Black students. Despite the success of Black women in
college, little is known or documented in the research as to how Black female students
successfully transition from high school to college despite adversities they may encounter
(Chavous & Cogborn, 2007). The current discourse about Black female student success is
incomplete with nonexistent information aside from numerical figures about access, retention
and graduation (Patton & Croom, 2017).
Historically, literature on Black female students indicates that there has been a significant
struggle to educate and uplift this population since the late 19th and 20th centuries; currently, the
Black female student experience is overlooked in mainstream educational research even though
analysis of their educational experiences indicates that Black female students are strong students

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 26
who work in difficult environments where their sex, race, and culture shapes their experiences
and opportunities (Chavous & Cogborn, 2007; Muhammad & Dixson, 2008; Thomas & Jackson,
2007).
Research Question
Due to the interpretative nature of qualitative research, this study uses Critical Race Feminism
(CRF) and Afro-Pessimism to inform the researcher’s interpretive lens to answer the following
questions:
1. How do Black female students perceive and characterize their experiences during their
first year at PWIs?
The purpose of this research question is to ascertain what Black female students at
predominantly white institutions perceive of their experiences during their first year and how
their experiences shape their academic careers.
Brief Overview of Chapter Two
Black female students’ experiences in higher education as depicted in the research
literature are a combination of many different experiences both directly and indirectly related to
this population. In this chapter, the researcher focuses on research literature that discusses
various experiences within higher education starting broadly with the individual experiences of
both women and Blacks in higher education and then focusing specifically on Black women at
higher education institutions. Additionally, the researcher focuses on the first year experience of
higher education for all students and its importance to a comprehensive academic experience in
higher education.
The first section of this chapter focuses on the theoretical substance of the study. One
paradigm and two theories are used to help critique the subjects of women’s experience in higher

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 27
education, Black students’ experiences in higher education, Black women’s experiences in
higher education and the overall first year experience. A decolonial paradigm focuses on the
institution of higher education itself in a colonized country such as the U.S. (Asher, 2009; Patel,
2016). Critical Race Feminism (CRF) and Afro-Pessimism are two theories that focus on race
experiences as it applies to people of African descent in a colonized country such as the U.S.
with CRF focusing on the intersectionality of race, gender and class in educational spaces and
Afro-Pessimism presenting and dissecting the concept of antiblackness and its impact on those
within the African diaspora globally (Berry, 2009; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Ray,
Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016; Wing, 1997). These theories help to inspect
how Black women in higher education are surviving and potentially thriving in a system that was
not created for them. It also focuses on the implications for the importance of helping these
institutions to review how they underperform in the areas of support and retention for this group
of students in higher education institutions.
The next sections of the literature review focus on the history of women in higher
education as students and their inclusion in higher educational spaces (Bordelon, 2012;
Buchmann & DiPrete, 2006; Ewert, 2012; Goldin, Katz, & Kuziemko, 2006; Langdon, 2001;
Milojevic, 1998; Riley, 2010; Zamani, 2003). This occurred prior to and, in some states
simultaneously, to the inclusion of Black students in higher education institutions (Zamani,
2003). The inclusion of Black students in higher education was relevant to the increased legal
actions taken to propagate the idea of ‘separate but equal’ for free Black people and/or recently
freed slaves before, during, and after the Civil War (Bordelon, 2012; Harper, Patton & Wooden,
2009). Black women’s experiences are focused on to show how the intersection of race and
gender shows itself in the higher education spaces and how this intersectionality is unique and

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 28
creates its own problems (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). Lastly, the first year experience is
discussed to show how important this time in a student’s academic career impacts the overall
higher education experience (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske,
2008; McInnis, 2001; Tinto, 1987).
Chapter 2 concludes with a summary and review of the key points of CRF, Afro-
Pessimism and decolonization and how these lenses critique the different experiences in higher
education as it relates specifically to Black women in their first year within higher educational
institutions and how this experience should encourage various stakeholders to utilize these
experiences to benefit Black female students in higher education.
Theoretical Framework

Figure 1. The Concept Model of Theoretical Frameworks.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 29
Decolonization
Colonization refers to the occupation and control of another nation through which
colonizers economically exploit the land, materials resources, and labor force of the occupied
land (Asher, 2009). Education is one area that is deeply impacted by the “project of colonialism”
(Asher, 2009), which has been interrogated for the Eurocentrism of education, the
marginalization and loss of knowledge of indigenous people, the reproduction and internalization
of colonist practices, and the resulting contradiction is curriculum and pedagogy (Asher, 2009;
Patel, 2016). Ashcroft, Griffiths, & Tiffin, 1995; as cited in Asher, 2009) noted, "Education
becomes a technology of colonialist subjectification.... It establishes the locally English or
British as normative through critical claims to 'universality' of the values embodied in English
literary texts and it represents the colonized to themselves as inherently inferior beings” (p.426).
This viewpoint is embodied in the earliest forms of education into the higher education
institutions that were created by colonizers to educate their people within the new lands.
Patel (2016) discusses decolonizing education research, which looks at the interplay of
colonization on the current educational systems. She argues that educational research needs to be
decolonized in order to best represent those who are recipients of the educational product.
Educators, and those that research the field, are implicit in their continued participation in
educational systems that are rooted in Eurocentric, colonialist, and oppressive traditions.
Decolonization of educational research requires the removal of the non-neutrality of the text,
which is embedded with contextually, situated meanings that interact with materiality that
influences outcomes. It is the reduction of Eurocentric teachings that place women, some men,
minorities and other marginalized groups into a simplistic viewpoint. Decolonizing educational

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 30
research is removing the intentional colonial framework from research that often glosses over the
impact of colonial worldviews.
The researcher argues that a decolonial paradigm helps to shine light on the institution of
higher education and how it, as an entity, participates in the continuation of Eurocentric
teachings in how it conducts business, creates research, and espouses ideals that are centered
toward a white, male-centered audience and negates that ideas, struggles, and needs of
marginalized groups such as women and race-based minorities within higher education spaces.
For this study, a decolonial paradigm helps to determine how Black women are surviving in an
institution that was not initially created for them and does not effectively support them to
succeed in their academic careers.
Critical Race Feminism
Critical Race Feminism (CRF) is closely related with the theoretical framework of
Critical Race Theory (CRT). There is no single definition of CRT. Derrick Bell, seen as the
architect of CRT along with other major legal theorists, noted that it was created out of the
disillusionment of the results of the civil rights movement, and noted that the passage of the
Brown decision and other social and legal issues decided by the courts are only brought forth on
the basis that legal issues benefitted the interest of whites or appeased them, while actively
excluding and discriminating against Black citizens (Bell, 1995; Evans-Winters & Esposito,
2010). CRT is grounded in three core assumptions regarding the way the world is organized.
Brookfield (2010) notes that these assumptions include
(1) That apparently open, western democracies are actually highly unequal societies in
which economic inequity, and racism and class discrimination is empirical realities,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 31
(2) That the way this state of affairs is reproduced as seeming to be normal, natural and
inevitable (thereby heading off potential challenges to the system) is through the
dissemination of dominant ideology, and
(3) That critical theory attempts to understand this state of affairs as a prelude to
changing it. Critical theory regards dominant ideology as inherently manipulative and
duplicitous.
CRT focuses on five tenets that potentially inform educational research, curriculum and policy
formation: (1) that race and racism are central, endemic, permanent and fundamental in defining
and explaining how U.S. society functions; (2) challenges dominant ideologies and claims of
race neutrality, objectivity, meritocracy, colorblindness, and equal opportunity; (3) is activist in
nature and propagates a commitment to social justice; (4) centers the experiences and voices of
the marginalized and oppressed; and, (5) is necessarily interdisciplinary in scope and function
(Bell, 1995; Delgado & Stefancic, 2000; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Solórzano & Yosso,
2000). Therefore, Bell (1995) would argue that any legal changes in educational reform would
only be to “secure, advance, or at least not harm” the state of affairs for whites. He notes that this
act of the legal system to maintain and/or not tread on the privileges of white citizens, in the
interest of Black citizens, as the principle of interest convergence (Bell, 1995). This implies that
the education of Black girls in the U.S. is affected by the limited interest of white citizens who
have no interest in assisting in providing the social and financial support to low-income and
working class students, who are disproportionately minority and female, with a quality education
(Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Kozol, 2006; Orfield, 2001). Black girls are then left to fend
for themselves in desegregated public urban and private K-12 schools where the majority of

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 32
teachers are white, middle-class women whose backgrounds and families do not mirror their own
(Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; NCES, 2004).
Similar to Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) in demonstrating the legal tenets of CRT’s
implications for addressing issues in education, CRF looks to use the relevancy of CRT to Black
girls’ education with female scholars of color viewing the limitations of CRT as not
conceptualizing the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in educational spaces (Evans-
Winters & Esposito, 2010). CRF initially emerged as a way to address legal issues of “a
significant group of people -- those who are both women and members of today's racial/ethnic
minorities, as well as the disproportionately poor (Wing, 1997, p.1).” CRF is a multidisciplinary
framework that uses CRT and notions of feminism in order to bring women of color to the center
rather than on the margins of the experience and acknowledges that their experiences are distinct
to that of men of color and white Women (Berry, 2009; Wing, 1997). Both CRT and CRF
emerged from the legal field; however, both have seen in an increase within educational research
to look at the ways in which schools promote marginalization and inequality (Childers-McKee &
Hytten, 2015). Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) popularized CRT in educational research by
bringing the framework to the forefront to help understand the racial inequity in
schools. Solórzano (1998) notes that, “A critical race theory in education challenges
ahistoricism and the unidisciplinary focus of most analyses, and insists on analyzing race and
racism in education by placing them in both a historical and contemporary context using
interdisciplinary methods” (p. 123). Yosso (2005) was able to describe the movement in saying
that, “CRT is a framework that can be used to theorize, examine, and challenge the ways race
and racism implicitly and explicitly impact on school structures, practices and discourse”(p.70).
This race based worldview provides a lens through which one can question, critique, and

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 33
challenge the manner in which race, white supremacy, meritocracy and racist ideologies have
shaped policy for Black student participation in higher education (Harper, Patton, & Wooden,
2009).
CRT and CRF share similar assumptions including:
• The permanence of racism in our society
• The importance of narratives, storytelling, and counternarratives to disrupting taken for
granted and normative views about the world
• The social constructedness of race
• The need to critique liberalism for is individualist and context-independent perspective
on the world
• The reality of interest convergence, meaning that marginalized cultures have gotten ahead
only when those from the dominant culture also benefit; and,
• The importance of critical race praxis, or action to challenge the status quo
(Berry 2009, 2010; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 1998, 2009; Pratt-Clarke,
2010; Wing 1997, 2000; as cited by Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015). Those in the CRT field
often articulated concerns in the Black/white binary which left women and other people of color
to feel as though their experiences and histories were being silenced (Yosso, 2005). CRF focuses
on the combination of CRT and feminism and explores the perspective of people who are
marginalized by both race and gender. (Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015; Evans-Winters &
Esposito, 2010)
Evans-Winters and Esposito (2010) proposed a Critical Race Feminism framework to
discuss the experiences of African American female students in educational spaces which
encompasses the legal tenets of critical race theory’s implications for addressing issues in

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 34
education as well as how it is relevant to the education of African American female students in
particular. This framework addresses how African American female students combat racial and
gender oppression from multiple standpoints and provides legal and academic strategy for
studying race, class, and gender in educational institutions (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). A
CRF perspective increases the opportunities for the voices, perspectives, and experiences of
those most marginalized in higher education institutions by centering how race, class, and gender
inequalities have contributed to existing problems (Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015; Evans-
Winters & Esposito, 2010). Historically, educational research on Black girls focuses on the
deficits of Black girls in education spaces (Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015). By using a CRF
framework, research can avoid using the more common focus on deficits in favor of discussing
Black girls resilience in facing the challenges and agency in advocating for their own educational
needs (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). These authors argue that, “Critical Race Feminism is
currently the most useful lens for studying, analyzing, critiquing, and celebrating the educational
experiences of African American female students” (p. 20).
The researcher argues for this study that CRF helps broaden the scope of CRT in adding
an intersectional and gendered perspective to exploring first year experiences within higher
education. Often, experiences are centered on just race, gender or socioeconomic status;
however, the researcher wants to address an intersectional experience and its impact on
experiences within a predominantly white institution. CRF combines many tenets of critical race
theory and feminist theory but recognizes that the intersection of race, gender, and class is not
studied often within the educational context, which lends itself to forgetting Black women’s
experiences in other theoretical frameworks.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 35
Afro-Pessimism
Afro pessimism shares the skepticism of CRT as it relates to racial progress and focuses
on the distinction of antiblackness from other forms of racism (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, &
Luke, 2017). It separates itself from CRT in several ways,
• Antiblackness is different from other forms of racism. Antiblackness is the idea
that the creation of Blacks as nonhuman structures the status of all other racial
groups (Sexton, 2016). It intersects with white supremacy but has its own logic as
to how people dehumanize Blacks. (Sexton, 2016).
• CRT was challenged on that it focused primarily on the Black/white binary and
offered a two-dimensional discourse that limited how other people of color
continue to experience, respond to, and resist various forms of racism and
oppression (Yosso, 2005). Afro-pessimism explores the relationship of the Black-
white binary and how it inaccurately portrays the role of racial inequality often
found in organizations (e.g. educational institutions) but changes it to an
antagonism between Blacks and non-Blacks and it is antiblackness, not white
supremacy, that explains the conditions of Black people globally (Ray, Randolph,
Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016).
• It challenges the idea of triracial hierarchy emerging and identifies the “collective
Black” as an idea hiding the specificity of being a person of African descent
(Bonilla-Silva, 2004). This also includes a critique of the idea of “people of color”
because it largely combines incomparable experiences (Ray, Randolph, Underhill,
& Luke, 2017)

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 36
• A basic tenet of Afro-pessimism is the impact of slavery and its influence on how
slavery lives on in modern times (e.g. mass incarceration) (Hartman, 1997; Ray,
Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016). During the transatlantic slave
trade is when enlightenment philosophers developed their ideas about what it
means to be human making Africans emerge from the slave trade as Blacks, a
racialized group now permanently seen as property to whites (e.g. social death)
(Ray, Randolph, Underhill & Luke, 2017; Sorrentino, 2016)
These ideals from Afro-Pessimism, and more constructs, bring about questions about how this
would impact Black women. CRT versus Afro-Pessimism indicates that there is skepticism
against a linear racial progression; Afro-Pessimism focuses on antiblackness which is the notion
that the idea of Blacks as nonhuman held the structures of the status of other groups; it is not
Black versus white but Blacks versus non-Blacks which explains the plight of Blacks globally;
and, use of the term people of color decreased the Black struggle, which is important (Ray,
Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017). Although not very different from CRT, CRF adds the
gendered experience for Black women within the skepticism on progress and focuses on the
status of Black women in comparison to non-Black women (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010).
Syncretism of Theories
In the context of this study, CRF and Afro-Pessimism are juxtaposed together to look at
how the historical, political, and social contexts of the Black experience represent themselves in
the individual contexts of Black female students in predominantly white educational spaces that
were neither originally created for them to access nor have supported their academic successes as
evidenced in their transition to higher education institutions. CRF helps to inform the Black
female students’ experience at a PWI and brings to light the intersectionality of race, gender, and

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 37
class in educational spaces. As it relates to this study, antiblackness as supported by Afro-
Pessimism helps to operationalize what race means in CRF. Often when race is mentioned in
educational literature, it is referring to a simplistic idea of skin color and not how Black people
are represented in society in its language, laws, and systems as nonhuman (Dumas, 2016). A
decolonial paradigm helps to highlight the colonized history of PWIs but also helps to discuss
how research methodology should highlight the voices of the lived experiences of marginalized
groups (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
These two theories contradict one another in their perspective on blackness, antiblackness
and how change can occur for Black people in a society constructed for and by whiteness. The
idea of using Afro-Pessimism’s definition of antiblackness to enhance the idea of what race
means within CRF allows the two theories to merge in a way not done in educational research.
Afro-Pessimism and CRF together can raise many questions as to how antiblackness relates to
the Black female students’ experience in higher education. How does antiblackness influence the
perspective of Black female students in higher education? Is it subconscious? Does it manifest
itself in other ways? For Black women, how does natal alienation, or, the way slavery severed
Africans’ ties to their family and to Africa, (Sexton 2016) influence the psyche and drive for
them to succeed? How did violence impact the psyche of Black women? How did the
objectification of the body impact Black women racially and by gender? The purpose of these
frameworks is to use these as lenses to see how Black female students survive and thrive in a
system that was not created for them based on their race or gender.
For this study, in order to allow these two theories to be best represented, the researcher
used a critical race methodology to address the issues of race, gender, and/or class in
predominantly white institutions. According to Solórzano and Yosso (2002), critical race

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 38
methodology in educational research provides researchers with strategies to address the voices of
students of different races and ethnicities by centering their experiences and responses to an
American education system within a historical and contemporary context. An analysis through a
critical race lens allows for researchers to work towards the elimination of racism through
understanding the multiple ways students of color experience subordination, as defined by race,
class, gender and other forms of oppression (Harper, 2009; Perez Huber, 2008). A critical race
methodology encapsulates the ability to challenge the Eurocentricity of traditional research
paradigms and offers a transformational and liberating approach to academic research. It also
provides researchers tools to conduct critical race research with an anti-racist, anti-hierarchical,
racial and social justice agenda (Harper, 2009; Perez Huber, 2008). This is important to relate to
the theoretical framework because a critical race methodology allows for the researcher to
address the issues of the intersectionality of race, gender, and class along with antiblackness as it
relates to the stories of the Black female students attending a predominantly white institution.
Literature Review
An integrated theory approach using both CRF and Afro-Pessimism was used to discuss
and critique different aspects of the Black female students’ experience during their first year at a
PWI. It is important to look at how the individual aspects of their experiences have developed
within higher education institutions and as well as how the intersectionality of race, gender and
class has been discussed in the educational literature. CRF and Afro-Pessimism are used to
critique the experience of Black female students in higher education institutions as well as the
concept of the first year experience. Through these theories, the literature is analyzed to look at
Black female students’ experiences in surviving a system that was not created for them when
race, gender and/or class are taken into context.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 39
Women in Higher Education
A historical perspective of women in colonial times notes that women were perceived to
be inferior in comparison to men and were not allowed to attend institutions of higher education
(Langdon, 2001). For centuries, women have sought access to higher education institutions, but
only within the past 60 years have they entered in large numbers (Milojevic, 1998). This was
helped in large part by Women’s colleges that were established to provide educational
opportunities to those who were unable to participate in the American higher education system
(Langdon, 2001; Milojevic, 1998; Zamani, 2003). Until the late 19th and 20th centuries,
American higher education was exclusive to those with money or status who could attend elite
schools in Europe (Bordelon, 2012). This changed with the Morrill Acts in 1862 and 1890,
which saw the federal government begin to take a more active role in addressing access to higher
education to include women and Black citizens, particularly (Bordelon, 2012; Harper, Patton &
Wooden, 2009). When it was acceptable to admit women into male institutions of higher
learning, it was done mostly to increase the revenue of these institutions, not because they felt
that women were capable to handle the rigor of these institutions (Riley, 2010). Additionally,
beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s, women’s expectations of their future participation in
the labor force and their attitudes toward following in their mother’s footsteps changed and their
enrollment and graduation rates began to surpass that of males (Goldin, Katz, & Kuziemko,
2006).
A reversal of gender inequality in higher education occurred when women reached
equality with men in college graduation rates around 1982 and then exceeded them (Goldin,
Katz, & Kuziemko, 2006; Ewert, 2012). The increase of women graduating from institutions
demonstrated a female advantage that researchers believe has an impact on economic and

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 40
demographic patterns as it relates to labor market participation, marital formation and
childbearing (Buchmann & DiPrete, 2006; Ewert, 2012). This was not only seen as a result of
American higher education but, in the later 20th century, countries tried to strike a balance
between women’s roles in the private sector (e.g. family life) and public institutions such as the
economy, education, and politics with the idea being that if women participated in these entities
they could establish equality between men and women in adult social and political life (Bradley,
2000). The twenty-first century saw a change in the demographic of postsecondary institutions
enrolling increasing numbers of people from groups that were historically excluded from higher
education because of their race, ethnicity, class, or sex (Zamani, 2003). Currently, women are
more likely than men to earn bachelor’s degrees especially among most racial and/or ethnic
groups regardless of class (Buchmann & DiPrete, 2006). In 2014, the majority of students
enrolled in undergraduate institutions were female at 56% of students (NCES, 2016).
Despite the increased enrollment of women in higher education, research suggests that
the experience of women in college is different than that of men in that women have more
outside social forces that influence their academic careers (Landry, 2003). Women’s needs on
college campuses are unique due to their history of being ignored, excluded, trivialized and
treated as less productive, rational and serious than men; additionally, women have to deal with
issues related to safety and prevention, education and awareness, support and advocacy, equity,
and community (Kunkel, 1994).
The study of women in higher education shows the growth of these institutions and the
advancements of women in higher education; however, often times when discussing the increase
of women enrolling in the higher education and the general needs of women, the topic is
centered on white women or a mixed group of women’s experiences. This continues the norming

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 41
of whiteness as the need for comparison in educational research (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, &
Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016). Also, when studying women’s experiences in higher education, it is
often centered on how women are trying to attain parity with men. Riley (2010) noted that the
original plan for coeducation, the term often used for the mixing of women and men in
schooling, originally referred to the mixing of races, not gender. This implies that even with race
being a large issue at the time, gender trumps race with white men, Black men, and then white
women preceding the needs of Black women. This increases the need for research on Black
women in educational spaces because of the marginalization of this group is multitiered with
race, gender and often class separating them others (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010).
Blacks in Higher Education
Prior to the 1960s, the federal government studied Black students in higher education and
organizations that encouraged Black higher education (Willie & Cunnigen, 1981). Willie and
Cunnigen (1981) reviewed the research literature from 1965-1980 about Black students and
found that many of the articles focused on students who attended Historically Black Colleges and
Universities (HBCUs) but lacked information about the educational process from the point of
view of the Black student. Information about the experience of Black students at PWIs stressed
the limited academic preparedness of students and their experiences with social adaption that
was represented through dropout and retention rates (Willie & Cunnigen, 1981). Some studies
reported on the racism felt by Black students on PWIs but little was reported about how
university administrators, faculty or staff feel about the perceived racism from this population on
their campuses (Harper, 2012; Willie & Cunnigen, 1981).
The first access to higher education for Black students was initiated in the 1820s (Harper,
Patton & Wooden, 2009). Some institutions awarded degrees to Black students, but Oberlin

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 42
College became the first to adopt policies to specifically permit Black students to attend in large
numbers (Harper, Patton & Wooden, 2009). Additionally, the creation of HBCUs began in the
1830s to establish institutions expressly created for freed slaves and their children, which
allowed for major access to higher education (Harper, Patton & Wooden, 2009). Integration of
higher education institutions was not common during the advent of HBCUs; policies such as the
Morrill Land Grant Acts and related legislature provided venues for the education of Black
people and this was often uncontested to control the alternative - Black students enrolling at
predominantly white institutions (PWIs) en masse (Harper, Patton & Wooden, 2009). The ruling
of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) did not have immediate impact on higher education until
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which restricted federal funds
from going to segregated schools (Brown, 2001). Policies and subsequently funding had an
influence on Black student attendance at PWIs. Now that students were allowed to integrate, and
the conditions of HBCUs were usually less quality, Black students in the 1960s began to increase
attendance at PWIs thus opening many doors for Black students in higher education (Harper,
Patton & Wooden, 2009). Since that time, the enrollment of Black students in higher education
has increased 57% as recently as between 2004 and 2014 (NCES, 2016).
With enrollment in PWIs increasing, the experience of Black students in this environment
has become important to analyze. Research shows that Black students deal with difficulties
before enrollment, such as lack of readiness for the postsecondary experience, absence of
paternal support, or lack of awareness of academic rigor of higher education (Benton, 2001) as
well difficulties while enrolled at PWIs such as campus-wide internalized oppression, negative
classroom experiences, and underdeveloped support systems (Glenn & Johnson, 2012; Rodgers
& Summers, 2008). Guiffrida and Douthit (2010) studied how these students can be better

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 43
prepared for PWIs by exploring the literature on the experiences of Black students at PWIs for
the audience of college and school counselors to help them understand the transition to this
environment. They found through the review of literature that Black students report poor
relationships with white faculty, limited access to Black faculty as role models, and a need for
support from friends and family from home, and a benefit to joining Black student organizations
to increase access to on-campus support (Guiffrida & Douthit, 2010). Museus (2008) found
similar results in his study on how participating in ethnic student organizations is crucial to help
students culturally adjust and gain membership at PWIs. Students reported needing access to
these organizations and fellow Black students to help with developing and securing their
identities as well as feeling comfortable in the PWI environment with something as personal as
using informal language (e.g. African American Vernacular English, AAVE) (De Walt, 2011;
Glenn, 2010; Museus, 2008). This is important because it shows how the voices of Black
students reflect a need that is not being addressed in higher education. The limited response
could be due to how the students’ experiences are viewed by university administrators, faculty
and staff, when the popular opinion is that racism is a perception and not a reality (Harper,
2012).
Higher education for Black students is important to research with more students attending
colleges to gain access and equity to the job market post-graduation. PWIs are important to focus
on in higher education because despite the popularity of HBCUs, in 2001, 87.1% of Black
undergraduates attended PWIs and these institutions accounted for 78.5% of undergraduate
degrees conferred to Black students (Provasnik & Shafer, 2004). The study also reported that in
comparison, 12.9% of Black undergraduates attended HBCUs, yet graduates accounted for
21.5% of undergraduate degrees conferred. This would indicate that although a higher

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 44
percentage of Black students are enrolled at PWIs, graduates account for a disproportionately
lower percentage of degrees awarded to Black students (Provasnik & Shafer, 2004). This shows
the substantial shift of the demographic makeup of PWIs (Hannon, Woodside, Pollard, &
Roman, 2016). Cokely (2000) studied Black students in both HBCUs and PWIs and found that
although students attending PWIs entered with higher grade point averages (GPAs) than those
attending HBCUs, Black students at PWIs reported lower academic achievement in college and
exhibited lower academic self-concept than students attending HBCUs. This may indicate that
PWIs have not been effective in supporting and retaining Black students (Rodgers & Summers,
2008).
Black students in higher education institutions, particularly at PWIs, have not always had
their experiences shared through their voice. Often times, educational research examines
predefined measures of student involvement and how they participate in PWI environments, but
these predetermined constructs are limited in their ability to capture important cultural contexts
(Museus, 2008). For Black students, their position at PWIs is closely related to the afterlife of
slavery: their status in society, including at higher education institutions, is a manifestation of the
trivialized binary relationship of Black and white as well as the deeper antagonism of Blacks and
non-Blacks, which shows how their experiences, both past and present, cannot compare to
other’s experiences and aftermath (Ray, Randolph, Underhill & Luke, 2017). This antiblackness
is seen in the policies created, enforced, or ignored at the higher education level and is reflected
in the limited progress of higher education reform for Black students (Harper, Patton, Wooden,
2009; Sexton, 2016).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 45
Black Women in Higher Education
Black women have unique experiences in higher education that are shaped by the
intersection of race, gender, and class (Collins, 1999; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Shavers
& Moore; 2014). Black women are currently earning more degrees than their male counterparts
from bachelor’s degrees to doctoral degrees at PWIs and with this success it is assumed that they
are succeeding and therefore, their experiences are ignored or do not require studying (Greer &
white, 2009; NCES, 2016; Shavers & Moore; 2014). Consequently, the frequency of research
literature focusing on their experience is limited. This would suggest that despite their ability to
succeed they are facing obstacles that are overlooked (Shavers & Moore; 2014).
Historically, the education of Black women has been examined in research literature
through journals that focused on the education of African Americans in the U.S. (Thomas &
Jackson, 2007). A review of literature noted that there has been a significant struggle to educate
and uplift this population, especially in the late 19th century and early 20th century (Chavous &
Cogborn, 2007; Thomas & Jackson, 2007). Literature that does exist about Black women in
education often focuses on either the Black-white achievement gap or centers the conversation
on how Black girls relate to their Black male counterparts in achievement in the K-12 setting
(Kruger et.al, 2016; Patton & Croom, 2017; Taylor, 2012). Patton and Croom (2017) noted that
the current dialogue surrounding Black women in higher education taps into the moniker of
#BlackGirlMagic and focuses on how more academically successful Black female students are
than Black men and that they are the “new” model minority, which is problematic because it
suggests no challenges or obstacles are present for these students in this environment. Taylor
(2012) noted that Black girls are often seen as a secondary area of study but when they are
studied it is compared to whites and/or males rather than as the sole focus of the research study.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 46
The author also found that when Black girls are studied, the idea of them having a female
advantage over Black males is often mentioned in that although they share some of the same
experiences and/or risk factors such as exposure to violence, mental health difficulties,
inadequate parental support, or lack of awareness of academic rigors (Benton, 2001; Kruger et.
al, 2016), as Black males, they do not appear to be as adversely impacted in their educational
outcomes (Taylor, 2012). In addition, Black girls academic achievement is often compared to
white girls to further the idea of the Black-white achievement gap regardless of gender for Black
students (Taylor, 2012). Through a CRF lens, this does a disservice to the experiences of Black
girls in the K-12 educational setting by having research centered on white men, white women,
and Black men first and being compared to those experiences which are vastly different than
their own (Evans-Winter & Esposito, 2010; Zamani, 2003). Through the lens of Afro-Pessimism,
it perpetuates the idea that comparisons of all experiences must be made to that of whites as the
norm (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2016). This is important because it gives a historical
context to the plight of researching Black female students as a subgroup and that in spite of the
difficulties; this population has been able to succeed in transitioning into postsecondary
education institutions at a higher rate than other groups by race and gender (NCES, 2011).
The study of Black women in education also includes how others view them and how it
influences their educational achievement (Chavous & Cogborn, 2007; Morris, 2007; Muhammad
& Dixson, 2008). The available research discusses key research themes including
institutionalized factors that impact the educational system that Black female students are a part
of that contribute to their abilities to either succeed or fail (e.g. teacher perceptions, lack of
visibility, disadvantaged neighborhoods, gendered violence) (Chavous & Cogborn, 2007; Kruger
et. al; Morris, 2007; Muhammad & Dixson, 2008). Black girls are often raised in disadvantaged

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 47
neighborhoods that have an elevated risk for exposure to violence, gendered violence,
experiences of stereotypes depicting them as promiscuous, limited access to school-based
interventions, higher mental health problems than their male counterparts, and high rates of
poverty (Greene, 1990; Kruger et. al, 2016). Morris (2007) conducted a qualitative study to
address the perceptions of Black female students in high school and its relation to their
educational achievement. Although most research and literature has focused on the academic
experiences of African American male students, this article demonstrates that African American
female students encounter unique educational perceptions and obstacles. African American
female students in a predominately minority school performed well academically, but educators
often questioned their manners and behavior. Some educators tried to encourage, or mold, many
of the girls into “ladies,” which included curbing behavior perceived as “loud” and/or assertive.
This article advances theories of intersectionality by showing how the variables of race and class
shape perceptions of femininity for African American female students, and how the
encouragement of more traditionally feminine behavior could ultimately limit their academic
potential.
Chavous and Cogborn (2007) highlighted in their research that Black women hold dual
lenses in classrooms and in educational literature, referring to Black women as “holding the
ironic status as ‘superinvisible’ women in the context of education.” They are invisible in that
literatures on gender, race, and education tend to exclude their experiences. When visible in
these literatures, they are often misrepresented, for example, as uniformly problematic or poor;
or, they are misrepresented in “positive” ways, as somehow becoming super-achievers relative to
underachieving Black men (Chavous & Cogborn, 2007; Patton & Croom, 2017). A critique of
these studies is that although the focus is on Black women, the experience is still being told

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 48
through someone else’s voice, not the voice of the Black female students, and comparison to
others experiences are still being made (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Patel, 2016; Zamani,
2003). In the Morris (2007) study, the main storytellers are that of the teachers. He does address
the idea of class and how it intersects with race and gender through the voices of the Black
female students and how they see each other. Through the lens of Afro-Pessimism, the ability to
judge each other may reflect the concept of natal alienation which discusses how slavery severed
Africans’ ties to family and other Africans (Sexton, 2016) and that as part of the afterlife of
slavery distinguishing one’s self from blackness perpetuates the concept of antiblackness even
from other Blacks (Ray, Randolph, Underhill & Luke, 2016). This is important to note because
Black female students are dealing with obstacles based on their race and gender, but are also
dealing with issues based on their class especially when being educated in predominantly white
educational spaces (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Muhammad & Dixson, 2008). A related
issue for Black women is that they have been navigating higher education well but institutions
have not addressed the racism, sexism, and classism that affects them in these educational spaces
(Patton & Croom, 2017).
This comparison to others rather than exposing the voices of Black women in educational
literature is relevant in the higher education context as well. Hannon, Woodside, Pollard and
Roman (2016) completed a phenomenological study centered on junior and senior Black
women’s experiences at PWIs through the Afro American Emerging Self-Concept Model as a
theoretical framework. They argued that a Black women’s identity is devalued in the social
context of a PWI and that these institutions often provide limited support from college
administrators as well as limited services and resources. They discovered that throughout the
experience at a PWI, Black female students lived in multiple worlds (e.g. Black and white);

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 49
searched for a sense of belonging in both worlds; held themselves to expectations placed on them
externally by others; were aware of their surroundings in relation to being watched by someone
Black or white; and, used coping skills to help overcome adversities and confront stressors
(Hannon, Woodside, Pollard & Roman, 2016). A critique of this study through the lens of CRF
and Afro-Pessimism would note that the Black women’s experiences were heavily tied into how
they are seen as it relates to a “Euro subreferent” of self-concept. The Afro American Emerging
Self-Concept Model (Brown-Collins & Sussewell, 1986) focuses on the interaction of the
psychophysiological, Afro American, and myself referent to help see how Black women build on
family, historical roots, and the individual life story to create an alterable self-concept. A CRF
lens would focus on the experiences of these Black female students within an institution that
does not cater to their unique needs and question how the students view the organization and
how it can better serve their needs (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). Afro-pessimists would
question the need for Black women’s experiences to be justified by the Black-white binary
relationship and look closer at the antagonism between Blacks and non-Blacks to explain the
social conditions on campus (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2016; Sexton, 2016). This is
important to note because Black women experience PWI environments as a marginalized
population that is vastly different than that of any other non-Black minority group that should not
be compared (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2016; Sexton, 2016; Zamani, 2003).
Shavers and Moore (2014) also studied Black women at PWIs but focused on those
enrolled in doctoral programs. Through the lens of Black Feminist Thought, the authors found
two subthemes that emerged from the overall theme of “the double-edged sword” including
prove-them-wrong syndrome and part-of-a-bigger-whole syndrome. The study found that Black
women in doctoral programs at PWIs use these themes as resiliency factors to help them get

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 50
through their programs; however, these themes are both positive and negative - on one hand,
these Black women feel encouraged by their communities to persist in their academic pursuits
but this leaves them feeling overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility to these communities by
trying to represent their communities in a positive manner when in PWI environments (Shavers
& Moore, 2014). The Black women also reported being determined to finish their programs to
support others and combat stereotypes but that this was challenging, exhausting and taking a toll
on their mental well being (McGee & Stovall, 2015; Shavers & Moore, 2016). This study is
important because it shows that Black female students are persisting academically but they are
not supported by the institutions they attend to help them academically and mentally (McGee &
Stovall, 2015; Shavers & Moore, 2016; Zamani, 2003).
CRF would point out that these women’s narratives illuminate what needs to be done in
higher education in the discussion of policy reform to challenge the status quo of systems that
focus on just race experiences or just gendered experiences and look to create spaces to meet the
needs of this unique population (Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015; Zamani, 2003). CRF in
education looks to develop legal and academic strategies for studying and getting rid of the race,
class, and gender oppression in educational institutions (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). The
Black women in this study felt that their minimal presence on these campuses meant that they
had to not only represent their race and gender on campus but that they had to carry the burden
of the community in order to rise above the covert oppression of antiblackness on their PWI
campuses (Sexton, 2016; Shavers & Moore, 2016). This is pertinent because it shows systemic
influences that have an impact on Black female students’ perceptions of themselves that
ultimately influence their academic achievement, thus impacting their higher education
experience.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 51
African American female students deal with the intersectionality of race, gender and class
in research, educational policies and urban school systems (Evans-Winters, 2007). In comparison
to African American males, limited research exists to document factors that influence African
American female students’ transition into college and, ultimately, their success, even though they
experience similar difficulties as their male counterparts (Chavous & Cogborn, 2007; Saunders,
Davis, Williams & Williams, 2004). More information is needed in order to treat Black female
students as more than a monolithic group and that grapples with systemic inequalities that shape
and influence their lives while attending a PWI (Patton & Croom, 2017).
The studies presented in this subsection focused on the experiences of Black female
students in K-12 and the upper levels of higher education including graduate school. Less is
known about the experiences of the Black female student who is transitioning to higher
education during her first year experience, which is in an important time that has influence on a
student’s ability to succeed academically, graduate, and potentially, attain graduate level degrees.
First Year Experience
With the increased enrollment of students in higher education, especially women and
racial groups, it is important to ensure that universities employ resources and programming to
develop students’ from the beginning of the postsecondary career to increase academic success
to help improve circumstances for both the student as well as the university. A college degree is
becoming increasingly necessary to enter into the job market competitively (Buchmann &
DiPrete, 2006; Ewert, 2012; Jamelske, 2008); and, with this, more students are enrolling in
higher education institutions than have in the past (Jamelske, 2008). Additionally, where Black
women attend college matters because it has implications for degree attainment, career choice,
and lifetime earnings (Patton & Croom, 2017).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 52
Higher education institutions have been trying to create support programs for this influx
of students in order to help with transition, retention and graduation rates (Brownlee, Walker,
Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008). Historically, these programs have focused on
two streams of thought including equity, which often focused on admissions and institutional
differences in student experiences, and institutional impact on the cognitive, social, and moral
development of students (McInnis, 2001). These ideas were a part of the development of the
first, or freshman, year experience (FYE), a program first introduced into American higher
education system at the University of South Carolina as an answer to the changing ideological
ideals of colleges from a religious worldview to a research ideal (McInnis, 2001; Watts, 1999).
With this change in ideology, the concept of student development was no longer seen as a focus
for many colleges and universities; it was changing to the acquisition of new knowledge, not
education for life (Watts, 1999). Student development in higher education became increasingly
important during the student protest movements of the 1960s as the tension between the old
college ideal and the new research ideal increased along with social and political climate of the
time (Watts, 1999). The initial purpose of focusing on the FYE was to humanize the university
but it has evolved to focus on accountability and the efficiency of the institution to address the
problems or pitfalls of the initial days and weeks of a student’s undergraduate experience
(McInnis, 2001; Watts, 1999).
The FYE is an important part of the educational experience and has influence on student
success, satisfaction, retention and students’ experience of learning (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox,
Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008). Tinto (1987) studied student success and indicated that
in order for students to progress through college, universities need to focus on a student’s ability
to enter with, or acquire skills needed for academic success; have contact with students beyond

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 53
academic life; be systematic in their retention actions; address students’ needs early; create
programming that is student-centered; and, make education the goal of retention programs. This
is relevant to Black female students because Shapiro et. al (2017) recently reported that of the
students who enrolled in college in Fall 2010, 54.8 percent completed a postsecondary institution
in six years; however, when broken down by race and ethnicity, it fluctuated by up to 25 percent.
Black women were below the norm completing college in six years at a rate of 42.4 percent
(Shapiro et. al, 2017). This is important to note because the experience of Black female students
is not reflected in the research literature to indicate what is happening during their first year that
may contribute to limited student success.
Review of research indicates that when the FYE is studied, it is often explored through a
narrowed lens of the researcher, or concerning a FYE program, and does not take into account
the voice of the student describing his or her experience during the first year of attending college.
For example, Jamelske (2008) studied the impact of a FYE program for freshmen students and
how it impacted their grade point averages (GPAs). The author found that with this program,
which included curricular and extracurricular components to help students integrate into the
university community, students’ GPAs were positively impacted; however, retention was not
positively impacted except for with below average students, including female students
(Jamelske, 2008). A critique of this study from the CRF lens is that the data was not aggregated
by race and gender to see if there was greater impact for women of color, specifically Black
women, and how that could impact resources, policies and/or programming on college campuses.
Also, the voices of the students were not shared in the findings to see if the students found the
program helpful or influential to their overall success in transitioning to higher education.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 54
Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, and Pearce (2009) focused their qualitative study on
the impact of epistemological beliefs on freshman students’ ideas of learning. They found that a
student’s belief about learning has a relationship with their ability to think critically in higher
education settings. They argued that how a student sees him or herself in relation to learning has
great impact on his or her ability to learn; however, the skill to think metacognitively does not
often happen during undergraduate studies (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009).
This is paramount to Black women because they have to deal with their positionality of race,
gender and class, and think about those aspects of their identity while trying to develop their
epistemological beliefs of learning. Due to their blackness and the effects of it because of the
afterlife of slavery, Black women have to know their own personal thinking about knowing and
knowledge and how non-Blacks view them as part their epistemological beliefs (Brownlee,
Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton,
2016). This has influence on the mental well-being of Black women who, as they persist
academically, feel challenged and exhausted by the need to think for themselves and about what
others think about their academic pursuits (McGee & Stovall, 2015; Shavers & Moore, 2016).
Briggs, Clark, and Hall (2012) further articulate that a student’s learner identity is essential to
student achievement in higher education and requires universities to increase integrated systems
to help with the transition to postsecondary education.
The FYE is seen as an important time for all students due to the academic and socio-
cultural challenges that a new environment brings and is a time that students often need support
during the transition (Morosanu, Handley, O’Donovan, 2010). For Black female students, a look
into the first year at a higher education institution is important because it could help to develop
ideas about what is contributing to their academic successes and/or failures. Through the CRF

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 55
lens, the FYE is important because it could help with educational reform that includes their
experiences to help make decisions (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). From an Afro-pessimist
perspective, studying a crucial aspect of a college student’s experience through the voice of
Black women, decrease the need to look to whiteness as the norm and further explore the social
conditions of Blacks as it relates to the afterlife of slavery (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke,
2017).
Summary

Black female students are attending higher education institutions at higher rates than in
the past and have increased attendance with 60% of African American women now pursuing
bachelor’s degrees (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Black women were able to surpass all
other groups in college entrance based upon race and gender with 9.7% of African American
women enrolling into a college or university (United States Census Bureau, 2011). With the
increase of Black women in higher education institutions, the transition of Black women into
these educational spaces is important to study to ensure that the voices of this group are included
in the discussion on access, equity and the dismantling of colonial perspectives in higher
education. This paper focuses on obtaining the first year experiences of Black female students at
predominantly white institutions (PWIs). A void exists in the literature regarding the Black
female students’ experience in the PWI college setting, which is problematic since this group
represents a unique population due to the historical, political, social, and individual contexts of
identifying as both African American, or Black, and as women (Hannon, Woodside, Pollard, &
Roman, 2016; Watt, 2006). The first year experience is important to focus on because it has
influence on student success, satisfaction, retention and students’ experience of learning
(Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008; Trautwein & Bosse, 2017).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 56
Research indicates that PWIs have not been effective in supporting and, thus, retaining
Black students including the female population (Cokely, 2009; Hannon, Woodside, Pollard, &
Roman, 2016; Rodgers & Summers, 2008). Due to the colonized historical system of higher
education institutions, it is important to research this environment through a decolonial,
contemporary lens to determine if the system is prepared and properly equipped to support
marginalized groups that are present on campuses (Patel, 2016). Educational research has
presented a colonized approach to how Black female students are studied when they are included
in educational research literature.
Research literature on the experience of Black women in education is limited and often
focuses on a deficit-approach to how they function in these entities. Evans-Winters and Esposito
(2010) proposed a Critical Race Feminism framework to discuss the experiences of Black female
students in educational spaces which encompasses the legal tenets of critical race theory’s
implications for addressing issues in education as well as how it is relevant to the education of
Black female students in particular. In tandem, Afro-Pessimism shares the skepticism of CRT as
it relates to racial progress and focuses on the distinction of antiblackness from other forms of
racism (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017). CRF and Afro-Pessimism work together to
look at how the historical, political, and social contexts of the Black experience represent
themselves in the individual contexts of Black female students in predominantly white
educational spaces that were neither originally created for them to access nor have supported
their academic successes as evidenced in their transition to higher education institutions. In light
of this, it is important to obtain the stories and voices of Black female students to discuss their
experiences in the first year at a PWI. This qualitative study will explore the FYE of Black

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 57
female students at a private, four-year PWI in Southern California. Interviews with these Black
female students will shed light on their viewpoints about their experiences at these institutions.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 58
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

For this qualitative study, the researcher used a critical race methodology to address the
issues of race, racism, and gender in institutions of higher education. According to Solórzano and
Yosso (2002), critical race methodology in educational research provides researchers with
strategies to address the voices of students of different race and ethnicities by centering their
experiences and responses to an American education system within a historical and
contemporary context. An analysis through a critical race lens allows for and empowers
researchers to work towards the elimination of racism through understanding the multiple ways
students of color experience subordination, as defined by race, class, gender and other forms of
oppression (Harper, 2009; Perez Huber, 2008). A critical race methodology encapsulates the
ability to challenge the Eurocentricity of traditional research paradigms and offer a
transformational and liberating approach to academic research. It also provides researchers tools
to conduct critical race research with an anti-racist, anti-hierarchical, racial and social justice
agenda (Harper, 2009; Perez Huber, 2008). In the following section, I am going to address the
critical race methodology I will use for this qualitative study: counter storytelling.
Critical race counterstories, or counterstorytelling, is one of the most widely used
methods used within critical race methodologies. Solórzano and Yosso (2000) first introduced it
to the field of education in their book chapter Toward a Critical Race Theory in Chicana and
Chicano Education. Solórzano and Bernal (2001) indicate the basic tenets of critical race
counterstories in education indicating that counterstories can be used to:
1. build community among those at the margins of society by putting a human and familiar
face to educational theory and practice;
2. challenge the perceived wisdom of those at society’s center;

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 59
3. open new windows into the reality of those at the margins of society by showing the
possibilities beyond the ones they live and to show that they are not alone in their
position; and,
4. teach others that by combining elements from both the story and the current reality, one
can construct another world that is richer than either the story or the reality alone.
These counterstories can be used to help challenge the traditional stories rooted in Eurocentric
perspectives that justify inequalities and normalize white superiority and/or white supremacy
(Perez Huber, 2008). Critical race counterstories disrupt dominant ideas about race to reveal the
realities of racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of oppression of people of color. By using
critical race counterstories, the perspectives of subordinated groups are humanized within
academic research to have influence on the racist academic policies, structures and practices in
education (Perez Huber, 2008).
Critical race counterstories are appropriate because this methodology will allow for Black
female students to share their experiences in higher education institutions that deal with what it
means to be both Black and a woman in an organization that was not initially created for them
and has since tried to adapt policies, structures, and practices to provide for them with very little
academic research available to ensure that these attempts for equity and access are appropriate
and echo the needs of these students. Critical Race Feminism and Afro Pessimism would argue
that these institutions are not well equipped enough to address the needs of these students but
yet, how do these Black female students survive and thrive in an organization that was not
created for them to succeed?
Research Question(s)
The research question(s) is as follows:

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 60
1. How do Black female students perceive and characterize their experiences during their
first year at PWIs?
The purpose of this research question is to provide a voice to the experiences of Black female
students about their first year in PWIs, a structural organization that was not originally developed
with their success in mind as Black women. Additionally, it is to contribute to the educational
research literature on Black female students in higher education in a decolonized approach.
Site Selection
A strength of qualitative research is being able to explain local processes, contextual
influences, and meanings in certain settings (Maxwell, 2013). The researcher chose to focus on a
private, not-for-profit, four-year undergraduate PWI in Southern California fictitiously named
McNeil Southern University (MSU) to conduct the study The PWI has an undergraduate
population that represents 43% (approximately 19,000 students) of the total student enrollment
(44,000), with Black students accounting for 5.6% of the total student population. The freshman
class of the 2016-2017 enrollment year included 3,068 new students with 55% being female
students and 5% of the freshman class identifying as Black. The Black freshman students
represented the fourth largest marginalized group, only higher than Native American/Pacific
Islander (<1%). This PWI is relevant to the study because it shows that female students make up
a large portion of the freshman class but that Black women are probably a small percentage of
that population. This would indicate that their experiences are marginalized due to the small
number of students and their voices may not be heard and their needs not being met.
Participants
To address the research question and access a limited population, the researcher used a
criterion-based purposive sampling method (Maxwell, 2013). This purposive sample of students

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 61
was selected from individuals who responded to a call for participation via a university professor
who works with freshman students at MSU. The targeted participants were:
• Female student
• Identify as “a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa. The
Black racial category includes people who marked the “Black, African Am., or Negro”
checkbox. It also includes respondents who reported entries such as African American;
Sub-Saharan African entries, such as Kenyan and Nigerian; and Afro-Caribbean entries,
such as Haitian and Jamaican. Sub-Saharan African entries are classified as Black or
African American with the exception of Sudanese and Cape Verdean because of their
complex, historical heritage (US Census, 2011).”
• Recently completed the first year of college at the selected PWI
• Enrolled full-time at the PWI
• Actively seeking to obtain a degree
Of the six students who responded, three submitted the background questionnaire and completed
both the online background questionnaire and participated in the in-person interviews. Once the
three students agreed to participate in the study, the researcher contacted each by phone to
schedule the interviews. The researcher confirmed all interview appointments by text message.
The researcher provided each participant with a description of the study and shared the research
question with the participants. This allowed the researcher to answer any preliminary questions
the participants had before the interview. Furthermore, it allowed the researcher to assure the
students that the information provided to the researcher would be kept confidential and would
not have any impact on her attendance at her PWI. The researcher explained to the participants
that confidentiality included that their names, or any identifying information, would not be used

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 62
and that the information divulged would not be shared with anyone at the PWI and its
corresponding faculty or professionals. Furthermore, the researcher completed consent protocol
from the original email through to the interviewing process. The participants were interviewed
individually in a quiet meeting space at the PWI to ensure confidential information was not
shared, the participants were comfortable, and the interviews could be recorded accurately for
later data analysis.
All participants in the study were full-time undergraduate, traditionally aged students
attending a four-year PWI during their first year. Students were selected based on their race or
ethnicity as indicated on the background questionnaire. Each of the participants self-identified as
either Black or African American. Two of the participants had a parent that was born and raised
outside of the United States of America. All of the participants considered themselves American-
identified and were raised in their youth within the United States.
Demographics of Interview Participants
There were few differences between the participants of this study. The students were
comparable in their major choices, family background information, and other background
criteria. In this study, in order to maintain confidentiality, the participants are identified by
pseudonyms. In Table 3.1, the researcher identified the participants’ relevant characteristics (e.g.
age, years in college, first-generation status, and major). The researcher will highlight, elaborate
and discuss these concepts further in the upcoming paragraphs of this section.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 63
Table 3.1
Participant Demographic Information
Participants Race/
Ethnicity;
Gender
Age Class Year First
generation
status
Field of Study Current
GPA
Anticipated
Graduation
Date
Nina Black or
African
American/
Female
19 Sophomore,
transfer
No Psychology;
Occupational
Science
3.6 May 2020
KeKe Black,
African
American/
Female
19 Freshman Yes Communication;
Forensics and
Criminality
3.85 May 2021
(includes
Master’s
degree
goal)
Margaret African
American/
Female
19 Sophomore,
transfer
No Psychology;
Kinesiology
3.46 May 2020

All of the participants in this study were traditionally aged college students. There was no range
of students in the study; all participants were 19 years of age. Two of the participants entered
into college at the age of 17 years old and are transfer students to this PWI. The other participant
entered into college as an 18 year old freshman. All but one of the participants anticipated
graduating within four years; the other plans to graduate a semester to a year early to pursue her
master’s degree during that time. The purpose of this study was to discuss the significance of a
Black female students’ first year experience. Typically, research focuses on the freshman first
year experience, which is the case for only one of the participants. Two of the other participants
are sophomore students; however, each of them is currently completing their first year as a
transfer student to the PWI. Each of the transfer students discusses how different it is to
experience their first year at a PWI.
The participants majored in academic disciplines that dwell within the humanities and
have a minor, as illustrated in Table 3.1. Their average grade point average (GPA) was a 3.64 on

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 64
a 4.0 scale. Each of the majors chosen relate to all of the participants identifying as athletes. This
aligns with their future professional goals that include sports psychology, occupational therapy
and sports broadcasting. All of the participants planned to pursue additional degrees after
completing college. Each of the participants had high academic aspirations. All but one of the
students planned on obtaining a doctoral degree with the other working on graduating early to
obtain her master’s degree in her current major.
The background questionnaire also inquired about parents, their educational background,
and family income, as illustrated in Table 3.2. All of the students listed their guardians as their
mother and father, regardless of marital status. Nearly all of the participants were co-parented.
All of the participants had siblings, none of whom had attended college.
Table 3.2
Family Education and Income Levels
Participants Highest
Level
education:
Parent/
Guardian
#1
Highest Level
Education:
Parent/
Guardian
#2
Estimated
annual
family
income
Student
Employed
While
Enrolled
Nina Doctorate/J
D/MD
Father GED Mother $51,000-
$75,000
Yes, Part-
Time
KeKe GED Mother Some High
School
Father Don’t
Know
No,
Scholarship
Stipend
Margaret GED Mother Doctorate/JD/
MD
Father $76,000-
$100,000
Yes, Part-
Time

Table 3.2 illustrates parent education level and estimated family annual income as
reported by the participants, therefore, it might be inaccurate. One participant did not know
information, therefore it cannot be known if any of the participants are below middle class. Of
the two reporting participants, it is estimated that they are from middle class families. According
to nearby state middle class levels identified by data reported by Pew Charitable Trust

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 65
Foundation, the reported estimated family incomes are within the middle class (Fry and Kochhar,
2016). Another marker of social class and economic background was the students’ discussion of
employment during college. Of the three participants, two of them held part-time employment of
less than 30 hours during the academic year; the other student received a stipend via her athletic
scholarship.
First generation college status refers to students who are the first in their immediate
family to attend a four-year college or university. Of the participants, only one of them was a
first generation student to attend college. Two of the other students had a parent who completed
either a graduate level degree and/or a high school equivalent. First generation status is important
to note because this demographic of student is noted as having different challenges in higher
education that has impact on their ability graduate (Jamelske, 2009; Peralta & Klonowski, 2017).
Overall, participants were from middle class and relatively educated families.
Data Collection and Coding
Based on the work of Solórzano and Yosso (2002), counterstorytelling is used as the
approach to help share the stories of Black female students’ first year experiences at PWIs. This
approach is defined by telling the stories of people who are often left out of literature and used to
help challenge the traditional stories rooted in Eurocentric perspectives that justify inequalities
and normalize white superiority and/or white supremacy (Patel, 2016; Perez Huber, 2008;
Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Therefore, a counterstory challenges the deficit approach to research
data collection on Black female students’ experiences and allows for the stories of those
marginalized sharing their own voice and perspective (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010;
Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 66
Three types of counternarratives are identified in the literature: personal stories, other
people’s stories, and composite stories (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). The third was selected for
this study in order to rely on data collection from multiple Black female students who have
experienced a particular context, in this case their first year while attending the same PWI.
Composite stories use various forms of information to detail the racialized, sexualized and
classed experiences of marginalized groups (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Composite stories are
helpful when representing disregarded experiences of a larger group through a smaller subset of
members who represent the group (Harper, 2009; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). For Black female
students, exposing the experiences of the intersectionality of race, gender, and class on PWI
campuses is important since it is not often done in educational research (Evans-Winters &
Esposito, 2010; Shavers & Moore, 2014). The counter stories collected in this study are derived
from interview questions that explore the experiences of Black female students during their first
year at a PWI. The interviews allowed the researcher to determine the participants’ perceptions
on race and identity, their first year experience, and their experience as a Black female student in
higher education. The interview questions were developed individually and took into account the
research question with some questions informed by Critical Race Feminism and others informed
by Afro-Pessimism to look at how the historical, political, and social contexts of the Black
experience manifest themselves in the individual contexts of Black female students in
predominantly white institutions (Evans-Winters & Esposito; 2010; Ray, Randolph, Underhill, &
Luke, 2017; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). CRF and Afro-Pessimism would posit that a PWI is not
well-equipped to address the needs of Black female students due to its colonized history and
results of the afterlife of slavery, which both represent the justification of inequalities such as
racism, sexism, classism, and other forms of oppression of marginalized groups and the

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 67
normalization of white superiority and/or white supremacy (Evans-Winters & Esposito; 2010;
Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Perez Huber, 2008; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). The
person-to-person encounter style of interviewing helped with receiving responses that were
meaningful and provided in-depth perceptions into the topic (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
The counternarrative presented in this study is derived from a small qualitative study
focused on a few Black female students’ first year experiences at a Southern California PWI. It
provides an opportunity to create a master narrative about these Black female students that is
often negated in educational literature and shares the voiced experiences of these Black female
students at this PWI. The participants in this story will share their experiences instead of
allowing the current deficit mindset approach to be shared about their experiences that are often
compared to others such as white men and/or women, and Black men (Evans-Winters &
Esposito, 2010; Harper, 2012; Shavers & Moore, 2014). Lastly, the counternarrative offered in
this study advances the combined elements of CRF and Afro-Pessimism in that it allows Black
women the opportunity to share how the intersectionality of race, gender, and class impacts their
individual contexts at a PWI that is a result of colonization in both research and product
especially during a time of overt antiblackness as seen in the media, society, and political scene
(Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Ray, Randolph, Underhill & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016;
Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
The data collection approach for this study included surveys, interviews and audio
recordings of the interviews. The researcher took field notes during each interview and,
additionally, audio recorded each of the interviews with the participants’ permission to ensure
multiple ways of documenting information during the interviews (Creswell, 2014). In qualitative
research, the data collection and data analysis process occur simultaneously (Merriam & Tisdell,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 68
2016). Based on this, the researcher listened to the audio recordings within 24 hours of the
interviews and began noting themes, differences and similarities of each interview. During the
data analysis process, the researcher engaged in some rudimentary analysis while the in the
process of data collection including rewording interview questions based on prior interviews;
rewriting field notes for clarification after the interviews; listening to the interview tapes prior to
transcription; writing memos to discuss emerging categories and relationships; and, used visual
aids such as flow charts to make connections and sense of the data (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007;
Maxwell, 2013).
The main categorizing analysis strategy in qualitative research is coding (Maxwell, 2013).
The researcher read and reread through the entire interview field notes and transcripts and
listened to the audio recordings to obtain a sense of the whole conversation shared by each
interviewee. During each reading, the researcher flagged words or phrases that highlighted the
experiences and meanings of the experiences and summarized each interview. Secondly, the
researcher read again to begin to cluster initial thematic meanings. This process of open coding
allowed for the breaking down, examination, comparison, conceptualization and categorizing of
data (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The researcher then determined the thematic structure of each of
the participants’ experiences. A set of themes were created for each participant and then
compared across participants to look for similar experiences across the group. This axial coding
process was conducted to ensure that the individual voices of the Black female students were
represented but that if there were similar experiences that those themes would be shared as well
to minimize any preconceived ideas or themes about the Black female students’ experiences
(Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The themes found were based on the participants’ own words.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 69
Interviews
Obtaining consent from the participants was completed through written consent.
Informed consent contributes to the empowerment of the participants and allows for a fluid
relationship of trust between the researcher and the participants (Glesne, 2011). The researcher
contacted each participant through email with a copy of the consent form for initial review. In
response to the email sent by the researcher, each of the participants indicated that they were
willing to participate in the study. During the time of the face-to-face interviews, the researcher
asked again for verbal consent to participate in the study in the person-to-person encounter
interviews. Verbal consent was also obtained to audio record the interviews with each
participant. If audio recording was consented to, it was also captured again on the audio
recording at the beginning of the interview.
The purpose of interviews is to allow researchers to enter into the participants’
perspectives and to help find out from people what cannot be observed such as feelings,
thoughts, intentions, behaviors, or previous situations (Patton, 2002; Perez Huber, 2008). In
qualitative research, interviewing begins with the assumption that the perspective of others is
meaningful, knowable, and able to be made explicit (Patton, 2002). Interviewing within a critical
race methodology allows for participants to share their voices from a non-Eurocentric lens that
may reflect the issues related to racism, sexism, and/or classism experienced but will not be the
highlight of what the interview questions ask (Perez Huber, 2008; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002).
Qualitative interviewing allows the researcher to sacrifice the uniformity of questioning in order
to achieve a fuller and deeper understanding of the phenomenon being studied (Weiss, 1994).
The purpose of these interviews is to highlight the experiences of Black female students without
imposing researcher or literature focused ideals (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Solórzano &

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 70
Yosso, 2002). Therefore, when conducting effective interviews, the researcher was respectful,
non-judgmental, and non-threatening (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The person-to-person style of
interviewing helped the researcher to obtain accurate and insightful information from the
participants about their experiences as Black female students at PWIs. The responses directly
related to and informed the research question. The researcher took into account her own
positionality and made sure to conduct the interviews in a respectful and professional manner
with the participants.
Each of the participants was interviewed individually. The researcher conducted the
interviews within a one-month period during weeknights based on the availability of both the
researcher and the participants. Interview times were selected based on participant availability
and non-working hours of the researcher. Choosing a time that met the availability of both the
researcher and participants allowed for more casual opportunities and dress for the researcher to
create a more relaxed atmosphere for the participants. Interviews were conducted in quiet
meeting areas on campus as to be convenient for the participant as well as allow for
uninterrupted interviews. During the interviews, the researcher’s responsibility was to listen
attentively to the participants’ responses, take notes on the responses, and provide appropriate
verbal and/or nonverbal feedback. Each interview lasted on average of 35 minutes with none
more than 60 minutes. After each interview, the researcher would look through her field notes
and create memos of information shared during the interview that was important. Within 24
hours of each interview, the researcher reorganized her field notes, listened to the audio
recordings, had each interview transcribed and read through each transcription for accuracy.
The researcher had the audio recordings transcribed through a paid service, Rev.com,
with a turnaround of 24 hours or less. Once received, the researcher read through the audio

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 71
recorded transcriptions and wrote more memos of potential emerging themes and compared
those with field notes and previous memos. The use of an external transcription service allowed
the researcher to substantiate the findings of the interviews and document analysis (Maxwell,
2013; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
Data Analysis
Data analysis is a complex process that requires researchers to take into account the
purpose of the study, the lens of the epistemological framework and the relationship between
codes of data and individual bits of data all while thinking about the researcher’s own biases
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The data analysis is informed by constant comparative method in
line with Critical Race Feminism (CRF) and Afro-Pessimism to analyze data of the experiences
of Black female students in their first year at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) to allow
for the perspectives of these students to emerge in themes as shared by their stories. CRF and
Afro-Pessimism are helpful because individually they provide a lens through which to analyze
the data that is true to the perspectives of Black female students of their first year experiences at
a PWI by using an analytic lens that lends to understanding the race, gender and/or class
experiences of these students. The researcher analyzed interview data looking for experiences
that related to the intersectional experience of race and gender during the students’ first year at
their PWI. In the first stage of the data analysis, the researcher examined the responses from the
multiple in-depth interviews with each participant through the written transcripts and research
memos. This was accomplished by using the constant comparative method, which is used to
analyze data in order to develop a grounded theory that emerges from and connects to how the
social world “works” (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). From this method, the researcher systematically
reviewed the data and looked through it again until emerging patterns occurred in the

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 72
participants’ responses (Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Specifically, this was
accomplished by identifying all examples of intersectional experiences of race and gender in
each of the participants’ responses and determines if those experiences were noted across each of
the participants. In this process, examples of text taken from the interview transcripts that
depicted the experiences of Black female students’ experiences during their first year were
identified, compared across participants, and used in Chapter 4 of this study.
For qualitative research there is no capturing of objective “truth” or “reality” but a
researcher can use various methods to ensure credibility of one’s findings (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). To ensure credibility and trustworthiness, the researcher used strategies when collecting
and analyzing the data including member checks (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016); reflexivity
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014); and, collecting rich, thick
descriptions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Credibility is important because a researcher wants the
findings to match the reality of the participants’ shared information (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016).
To ensure credibility and trustworthiness in the findings, the researcher crosschecked with the
interviewees the a priori and emergent codes that came from the individual interviews (Merriam
& Tisdell, 2016). This method was used to present findings that were plausible, believable and
accurate to the participants of the study (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Miles, Huberman, & Saldana,
2014). Additionally, the researcher collected rich data to provide a full, in-depth picture of what
was taking place. Another strategy used to ensure credibility is that of researcher position, or
reflexivity, which is how the researcher affects and/or is affected by the research process
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). This strategy was employed based on the researcher’s positionality
as a PWI-educated African American woman studying a phenomenon that, in part, includes the
researcher, which can be based of bias and assumptions. At the beginning of the study, the

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 73
researcher entered with assumptions of what the responses might be from participants based on
prior experiences. This had to be regulated to ensure that the assumptions did not allow for
researcher biases to show through during interviews and the data analysis process, for example,
when choosing emergent codes based on participant responses (Maxwell, 2013). The researcher
also had to make sure that the terminology was defined as the participants stated and not the
researcher’s ideas onto their voice (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Furthermore, the researcher
searched for discrepant data to make sure she did not dismiss or ignore critical findings to satisfy
her own biases.
Ethics
Ensuring validity and reliability in qualitative research requires an ethical approach when
conducting the investigation (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Through the lens of CRF and Afro-
Pessimism, the researcher must take into account the voices of the participants in the study to
ensure their stories are being told correctly, per the participants’ perspectives, and that they
reflect the multidimensional experiences of being a Black female student at a PWI, which
include tapping into the historical, political, and social contexts of these students (Evans-Winters
& Esposito, 2010; Ray, Randolph, Underhill & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016). In considering how
to approach this study ethically, the researcher referenced the questions posed by Linda Tuhiwai
Smith (1999, p.173). These questions helped the researcher to make sure that she took into
account who was being studied and how this study would benefit the participants. Smith requires
the researcher to determine for whom the study is worthy and relevant to; what is being gained
from the study; and who is the researcher accountable to in conducting this research (Smith,
1999). In researching Black female students’ experiences at PWIs in this study, the researcher
has to ensure that the voices of the participants are heard without being adjusted to meet the

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 74
needs of the researcher or to make the participants’ responses fit into traditional aspects of
educational literature (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Patel, 2016). This is important because
Black female students’ voiced experiences are missing from educational literature and when they
are presented, they are often focused on the comparison to non-Black female students; includes
their experiences with Black male students; or, compares their experiences specifically to white
students, which only reifies whiteness as the norm (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Patton &
Croom, 2017; Ray, Randolph, Underhill & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016).
In order to make sure the study was done ethically, the researcher first explained to the
participants the purpose of the study and the methods used to approach the research question
(Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). This allowed the participants to decline participation in case they did
not feel comfortable engaging in the study from the beginning. Informed consent was obtained
prior to interviews and audio recording. Once the participants agreed to participate in the
interviews, at the beginning of the interviews the researcher included a statement about them
continuing to participate, a statement concerning confidentiality of the information they provide
during the interview, allowed them to choose pseudonyms, and provided informed consent
regarding the purpose of the assignment, who would see the results, and the topic of study
(Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). At the conclusion of the interviews, the
researcher offered to provide them with a copy of the findings upon their request. These steps to
ensure an ethical approach to data collection allowed for credible and trustworthy findings
(Maxwell, 2013; Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014).
The research problem in this study is defined indirectly by the limited education research
on Black female students’ experiences in higher education, particularly during their first year at
PWIs. This study is relevant because of the unique experiences faced by Black female students

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 75
due to the intersectionality of race, gender and class that is overlooked in mainstream educational
research even though analysis of their educational experiences indicates that Black female
students are strong students who work in difficult environments where their sex, race, and culture
shapes their experiences and opportunities (Chavous & Cogborn, 2007; Evans-Winters &
Esposito, 2010; Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015; Muhammad & Dixson, 2008; Thomas &
Jackson, 2007). From this current study, educational research will gain firsthand accounts of
Black female students’ experiences during their first year at PWIs. Information gathered from
this study will also help the researcher understand the unique voice of Black female students
during a time where being Black is being challenged daily and in various forms (Childers-
McKee & Hytten, 2015; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Linscott, 2017; Ray, Randolph,
Underhill, & Luke, 2017). The outcomes of this study would allow university administrators,
faculty and student affairs professionals to understand the current needs of Black female students
and, potentially, how they can provide the appropriate supports and resources to these students to
increase their academic experience and success (Guiffrida & Douthit, 2010; Hannon, Woodside,
Pollard & Roman, 2016; Harper, 2012; Rodgers & Summers, 2008). A negative outcome from
this study could include misrepresenting the experiences of the participants in this study about
their first year experiences at PWIs. Due to this, the researcher is accountable to the voices of the
Black female students whose voices will be represented in this study to ensure that their truths
are shared justly
Researcher Positionality
As a PWI-educated, Black female, doctoral student and school psychologist, it was easy
to build rapport with the participants. As part of the job of a school psychologist, the researcher
was familiar with how to build rapport quickly to discuss personal matters with students. The

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 76
researcher was also able to empathize with the participants because of the personal experience of
attending PWIs for each level of postsecondary education attended. The researcher greatly
appreciated the participants being open and honest about their experiences, which confirmed the
use of qualitative research in order to allow these participants to share their voices. This is
important because as a Black female student who has experienced PWI education, the researcher
wanted to stay true to the participants’ stories. The rich descriptions of their experiences allowed
for success in the study. This contributes to the concept that a decolonized approach to
educational research is important to include in research studies, from the topic, to the research
question(s), to the interview questions asked of the participants, to the researcher herself
maintaining distance and including biases and assumptions into the study (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016; Patel, 2016).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 77
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
The purpose of this study is to highlight the experiences and perspectives of Black female
students during the first year of attendance at a predominantly white institution (PWI) while anti-
Black racism is a part of society’s everyday narrative during this current political era.
Additionally, this study focuses on the stories of Black female students to allow for Black female
students to share their experiences at a PWI that deal with what it means to be both Black and a
woman at an organization that was not initially created for them and has since attempted to adapt
policies, structures, and practices to provide for them while limited academic research was
available to ensure that these attempts for equity and access are appropriate and echo the needs
of these students. The narratives obtained by this study illuminated each participant’s current
experience of what it means to be a Black female student at a PWI and how that has influence on
their academic journey. This chapter explored the findings from the retelling of each
participant’s story to answer the research question presented in Chapter One.
This chapter addressed the findings of the present study by using stories to answer the
research question. The participants’ stories share connectedness as they discuss how they
perceive and characterize what they see on campus as a Black, female college student during
their first year at a PWI. This chapter is categorized into two sections. The first section deals
with each participant's individual lived experience while on campus as told through a
biographical description of each participant. The second section focuses on how those
experiences are seen through the integrated lens of Afro-Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism.
As the participants shared their lived experiences at a PWI during their first year, this chapter
attempts to share the voices of these students about what it means to be Black, female, and a first
year student at a PWI during the current political climate of their college experience. Following

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 78
this chapter is Chapter Five. Chapter Five includes a discussion of the findings,
recommendations for practice, implications for practitioners, as well as recommendations for
future research.
Authors of Our Story
To elaborate on the how Black female students perceive and characterize their
experiences during their first year at a PWI, the researcher focused on sharing the stories of each
participant and looked to see their relation through a syncretic, and at times contradictory, lens of
CRF and AP. In doing so, the researcher wanted to focus on their lived experiences as being
Black female students during an era of overt anti-Black racism that has neglected the needs,
concerns, and perceptions of Black women in higher education. Below is a description of the
three study participants. Each of these female students was given a pseudonym to protect her
identity. Each presentation of the participants helps to paint a clearer picture of each of these
young women as individuals while also giving voice to their lived experiences.
Nina
Nina, 19 years old, is a sophomore transfer student. She is the twin sister to another
participant, Margaret, in this study. She is soft-spoken but animated when sharing her viewpoints
and perspective. She is a former track athlete who transferred to MSU to pursue her college
education from a community college in Northern California. She is currently majoring in
psychology and is also studying occupational therapy as a minor. She shared that she was born in
Brooklyn, NY but was raised between the East Coast and West Coast growing up. When
discussing her time growing up, Nina shared,
[I spent] ten years in Baltimore, Maryland, one year in Sacramento, and about to be nine
year...Or eight years in Orange County. It was good. I got to see a variety of different

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 79
places, one side being completely cold, and the other side nice and warm, um and it was
fun. Yeah.
When asked to describe how she identified during her childhood, she spoke of identity in
multiple ways,
I guess when I was in…Brooklyn-that was...I was a baby, so I couldn’t know. (laughs)
But, I’ve always been, like the athlete type in every area, I guess. [In] Baltimore, I was an
athlete, but not as dedicated, so I guess I was just like, a...I just, like trying to get a feel
for everything- it wasn’t until I moved to the, E-West Coast or Yeah, West Coast that I
really identified myself as a student athlete. I’d have to say, even though I identify myself
as Black, in both coasts, it wasn’t until I really knew myself when I moved cross-country.
I guess you don’t see the different varieties in Baltimore, but coming to an all-white
school, it, it was interesting to see...Find myself and like, like, know the difference
between different races when you interact with each other. You didn’t get that much at
my, school in Baltimore, but definitely, when I moved to California [she noticed a
difference].
Nina was raised by both of her parents on both coasts. She shared that neither of her
parents pushed her to go to college but, “They were super excited that I continued on to college,
but it wasn’t a forced, that some parents do.” She is not the first in her family to attend college
sharing that her father attended college and was able to earn his PhD; her mother completing a
high school equivalent. She is one of four children and is a twin. She, and her twin sister, is the
first of her siblings to attend college. This had an impact on her educational goals because,
“...deciding what colleges we’re going to go to and since we are twins, we are in the same grade
and, wondering if we want to separate or not or continue on together.” She grew up in a middle-

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 80
class neighborhood and attended a predominantly white middle and high school in Southern
California.
Nina self-identifies as Black or African-American in terms of her race, ethnicity and/or
nationality. She also shared that her mother is from Guyana, South America and that she likes to
share about her family and her mother’s experiences in her classes and, “how she’s dealt with
different things, and how she’s, taught us things through that [identity].” When choosing to
attend MSU, Nina shared that,
I’ve always come here [to visit]. I know it’s a great school academically. I didn’t really
notice it until my junior year, that is was a school that, like, you come here, you get
connections, it’s academically amazing, and sports-wise, I was looking into coming here
just because it’s a great athletic school.
When discussing how she feels about attending a PWI and her general college experience so far,
Nina stated,
I’d have to say, just because I did go to a PWI high school-it’s not much of a shock to
me about, diversity on campus, although some might say that it’s predominantly, white or
Asian, and not want to come here. I’ve been growing up with that for ten years- of my
life.
Nina was 17 years old when she began her college experience at the community college
in Northern California. She currently lives on-campus in university-owned housing and works a
part-time job of less than 30 hours a week. After college, Nina plans on pursuing occupational
therapy as a career. She aspires to achieve a doctorate within the field. When asked about her
future hopes, Nina shared,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 81
I'm ... my dad thinks it's really early ... maybe, probably not, but I think I want to get into
MSU's occupational therapy graduate program, get my masters in that, and do that extra
year for my doctorate program, or doctorate degree. And my dad is a professor, my
granddad was, and then his mom was, so they were all teachers, and I hope to be the next
one to teach in our family line, 'cause I know (laughs) my sister and my brother aren't.
(laughing) So, my mom has always seen me as a teacher, and for some reason I was like,
"I'll do math." But I'm not that amazing at math, so, they are trying to expand on MSU's
campus, faculty and teaching positions in OT, so that's a prefect area, and do some
clinical work in that as well. So, that's my goal. (laughs)
Review of Nina’s answers during each interview and/or survey revealed a student who is
passionate about sharing her story and goals with other students, especially non-Black students
on campus and furthering the field of occupational therapy as a Black female, which, she noted,
does not boast a large number of Black, or other ethnicities of, female students in the field or in
her classes.
KeKe
KeKe is a 19-year-old freshman attending MSU on an athletic scholarship for track and
field, which she has been participating in since she was nine years old. She was born and raised
in Miami, Florida. She was raised between households of her mother and father since they were
separated, “but I went back and forth.” Her parents were supportive of her educational pursuit.
She noted, “ my dad was all for it. He always expected me to get good grades like in the
classroom and to be on track and on top of everything, and the same with my mom.” Her mother
obtained her GED and her father completed some high school. She has four younger siblings and
she is the first in her immediate family to attend college. Pursuing education is important to her

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 82
because, “My siblings look up to me, so I had to set an example for them.” Growing up, KeKe
shared that she identified in multiple ways,
Growing up, I did track all my life. Traveled around the world because of track. I was
always on honor roll throughout elementary, middle and high school every semester. I
feel that I was very confident. I had a strong mind. I didn’t let others’ opinions influence
my decisions on what was right or wrong. I’m very proud to be who I am. [I’m] very
proud to say that I’m Black. I don’t try to cover things up or fit in with other ethnic
groups. There are times where you have to be, as a Black person, you have to be careful
of what you do and say, so I’m mindful of the things I do.
KeKe entered college at 18 years old. As a freshman, she has already declared her major,
which is communication. She is also studying forensics and criminality [criminal justice] as a
minor. She identifies as Black, African American. She presents as a serious student athlete who
has the goal of being the best academically and athletically. This is part of why she chose to
attend MSU stating,
As a track athlete, you get to...Well, as a top athlete, you get to choose what university
you want to go to based off how fast you run your times. So I had the opportunity to
choose any school, but I didn’t want to stay in Florida, and California is quite similar to
Miami, so MSU was one of my top picks, and then the coaching staff was also great and
the teammates, when I met them at the time, were great.
She provided answers that were very matter-of-fact. She speaks well of her college
experience at a PWI so far, largely in part due to her participation in athletics. When asked about
her general college experience at a PWI so far, KeKe shared,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 83
I don’t really put too much thought into it. I know, at one point, I have friends that attend
[a] HBCU, but they don’t like bash me for attending a PWI, but there is a lot of times
where like social media or Twitter or whatever be talking about, oh, like PWI is trash or
you don’t get a full college experience as a Black person at a PWI. So, I didn’t really let
those thoughts affect me coming here, so I feel like a degree is a degree, no matter where
you get it from, whether you [are] at a HBCU, PWI or a community college...
KeKe currently lives in university owned housing as part of her scholarship. With that, she does
not have to have employment while in school. She is a high achieving student athlete. She
humbly boasted,
Like when I first got here, I took a summer course, in August and then I took fall
semester, and like my first few months here, I made student athlete of the month and I
was the only Black person and the only freshman on the board out of, I think, six or seven
individuals that was selected. And then, previously, I made Pac-12 Athlete of the Week,
for my sport and stuff like...And then I made a dean’s list as well from the fall semester,
so.
After college, KeKe has several goals. She is on track to graduate a semester or so early and
wants to obtain her master’s degree during that year. Afterward, she would like to pursue track
and field professionally. Once she has been successful in that field, she wants to go into sports
broadcasting and maybe even pursue criminal justice professionally.
Margaret
Margaret is a 19-year-old transfer student who is completing her sophomore year at
MSU. She is the twin sister of another participant, Nina, in this study. She recently transferred to
MSU from community college. She identifies as African American. She has declared a major

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 84
and a minor: psychology and human movement sciences, respectively. She is interested in
studying sports psychology. She grew up in a middle school neighborhood with her three
siblings, including her twin sister. Her childhood was spent, “ for about ten years we were, [with]
both parents. And then once I moved out here to California it became, I lived with my mom
mostly, but I saw my dad very often.” She and her twin sister are the first of their siblings to
attend college. She shared that she has a 25-year-old older brother and an 18-year-old younger
brother. She feels that not having her older brother complete college before her did not have any
impact on her educational goals. She shared that education has been encouraged in her family,
stating,
I feel like I’ve always been encouraged to, ever since I was little I feel like my dad’s
mission, well not, I won’t say mission but like, he’s guided me to always seek the best
education as I can.
Her father received his PhD and, “my mom she got high school graduation level. But she didn’t
actually go to a high school here she was from South America.” Growing up, Margaret shared,
Okay. To be honest I do not remember a lot of living in, the east coast in Maryland.
Seems like once we came to California I completely left everything behind. I have no
idea why. When my mom asks me questions like, “Oh do you remember this?” I’m like,
“I don’t remember it at all.” But I mostly remember living in California and living in
Sacramento for a year. I met some [of] my closest friends there. My grandma lives there.
Got really close with her. And then moved down here to Orange County and met a lot of
my best friends.
In terms of identity, Margaret shared that while growing up she related to being an athlete,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 85
Maryland I just, I feel like my whole life is going to be, basically all I’ve done is sports.
My family’s very sports-oriented. So, we, but we have the education from our dad but
everyone, every single person in my family’s in sports. So I feel like I, identified mostly
with sports. And it’s like a very large part of my life.
Margaret is not participating in sports for the first time in her educational career. Socially, she
has felt that she has had a hard time during her first year since she is not participating in sports.
She shared,
I always get asked why I don’t go to the like the Black student clubs. I really I just don’t,
I’m still trying to figure out how to, like I said, how to fit in outside of sports ‘cause
that’s all I’ve done. And, my best friend, I thought we would be together but she also has
a demanding schedule. So, they both [best friend and twin sister] have demanding
schedules and I feel as if, I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do. Like, yeah I
have my major, my minor, [and] I’m excited about that, but I don’t know what to do
outside of it.
Margaret is a soft-spoken, shy student who is still working on finding her niche within
MSU. When talking about her ideas on race and ethnicity, Margaret stated that,
I feel, well coming from where I’ve lived in Orange County I went to a, school that
had...It had about 3000 people. And there was about, we were one percent Black. And so,
everyone that was Black knew each other. And we mostly all played sports and, I mean
just, there were just about 80 of us in the whole campus. And most of my friends are, I
would say, I have a couple [friends] that are Black. I have very diverse friends. Asian,
white and yeah. So, I have, I feel like I do not go around Black culture as much because

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 86
just where I lived, there weren’t a lot of Black people at all. And I know in Baltimore
when we lived there, there were a lot. And I just unfortunately cannot remember (laughs).
In talking about her general college experience at a PWI so far, Margaret commented,
As a transfer I feel like it's different than most college experiences. I did not get the
whole, full freshman first year type of experience; it's very different for me especially
because it's my first year without sports. I had to go from working out six hours a day and
having to do, well to transfer in here I had to do, 30 units in one year and get a, 3.6 GPA.
So, I had to work super hard on that, but as well as do, be able to train for track and just,
get here. So, when I did get here and I stopped track, it's been very, very different for me
'cause all my friends that I've ever made are through sports. So, I don't know how to like,
I wouldn't say like I don't know how to make friends outside of sports. But it has been
very difficult for me 'cause that's all I've done ever since, like, I was little. So.
After completing college, Margaret plans to pursue her doctorate in the area of sports
psychology. She hopes,
I want to introduce more people to this idea of Sports Psych, 'cause I think the mental
aspect of an athlete is very important, especially at, one at such a high level as a
university or beyond, no-one knows the ... I mean, it's not studied as much, just like, the
coping abilities, and motivation that goes into being the athlete, how much is needed,
how ... If there really is an impact and, just like that there needs to be more stress on, put
on the athletes' minds, and not just like what can they bring to the table for a university?
Like, profit-wise, and, because they bring more, they bring a lot to universities, but like
...They still have to struggle with crazy hours and, going to school at the same time, and

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 87
then personal life as well, so, yeah, just like, better understanding of athletes, but not on
the athletics side. Yeah.
Margaret presents as an optimistic student who sees a lot of opportunities available to her that
she just needs to work on obtaining and use the resources available to her on campus.
Summary
These three young Black female students have unique lived experiences with some
similarities in how they view their identity and their general college experience at a PWI so far.
Sharing each of their stories sets the foundation for analysis of how they view being Black, a
woman, and a first year student at a PWI during the current political era which demonstrates
blatant anti-Black racism in parts of their societal experiences (e.g. social media, social
movements, campus location). The unique voices of Black female students are rarely shared in
the research on student experiences, often times being grouped with either all Black students or
all female students. Also, it is common that when the experiences are shared, they are shared
from a Eurocentric perspective and/or through Eurocentric related forms of educational research.
Again, this study’s purpose is to share the voices of these Black female students’ experiences
during their first year at a PWI without using external forces of power through research interpret
their lived experiences. In addition to the foundational stories of each participant, the researcher
compiled a brief description of each participant’s demographic information in Table 4.1 below.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 88
Table 4.1
Demographics of Interview Participants
Participants Race/
Ethnicity;
Gender
Age Class Year First
generation
status
Field of Study Current
GPA
Anticipated
Graduation
Date
Nina Black or
African
American/
Female
19 Sophomore,
transfer
No Psychology;
Occupational
Science
3.6 May 2020
KeKe Black,
African
American/
Female
19 Freshman Yes Communication;
Forensics and
Criminality
3.85 May 2021
(includes
Master’s
degree
goal)
Margaret African
American/
Female
19 Sophomore,
transfer
No Psychology;
Kinesiology
3.46 May 2020

Theoretical Grounding: Syncretic Lens of Afro-Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism
The stories shared by the Black female students in this study provided the basis for
analysis of their experiences through the integrated lens of Afro-Pessimism and Critical Race
Feminism. The integrated framework of Critical Race Feminism and Afro-Pessimism looks to
highlight the intersectional experiences of race, gender and class in higher educational spaces
particularly focusing on the antagonism of Blacks as nonhuman in an educational space that
purports to advance humanity, that Black people are not represented within, and increasing the
representation of the Black female students’ experience in higher education at a time of overt
antiblackness in society (Dumas, 2016; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Linscott, 2017; Ray,
Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016). These theories collectively argue that a PWI
is not well equipped to address the needs of Black female students but yet, how do these Black
female students survive and thrive in an organization that was not created for them to succeed?

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 89
Specifically, the stories provided by the Black female students help to support elements of the
tenets of both Afro-Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism.
In this chapter, the stories provided by each of the participants remains in the words of
the Black female students. The information is provided verbatim rather than changed into the
researcher’s interpretation of their words. This was done to ensure that the voices of these Black
female students were presented from their perspective and that they could be heard. This is
supported in the use of a critical race methodology which allows for participants to share their
voices without a Eurocentric lens in order to reflect any issues related to racism, sexism, and/or
classism experienced by each participant (Perez Huber, 2008; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). By
using critical race counterstories, the perspectives of subordinated groups are humanized within
academic research to have influence on the racist academic policies, structures and practices in
education (Perez Huber, 2008). Ultimately, these stories from the Black female student
participants answered the research question for this study:
1. How do Black female students perceive and characterize their experiences during their
first year at PWIs?
To answer the research question, based on the stories of each participant, their first year
experience at a PWI was seen through their identities as Black, female, and surprisingly, as
athletes (previous or current). The first year experiences of the participants through each of these
identities is shared below and then analyzed using an integrated theoretical framework of Afro-
Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism.
Identity and First Year Experience
Each of the participants was interviewed about her first year experience at her PWI. The
interview questions were developed from the research question; some were also developed from

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 90
Critical Race Feminism and others from Afro-Pessimism to and conceptual framework of
Critical Race Feminism (CRF) and Afro-Pessimism, which together analyze how the historical,
political, and social contexts of the Black experience manifest themselves in the individual
contexts of Black female students in predominantly white institutions regardless of whether or
not they are actively present in a student’s consciousness (Evans-Winters & Esposito; 2010; Ray,
Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Each of the participants was
able to speak about her experience as a Black student, a female student, and as a former or
current student-athlete and how those experiences exist within the historical context of
antiblackness and Eurocentricity as depicted in the current society’s political framework.
Black at a PWI
“...Black is in the break, it is fantastic, it is an absented presence, it is a ghost, a mirror, it
is water, air; Black is flying and underground; it is time-traveling, supernatural,
interplanetary, otherworldly; it is in between the lines and it is postcolonial; Black is
bulletproof and magical and in every dark corner; Black is social death, afro-pessimist,
afro-optimist, afrocentric, afropunk, afrofuturist, soulful, neosoul, blues; it is negritude,
postslave, always enslaved; Black is like who/Black is like me; Black is everywhere and
everything; it is make-believe and magic.”- Katherine McKittrick (Commentary: Worn
Out, 2017)
Each of the participants identified herself as either Black or African American. When
asked what does it mean to be Black and/or various questions related to their feelings toward
their race and/or ethnicity, each of the young ladies provided responses that shared their ideas
surrounding their definition and experiences thus far as Black students at a PWI.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 91
In the initial screener, Nina shared, “To be Black to me means working 2 times harder to
accomplish a goal you have set your heart on completing.” In discussing her overall feelings
about race and ethnicity, Nina noted,
I’d have to say, even though I identify myself as Black, it wasn’t until I really knew
myself when I moved cross-country. I guess you don’t see the different varieties [of
people] in Baltimore, but coming to an all-white school, it, it was interesting to see...Find
myself and, know the difference between different races when you interact with each
other. You didn’t get that much at my school in Baltimore, but definitely, when I moved
to California [I noticed a difference].
For Nina, that made coming to a PWI less of a shock and being Black has had less of a
noticeable influence on her college experience so far. She stated,
I’d have to say, just because I did go to a PWI high school, it’s not much of a shock to
me about, diversity on this campus, although some might say that it’s predominantly,
white or Asian, but, and not want to come here. I’ve been growing up with that for ten
years of my life. I’d have to say, based on different colleges, I did go to, for my freshman
year, I did go up to Northern California for a year and that is different from here. In
Northern California, I was surrounded by a track team where predominantly they were
Black. So, that was a nice feel, to see, how college is, when you’re surrounded by Black
people or people who identify as yourself. Coming down to Southern California, back to
my area, I do see how high school is just as similar as college here, but it was different in
Northern California.
Nina noted indifference about whether or not she has experienced any push back on her
Blackness while attending the PWI mainly because, as she stated,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 92
Not this institution. No, because they don't address it here. If they did, maybe. I do see on
social media, so I'm on Twitter all the time. If you do, there are people who address those
situations, and there might be pushback because a lot of people don't agree with you, but
if you don't bring it up, you never make it further than where it was before, but, just
because you don't have to deal with those people who disagree with you.
But, on social media, yes. In the news, yes, you see it all the time where like the
Black Lives Matter movement hasn't gone very far, and we've seen negative outcomes,
and we've been put on hold because people really disagree, but what we want to do, or
what we hope to do or see in our near future, or who knows if it'll be near, let's be honest,
'cause nothing changes really for years now.
She felt that her ethnicity as well as her gender and/or class has been a privilege during her first
year experience stating,
I think it was a privilege. I feel as though, because I have gone through those experiences
in high school, I know then how to approach certain situations and how to see if, if it’s
not working out, not to let it go against me, not to let my race or anything be like, “Oh,
because I’m Black or because I’m a woman, I shouldn’t be in this class or taking these
classes or not.”
Nina discussed her ideas of being Black at a PWI noting that although a Black student may have
to work twice as hard as other students to prove themselves that has not hampered her during her
first year at a PWI as a transfer student because she has had similar experiences at her
predominantly white high school. Also, since she attended a community college in Northern
California, she was able to experience what it meant to have a network of Black students around
her while beginning her college career. An Afro-pessimism perspective would take note of how

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 93
as a Black student Nina’s experience is a part of a system that normalizes whiteness which she
has been ingrained in since high school. Therefore, when attending a PWI, she does not notice
the differences. Lastly, her experience falls into the often-used Black/white binary relationship
that inaccurately portrays the role of racial inequality often found in organizations such as
educational institutions like PWIs (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, and Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016).
KeKe described her feelings about what it means to be Black in the initial screener as,
“You have to be cautious of the things you do and say.” She continued this sentiment when
discussing her identity and how she feels about her race and/or ethnicity. KeKe noticed that
being Black at the PWI appears to be rare. She stated,
At a PWI, you don’t see much, Black people. It was at one point where I was the only
Black person in one of my classes. And then you always have the stereotypes that come
from other students here. For instance, when we wear our natural hair and stuff like that,
they have stereotypes about it and stuff like that. And then most people think that I got in
here only because of my athletic ability, because they assume that as long as you’re an
athlete, you can have like a one point or two point GPA when that’s not the case because
for you to be eligible to compete, you have to have a 2.0 or over, but our coach
personally strives for us to have a 3.0 or over. But, like I say, I [have] always been good
with the school, so I always maintain a 3.8, 3.9 GPA, so.
Similar to Nina, KeKe has seen her race/ethnicity as a privilege while being on campus during
her first year. She expressed,
I haven’t really had many negative encounters yet, so I would say it was more so a
privilege, considering that most people don’t see Black individuals at a PWI, and that by
me attending MSU and being successful here within my surroundings of being

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 94
surrounded by, mostly white individuals, serve as an example for those like me that they
can attend a PWI and may be the only person of their color and still be successful.
KeKe described being Black as having to be careful of what you do and say, which at a PWI may
seem common especially when there are few other students on campus that look like you. Since
there is limited visibility of other Black students on campus, KeKe feels that she is an example to
other students who look like her to let them know that they can be successful as well. KeKe’s
description of what it means to be Black fell into the concept within Afro-Pessimism that shows
the afterlife of slavery and how Black people, as a racialized group once seen as property, still
feel as though they are watched, monitored, and controlled by the construct of white supremacy
that is embedded in the environment of a predominantly white institution (Hartman, 2007; Ray,
Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017).
Margaret’s screener response about what it means to be Black shared similar sentiments
as the other two participants. She answered, “To me it means always being self-aware.” For
Margaret, when discussing her feelings about her race and ethnicity, she pointed out that,
I feel, well coming from, where I’ve lived in Orange County I went to a school that had
about 3000 people. And there was about, we were one percent Black. And so, everyone
that was Black knew each other. And we mostly all played sports and, I mean just, there
was like, about 80 of us in the whole campus. And most of my friends are, I wouldn’t
say, I have like a couple [friends] that are Black. I have very diverse friends. Asian, white
and yeah. So, I have, I feel like I do not go around like, like Black culture as much
because just where I lived it’s, there weren’t a lot of Black people at all. And I know in
Baltimore when we lived there, there were a lot. And I just unfortunately cannot
remember. (laughs)

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 95
In discussing her general experience as a Black student so far, Margaret felt that she has not
struggled citing,
For me coming from my high school it was a large white community. I have not
struggled here as being a Black student because I’m used to being a small percentage on a
large campus. So, I know like, there’s many people that say like, “Oh, I feel different
when I step on this campus because there’s just so many, predominantly like, white
people.” But I honestly have no trouble with it ‘cause I grew up around it. I mean, here
and there just obviously times where it’s like, oh you don’t really see a lot of Black
people. But will say this campus actually does have a lot more Black people than I’m
used to ‘cause my school only had one percent. So, I do, it’s great seeing-walking around
campus and seeing like, like groups of like Black people because we, I didn’t really
particularly see that mostly [in high school].
Margaret expressed that her idea of being Black includes self-awareness. Similarly to Nina,
Margaret attended a predominantly white high school; therefore, this has helped her while
attending a PWI. Margaret echoed KeKe’s sentiments in the lack of visibility of other Black
students, but acknowledged that there are more than at her high school. Margaret’s idea of what
it means to be Black, and having the limited visibility of other Black students reflects Afro-
Pessimism’s concept of how whiteness is used as the norm and Black students like Margaret
have been acculturated into it and continue to feel the aftermath of how slavery treated Black
bodies as property and Black students continue to feel the pressure of being watched or
monitored especially in educational spaces they are not highly represented in (Evans-Winters &
Esposito, 2010; Hartman, 2007; Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 96
Additionally, each participant was asked to provide a definition of “Blackness” and
antiblackness as it relates to what is happening during this current political time. This was done
to see if the students’ psyches picked up on aspects of Afro-pessimism’s definition of
antiblackness and if it, antiblackness, has had impact on their personal experiences during their
first year at a PWI. Antiblackness, per Afro-pessimism, is defined as the disdain or disgust for
the Black that sees Black people as nonhuman and was introduced with the ontology of slavery
(Dumas, 2016; Wilderson, 2010). This idea of antiblackness and the concept of Blacks as
nonhuman as a result of the afterlife of slavery (Hartman, 2007) has given birth to the current
systems, laws, language, and gratuitous violence that the Black female students are attending
college within (Dumas, 2016; Wilderson, 2010; Winters, 2017, September 5).
When asked to define both Blackness and, conversely, antiblackness, Nina defined both
terms as,
I feel like it's [Blackness] an empowering thing. It’s something that many people identify
as, and they can use that to build their identity. Coming to college, I learned a lot about
identity in being Black and having this empowerment. [Antiblackness is] not wanting to
see those people thrive or, have opportunities that others have, or, looking down upon
them and not allowing them to, speak their minds or show their voices.
Margaret’s definitions of Blackness and antiblackness were succinct and dealt more with culture
of Black people, by Black people. She shared her definitions as, “A sense of unity amongst, our
community, I would say. And, just the livelihood we bring to our community. [Antiblackness is]
probably I would say a lack of belongingness to our [Black people] culture, I guess.” KeKe’s
definition of Blackness was limited to less about the Black experience currently or historically,
and more about physicality. She answered,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 97
Hmm, that's an interesting one. I'm not sure. That’s similar to the question about would,
how would I define being Black, right? I think, cause I remember, I did for that question,
I put something along the lines of you have to be careful of your actions and what you
say and do. Like all eyes are always on you. No matter where you are you never know
who's watching you just because of your skin color. I would say anti-Blackness would be
those who are not Black, even those who may be Black but you can't really tell within
their skin tone. Yeah.
The participants’ answers related to Blackness and antiblackness demonstrated some
understanding of antiblackness from an Afro-Pessimist’s perspective even if vague or not as in-
depth surrounding the dehumanization of Black bodies. KeKe, Nina and Margaret were able to
identify that collectively, Black people’s experiences have been based on how they are seen by
others (i.e. non-Black people) as well as how Black people see each other, which at times is a
result of the afterlife of slavery based on the historical aspects of the Black experience globally.
Through the lens of Afro-Pessimism, the ability judge each other may reflect the concept of natal
alienation which discusses how slavery severed Africans’ ties to family and other Africans
(Sexton, 2016) and that as part of the afterlife of slavery distinguishing oneself from Blackness
perpetuates the concept of antiblackness even from other Blacks (Ray, Randolph, Underhill &
Luke, 2017). This is important to understand because Black female students are dealing with
adversities, even unbeknownst to themselves, based on their race, gender and even their class
especially when being educated in predominantly white educational spaces (Evans-Winters &
Esposito, 2010; Muhammad & Dixson, 2008). Therefore, they categorized their experiences
during their first year at a PWI based on these definitions.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 98
As Black female students based on their definitions of Blackness and antiblackness, none
of the participants felt that their Blackness had been challenged or that there has been any push
back in their first year experience. KeKe declared that she has not experienced antiblackness, but
possibly microaggressions, so far, saying, “no I haven't really experienced it here as in, it's just
more so maybe along the lines of like how did I get into this university. Considering I am Black
and something like along those lines.” Margaret agreed with the idea of KeKe’s response but
also felt disconnected from the community of Blackness on campus sharing,
I haven't really like put myself into like the, Black community on campus, [or] been to
the meetings, or anything, so I haven't really put myself in, like trying to join it. And, so I
would say ... It hasn't because I haven't tried to like, be a part of it. Yeah.
Nina indicated that her experiences with antiblackness occurred more during high school than in
college. She related the following example,
I can, academically I haven't had that many instances where that's occurred, my brother
has, but I haven't. But I was an athlete ever since I was little, but I was a dedicated track
athlete for almost six years, and I felt I've had a lot of instances just in my high school
experiences just because I was the only successful Black athlete on my track team, which
is interesting, you wouldn't think that, but I did go to a predominately white institution.
Well my junior year, we were able to break 15 school records and, I came onto the team
and once I came on, we started making them. It wasn't me alone that did that, but my
coaches would, pull me aside, or pull others aside and would let them know that I had no
part of that. Or they'd high five everyone and then look at me and then turn around. So it's
like why? (laughs) Like what did I do to, encourage that? So that's something that
happened with that a lot. (laughs)

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 99
When asked about her current college experiences, Nina shared that she feels that her Blackness
is supported in her classes and that she has not experienced a sense of antiblackness since
attending the PWI. She continued,
No, I feel like I'm in a lot of discussion classes right now, 'cause of occupational therapy
and I feel like I can really let people know what being Black is in a predominantly white
institution is just something that's happened to me and I'll tell them my experiences, and
they'll come up to me and say, "Thank you so much for telling me that. It really like
opened my eyes," and that's what I want other people to know about Blackness. It's very
important, we want to share our experiences, and we don't share our voices just to get
some praise from it. We just want to let others know this is what's going on, and we do
want to change from it.
All of the participants indicated that since attending a PWI they have not felt any challenges or
push back on their Blackness. This is based on their definitions of Blackness and antiblackness,
which involves how non-Black students see them on campus. They have shared that they are able
to navigate the campus within their Blackness.
Each of the participants shared that they identify as Black, feel comfortable in being
Black and also feel supported as Black students during their first year at a PWI. They were asked
about the institutions support of their Blackness on the campus and what that looks like on a
daily basis. The participants shared that they felt supported by the institution to some degree in
various ways.
Margaret shared that she feels there are times when Black students can speak about their
experiences. She implied,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 100
I feel like there are definitely opportunities, I mean I've been to an event where we talk
about being Black in the media, and just expressing, your ideas, what you think about.
They definitely have events where you can come have a discussion, that was great, a
couple of us got together and voiced our opinions on the media and other, just like,
Black, experiences, and so yeah, I think there are, like a lot of [opportunities].
However, she felt that outside of events held on campus, her ability to speak about Blackness in
the classroom was limited. She continued,
I'm not sure, really. I'm sure that they hold events and everything just to discuss it, but
they don't go probably in depth about the underlying experiences. I mean, I'm going to
take a diversity class next year; I'm interested to see how far, how in depth the class goes,
so yeah. [As a psychology major] In my classes, I don't think we have ever addressed
anything, no. Yeah, no, we haven't. You would think so in a psych class.
She went on to share,
I feel like there's probably, if you do voice it, there always going to be others opposing it,
and, for me, I would say no, I feel like, I'm really thinking about like (thinking). We
haven't touched it in psych, and I don't know how it would come up, but I think it'd be
important to address it, but there's always others opposing, but that's always going to
happen. I don't know if it'd be easy to do it in a class setting, we've discussed shootings
and everything, and it never really goes well, there are all these people with their own
opinions, and everything. So I feel, especially in like a PWI, no one’s fully going to
understand it, so yeah.
Nina felt that there is a degree of support at the PWI for Blackness. She articulated,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 101
To a degree. I feel like they have to do a little bit, or else they wouldn't be looked at, as
that great of a institution. I mean they heavily depend on athletes, and the majority of
them may be Black, so if they want to draw them in, they want to have, "Oh, we have this
club for you if you want to come," and showing the parents, "Hey, we have these clubs. If
you want them to be a part of their culture, come here." You come here and it's like...like
I said in my class, we don't address certain situations. I feel like it's a front maybe? But, it
is kind of what you'd expect though. I don't know. Maybe because I went to a high school
that was just as similar as this one. Maybe if I had a different high school where we
addressed those situations, and then coming here you might see a difference, but yeah.
KeKe speaks very positively of the support she has received since attending this PWI. She
attributes that support to her being a student athlete on campus. She stated,
I would say so far they support me very well. I receive a lot of help from outside sources,
or with the individuals within the university, rather than just having to struggle and find
out how to do things on my own. So academic support, support on and off the field. We
have like yourself a sport psychologist and stuff like that. So we have different
opportunities to reach out to different individuals.
When asked about how specifically her Blackness is supported at this PWI, KeKe answered,
Yes, I think it [the university] supports. I haven't had any issues where I had run-ins with
racism or anything, but I feel like with the circle that I have of the supporters, not only
within my sport but outside of my sport, who are also not Black individuals, I feel like if
that was to happen they'll be quick to put a stop to it, or find out what the issue is and
stuff like that. So I think they do a great job so far as supporting. Cause you don't hear

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 102
about many issues of experiences of racism on campus, at least I haven't heard anything
yet.
She also felt that she was able to discuss issues of antiblackness and Black experiences on
campus and in classes. KeKe continued,
Yes I feel like you can talk about it, like they always say you have freedom of speech. As
long as you don't say anything that's outrageous, even though you can say anything along
the lines of your experience but don't tie into name calling of other races and stuff like
that, just leave it at your experiences, and that's it. Don't try to bring it like, “They
should've did this” and let everything fall out [but] let the higher ups handle the situation
and leave it at that.
Overall, the participants of this study felt as Black students, they are able to share their
experiences, proudly identify as Black students and have experienced some degree of support
from the institution as it relates to Blackness and speaking out against antiblackness. They all
shared that it is the responsibility of the institution to be this safe space for Black students and
that this PWI is partially successful in doing so.
Being a Black student at a PWI per the participants is discovering your identity and being
proud to identify as Black; understanding that you are being watched by non-Black people;
knowing that you work twice as hard to prove yourself; and, a privilege because of prior
experiences and having the ability to share those experiences in this predominantly white
educational space. For these participants, antiblackness would represent these experiences and
knowing, even if subconsciously, that the current Black experience is a result of the afterlife of
slavery, but seeing the hope in the experiences anyway.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 103
Woman at a PWI
Each of the participants identified herself as being female or a woman. When asked what
it means to be female or a woman in 2018, each of the participants provided their definition of
womanness. Nina shared that, “A woman in 2018 is seen as a person who is strong and willing to
fight for equality. Women are looked at a different perspective than what we have been used to
be seen as in the past.” Margaret shared what it means to be a woman in 2018 as, “To me it
means being influential and loving.” Lastly, KeKe asserted that, “As a female or woman in 2018
we have to work harder to achieve certain things. Our voice plays a prominent role in making
things happen.”
With these ideas in mind, the participants were asked about their experience at the PWI
as female or a woman. This also included their ideas of being a Black female student during their
first year and their experiences within this intersectional identity. When asked about how
identifying as a woman has influenced their college experience, each participant shared a
different response. KeKe noted,
It hasn't really influenced me yet, but kind of like sometimes when in groups with male,
students or something, they feel like they have to automatically take the [leadership] role
or that you should listen to what they say. But then also, as Black, I don't know whether if
it instills fear in them, once I'm in groups with them, because then sometimes they just
automatically allow me to be the leader of the group.
Margaret also shared that she does not feel as though identifying as a woman has had much
influence over here college experience because there are a fair amount of women represented on
campus. She replied to the question by saying,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 104
As a psych major I've noticed that in my classes there's mostly women in the classes a lot.
I notice that as soon as I started my large lecture classes and I'm looking around like,
wow this is all women. It's very interesting. [And], people have talked too and they're
like, "Yeah, psych majors are like, women." I didn't really know that until I got here. I
was like, oh, okay. I didn't know there were so many women and, less men that pursue
this major. So, that was different to see. But as a women I'm trying to find a way in this
major and on this campus to, to explore something new and explore psychology 'cause
I've, talked to many people about it and they don't really know about sports psych and
where it's coming from 'cause it's a fairly new type of field. So, I've trying to as a woman
show myself through such a new but exciting type of field.
Nina echoed the sentiments of both KeKe and Margaret in that identifying as a woman at a PWI
has not had much influence on her college experience so far. She commented,
I'd have to say, although, feminism is really huge right now, I feel like I identify ... Or
more issues or topics, relate to me more about [being] Black rather than [being a] woman.
I feel like it doesn't really affect me as much. You do see more women on campus than
you see Black people, so I feel like that's not as much as an issue or something that I've
dealt with a lot.
A Critical Race Feminism perspective would note that for Black female students, solely
identifying as a woman is impossible because these students must focus on their race experiences
as it applies to people of African descent in a colonized country and its institutions such as
predominantly white educational spaces (Berry, 2009; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). This
may explain why each of the participants felt that their gender has less influence on their first
year experience.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 105
The participants also spoke about the level of support they receive as female students at a
PWI. All of them shared that they feel supported in some form as a woman on campus but did
notice some variation in comparison to the levels of support provided to Black students, or even
more specifically Black female students.
Nina felt that,
I feel like yeah. I do, because when the women's march was occurring, everyone would
be going around, "Are you going to the women's march? Are you going to the women's
march?" My psych professor, "I'm going to the women's march. Let's ... you guys should
go. It's great. I'm not encouraging you guys, but you guys should go," and I feel like,
yeah, they do have situations ... maybe not club wise, I haven't seen any clubs, but they
do have good talks about it, and that's good to, I'm not saying why are they only having
women's [events]... they have had Issa Rae come and talk about her experience as being a
Black woman, so that was good for one side, but that was the only event I could see
where being Black, and a woman was good.
KeKe agreed that women are supported at the PWI very well citing,
Yeah, I would say yeah because, as a freshman, I think Fall, I had to take a class that's
required for freshmen, if you want to take it, it's a women of self or self-women of color,
or something like that. So within that class we had just female students, not only Black
individuals, but you also have individuals of other races. And the teacher, the sports
psychologist, she brings in women speakers, that's within higher positions and stuff like
that. And then also aside from that class you have many events that take place on campus
of speaking to women that [are] in higher up positions and leaders, that once attended

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 106
MSU and some of them that didn't [attend] MSU but they're associated with the
university somehow.
Margaret had a similar perspective on the support offered to female students on campus. She
quipped,
I feel like they have events and everything invites you in, in a way, and, I think there was
one just two weeks ago. I didn't get to go to it, but I did see that they had like a, a
women's (thinking), I forget what it's called. It's not like a conference. I don't really see
any negative impacts on campus; they show that they support. The most really is just
events, but there isn't really anything significant that stands out to me.
Each of the participants noted that there are supports for them as female students but that the
supports are not specific to Black female students but mostly women in general. In their
responses the participants noted that their female identity is not as influential to their experiences
as is their racial identity, so they have not focused on the women-centric supports available on
campus. Some noted that being Black, or issues of Blackness have more influence on their PWI
experience since there are more women represented on campus than Black students. Afro-
Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism both note skepticism in progress for Black students,
which for Black female students would mirror the fact that there are less supports for and
representation of Black students than female students. Critical Race Feminism would note that
intersectionality is important and the predominantly white educational spaces are not equipped in
their policies, procedures and supports for Black female students (Evans-Winters & Esposito,
2010; Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017).
It's a huge part of my identity and that's obvious, but, I mean if I was put in a room and
made to choose, one side of the room was Black people and one, the other side of the

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 107
room was women, for me, race is, kind of takes the lead in terms of where I identify, so
I'd be over with the Black folk. - Ava Duvernay, Finding Your Roots, PBS
All the participants noted that identifying solely as a woman has not had a profound
influence or impact on their first year experience thus far. However, issues related to the
intersectionality of their race and their gender, while still using their definitions of Blackness and
antiblackness, has allowed for different ways of them seeing their first year experience at a PWI.
KeKe felt that for her there have been less intersectional experiences as a Black female
student. She sees both identities as separate and with that brings along different opportunities.
She explained,
I would say both of them open up different doors. Sometimes being Black will lead you
down one path, whereas being a woman will lead you down another path. But to have
both, they can, both can also open up a different door, different from when they're
separate. So I think it provides different opportunities for me here. It may be some things
I can participate in because I'm a woman whereas it may be other things I may be
excluded from because I'm Black, so it all depends.
Margaret, in response to Ava Duvernay’s words of separating out her identities of Black and
woman, agreed because the Black female student’s experience is different than other female
students of color’s experiences. She stated,
I feel like I agree with what she said. I do. I feel like especially [with] what's going on
now, with the Me Too [movement] and just a lot of movements that are going on, I, I was
talking with a couple of friends and I fully support the Me Too movement because as
women to have to stand together and just fight for this, what's going on to many women
across throughout the world. But as a Black woman, I, I feel like we are underrepresented

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 108
in a sense because I feel like we're underrepresented. I don't know how best to explain it,
but I just feel like, what she's saying is, yeah, we have races and women and we have to,
if we were put into a choice to choose, I feel like as a Black woman, we struggle a lot
more than any other race as a female. So, as a female student on campus I feel I want to
make an impact in a way, even if it's the slightest impact that I can just, just by getting
my degree by, by just, teaching more people about what I want to do.
Nina had a similar perspective as the other participants in that as a Black female student, her
identity as Black takes precedence over her female identity. She indicated,
I agree with her. I would, if I was given those options, I would choose, going to the Black
side. I just, just feel like there has been no progress, on one aspect. And right now, we're
fighting for a movement for women, but I feel as though we need to do both. It's a big
issue. We're starting on one side when we need to be starting together for both of them,
and I feel like for college, I feel like I really don't pay attention to the women aspect; I
feel as though you don't look around and say, "Oh, look how many female are in my
classroom right now." You can literally pick out how many Black people are in my
classes and the majority of the time, it's just one person or me.
Critical Race Feminism and Afro-Pessimism work together to look at how the historical,
political, and social contexts of the Black experience represent themselves in the individual
contexts of Black female students in predominantly white educational spaces that were neither
originally created for them to access nor have supported their academic successes as evidenced
in their transition to higher education institutions (Berry, 2009; Dumas, 2106; Evans-Winters &
Esposito, 2010; Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016; Wing, 1997). CRF
helps to inform the Black female students’ experience at a PWI and brings to light the

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 109
intersectionality of race, gender, and class in educational spaces. The participants each expressed
that they have an intersectional identity that has a unique experience at a PWI. They shared that
although social movements that cater toward women are important, the issues of Black women,
even in education, are not focused on but are just as important due to the types of experiences
they can face as both Black and a woman.
During the interview process, each participant was asked about the narrative that
surrounds Black female students in higher education. The researcher was interested in knowing if
the experience of Black female students was unique and how Black female students see their
own lived experiences while attending a PWI. Initially, two of the participants responded in the
screener about the narrative that surrounds Black female students in higher education. Nina
wrote, “It is rare for Black women to make it to higher education, so there are very few who
succeed.” Margaret lamented about the limited visibility of Black women as well, stating,
“Always being the only Black woman in a class.” Alternatively, the participants were asked to
discuss the language that surrounds Black female students within their PWI. In this framing, the
participants were able to share their understanding of how they are viewed by other students.
KeKe said,
(Laughter). Wow. That's a good one. I know outsiders, like I said, are curious as to what
did we do to get in the university. Who did we contact, who we know, rather than what
work did we put in to get in here. So I think a big word would be like, curious, like
outsiders are very curious as to what did we do to get into this type of university,
considering that it's MSU, one of the most prestigious PWIs, so.
Nina had difficulty answering the question initially as she shared, “I don't ... I don't really ...
there aren't a lot of Black girls that I know on this campus. Those would be maybe one in my

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 110
huge psych class, in [the] far back and I'm in the front. So it's like, uh…” When asked about a
general narrative of Black students in higher education, she included a mention of Black women
saying, “... but the narrative, I'd say that in higher education I've learned that women, specifically
Black women, it's rare to see that.” The idea of limited visibility of Black female students on
campus was noted by each participant; so, for them it was difficult to think of specific language
that surrounds their experience, though, they indirectly shared that the narrative of Black female
students was that they are superinvisible (Chavous & Cogborn, 2007; Stewart, 2017). This
language helped them talk about the uniqueness of the Black female students’ experience at a
PWI as seen through their experiences. In Afro-Pessimism, language is important because Black
people are represented in society in its language, laws, and systems as nonhuman (Dumas, 2016).
Therefore, it is important to note the narrative surrounding Black female students within
predominantly white educational spaces to determine if there is representation in the language,
laws, and systems in those spaces.
Since the participants shared that there are limited Black female students on campus at
their PWI, they were asked whether or not they felt that the experience of Black female students
is unique and that the institution does or can do for their lived experiences. Each of participants
answered that the experience of Black female students, through their personal experiences, was
common for a PWI. Nina expressed,
On this campus, I feel like, no, it's not. I feel like it's just like every other campus.
It might be a little bit more, just because on my high school campus, it is more, but other
colleges, I feel like it's just the same. We have a few Black associations or female
associations, but they all talk about the same things and I feel like we do need more, than
just what we have. I feel as though every institution ... I ... Okay, so affirmative action's a

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 111
huge thing about bringing in students who are [different] to PWIs to expand, but I feel as
though, because we have that mentality, like, "Okay, they're finally in," you just leave
them at that, but I feel like we need to be more welcoming to those students who you
greet into your institutions like that, more ... More things that can help them transition, as
you say, or, cope to this new, environment.
KeKe also discussed how the experience for Black female students so far is typical of a Black
female students experience at a PWI. She pointed out,
Here, I would say kinda 'cause it's not, it's not how I expected, There are only like a
handful of Black females and they're like, for instance, like with the, most common
sororities like AKA and Delta, you don't really see like those here as much as you would
do in the South. You have the individuals who are part of that, those organizations, but
then like when I took a trip down frat row, all you have is just like predominantly white
frats that have their own houses, whereas you have Black sorority members here, but they
don't have no houses for them to feel comfortable and fit in with the fraternities and
sororities as well.
Margaret agreed with the other participants about the uniqueness of the Black female students’
experience. She said,
I feel like it's definitely different on a, at PWI because I have friends that are, go to [an]
HBCU and go to Howard and they are definitely having a great experience and within
like, the Black community, I definitely see that. And I feel like it's a different experience
here because we, it's such a small community amongst large, such a large campus. And it
is unique because you don't really see a lot of, like, I mean you do see a good amount, but
it's not as much as you would see at like [an] HBCU of Black female students. Yeah, I

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think it is unique because it's such a prestigious school and it's great seeing like a lot of
Black women on this campus getting such, like, um amazing majors and where they want
to go with it, what outside fields they like to explore. And I feel like on a campus this
large and for like, a lot of females, Black females to be able to, like, actually like want to,
well for a lot of female students like, be able to find what they want to do on this campus
is great.
Collectively, the participants shared that the experiences of Black female students can be
considered unique. Each of them shared that their experience is unique to them because they are
not able to see themselves represented well across the campus. They asserted that since there is
limited visibility of Black female students that that alone makes their experiences unique and that
the institution should provide the necessary resources to help with the transition to a PWI. It is
helpful to note this unique demographic because PWIs need to understand the unique voice of
Black female students during a time where being Black is being challenged daily and in various
forms (Childers-McKee & Hytten, 2015; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Linscott, 2017; Ray,
Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017).
As women at a PWI, each of the participants felt that that identity alone did not have
much influence on their first year experience at the university. They shared that their identity as
Black shaped their first year experience more and that as Black women at a PWI their experience
was unique because with the limited visibility of other Black women on campus it was their
responsibility to succeed in order to show others that it was possible. This also shaped the
narrative of Black women for them in higher education in that they saw their personal
experiences as testaments of what Black women can do when enrolled in predominantly white
institutions.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 113
Athlete at a PWI
Each of the participants identified herself as being an athlete, either in the past or
presently. All of them had a strong sense of this identity and it has had impact on their first year
at MSU. All of the participants shared about their experiences as athletes, past and present,
microaggressions they have experienced as Black female students who happen to be athletes, and
what it’s like as a Black athlete at a PWI.
KeKe is a current student athlete at a PWI. She chose to come to MSU because of its
academic standing and successful sports program. Since attending MSU, she has felt supported
as a student athlete both academically and athletically. As a Black female student, she has dealt
with few issues but has noticed that there is an assumption on campus that all Black students,
male or female, are attending the PWI only because of sports. She shared,
So far, my first year here has been great. Like I said, there have been many times where
I'm the only Black person in the classroom, but I don't let that bother me. Most of the
sports are Black people, so like there is one incident where we have at MSU, we have a
lot of outsiders that come and visit.
So a little like white kid was shocked to see like a Black girl walking on campus,
so he told my other teammate like, "Oh, can I go talk to her? She's a Black girl," or
whatever. So he was like, "Well, what you do, track or basketball," and she was like,
"Huh?" And he was like, "Which sport do you do, track or basketball? Pick one." So she
was like, "I play soccer." so then he said, "Oh, a Black ... they allow, they allow Black
girls to do soccer here?" And she was like ... And then a teacher like heard what he said
and she like was offended, like she pulled him away and she was like kept apologizing

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 114
and whatever. And then she was like, "Oh, I play, track. I run track, by the way." He was
like, "See? I knew it." So, yeah.
KeKe also noted that although she has not experienced any racial or gender discrimination while
on the team, her and teammates have had conversations or swapped stories about incidents that
have happened with white teammates. For example,
Yeah, but not conversations like in depth or along the lines of racism and stuff like that.
They don't really show anything towards us being Black. They [are] very accepting. They
say things that are according to the situation. You never hear them say any jokes or
anything like along the lines of racism. But like, my teammates I know we have another
white counterpart teammate and they say like his actions and stuff be racist. Cause I
guess he ... at one point he referred to like the Blacks and stuff as ... as the others. Or
something like that. And they're like, he invited some of the male, teammates who are
Black individuals to his house and I guess his grandpa or something was going to say
something racist, but like before ... They knew it was going to come out ... He knew it
was going to come out, but so like he told his grandpa, oh you can't say that, you can't say
that! This is a different time or something like that. And then I guess his brother was like
singing a rap song and said the word, nigger. And so and then, he told his brother, oh you
shouldn't be using that, somethin', somethin', somethin'. He said well why you actin' like
you don't use it when they not here. And stuff like that. So yeah.
As a student athlete, KeKe noted that even though there are successful Black people and
students, there is still a struggle for Black students in higher education. She stated that as a Black
female student there continues to be struggle because,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 115
I think its comes from the saying of ‘history repeats itself.’ so like no matter our
positions, whites will always feel that they are above us and that we have to listen to what
they say. So it's like no matter how hard we work we still face oppression.
As a student athlete she continued,
I would say as a ... as like the athlete part I don't think I have to ... I wouldn't say I have
to work as hard cause I do have to work hard on my sport but as far as me like being
Black people already come to stereotype like Black people are fast or like Black people
are made track athletes and stuff like that. So I don't really find any hardship within that.
But as far as like being a student. Being like at the top and stuff. People like congratulates
but then you can see also some of them that like wonders like how you doin' this and how
you been so successful at that but like they don't want to ask you that up front. So they
like beat around it and ask you other things, but you can catch it. What they tryin' to get
at.
Overall, for KeKe, being a Black female student athlete was the foundation for her experience at
a PWI. She noted that she enjoys her sport and pushes herself academically to be the best in all
areas. She discussed the assumptions that come along with being a Black female student
including other non-Black students questioning how she is attending such a prestigious
university. For her, it does not negatively impact her because she has a goal outside the confines
of the university and she knows that as an athlete she provides a lot for the university and they
benefit from her talents, both athletic and academic. In the realms of Afro-Pessimism, KeKe’s
position as a Black student athlete may be rooted in the objectification of the Black body (Ray,
Randolph, Underhill & Luke, 2017). Since, Black bodies have been seen as property, the
relationship with predominantly white educational spaces and Black student athletes is one that

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 116
is a remnant of the afterlife of slavery (Hartman, 2007; Dumas, 2016; Sexton 2016). The need to
support these students and provide for them is an interesting relationship that requires further
exploration.
Margaret is a past student athlete. She stopped playing school based sports once she
transferred to MSU in order to focus on her education. Her educational and career interests to
become a sports psychologist are based on her past experiences as a student athlete which she
feels benefits her because she can share experiences as a Black student at a PWI that has been
both athletic and non-athletic. She shared that she is interested in studying Black student athletes
because,
Well, I'm kinda interested in the, Black student as an athlete, and their impact on like,
such a large campus such as MSU, and I'm kinda doing research on it, and there was a,
article that came out by one of the Rossier pr-, professors. And he discussed that the,
about the ... Amount of students, I'm not completely sure on everything about this article,
but, I found it interesting that he discussed the, um ... The amount of Black student
athletes, and Black students on campus, how many actually graduate. And, it was
interesting to see, like, so I know like, campuses like this have such a lo-, like a huge
legacy to it, bringing Black athletes, and many people think, oh, most Black students at a
university are athletes, and they don't really take into account like the, just like, regular,
non-athletic students. So, I would feel, I think ... Many people don't address the whole
non-athletic, but then there's also athletic students that have, that make their impact not
only through sports, but through their education by trying to get degrees that they know
are challenging, as an athlete, but still like doing it. Yeah.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 117
Similar to KeKe, Margaret had been questioned about how she was able to attend and transfer to
a school such as MSU. She joked,
I have, mostly everyone that I've talked to, they always hate it that I did, ran track, and
they're like "Oh, do you have a track scholarship?" I'm like, "No, I had to actually
transfer." Most of my friends in my community college that I went to, like when I went to
visit they were like, "Oh, are you on scholarship for track?" I'm like "No, like I told you
guys, like I literally had to get my 30 units done, and then track was just like something I
did so I wasn't like super bored, while I was up there." 'Cause I do not want to do
some...Be up there, basically (laughs). So I mean, I have been asked, "Oh, so how did
you get here?" I'm like, "Oh, I had to get the GPA on the spot", and, yeah.
Other than dealing with the idea that Black students can only get into a PWI as athletes, Margaret
was interested in the limited dialogue and support surrounding Black female athletes. She
commented,
'Cause the article I was talking about was about male athletes. It never discussed female
athletes, which was interesting, I mean the, that was a different perspective; they don't
really focus on female athletes, in a way. Just like they mostly, actually talked about just
football, for the statistics, which is, has a large impact on this campus, just football, and I
think it was basketball as well, but men's basketball, so I think I'm thinking of it that way.
Just like, they have a huge focus on males, and, yeah. Mm-hmm, [male athletes] bring in
the money, that, another part of the article, I believe. It was either that or, it was a second
article, but it wasn't for like, for MSU, but it definitely showed that like the male, male
athletes are bringing in the money, and I think it addressed that, so why aren't the athletes
getting paid? So that like started a whole other conversation, but, yeah, it was a very, very

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 118
interesting ... it, it kinda like makes you think, "Well okay, like why aren't we focusing on
female athletes?" So I kinda want to work with like, that, after I graduate.
Ultimately, for Margaret, being a previous student athlete has shaped how she has approached
her education and career choices. She is interested in the lived experiences of Black athletes,
including Black female athletes, especially at a PWI. She shared that her experiences with being
an assumed athlete as a Black female student and what it feels like to be supported, or not, as a
non-athletic Black student at a PWI have helped her navigate her major and minor areas of
studies and future goals. Similarly as KeKe, Margaret’s responses brought to the forefront the
idea of Black student athletes and their bodies as figurative property for predominantly white
institutions within an Afro-Pessimist framework. Her interests relate to studying the mental
health of these students as well as shining a spotlight on Black female students, which in a
Critical Race Feminism perspective is an example of intersectional experiences often being left
out in educational spaces and research.
Nina also shared that she was a track athlete in her youth until she transferred to MSU
from the community college. When asked how she identified herself during her youth, an athlete
was first before racial or gender identity. Being an athlete was what sparked her to choose her
major and career goals. It was also a reason she was interested in MSU as a school. She shared
that she feels that the only reason the PWI supports Blackness is because they heavily rely on
Black student athletes and they have to show that they are doing something to support those
students and their needs. She indicated,
I mean they're heavily ... they heavily depend on athletes, and athletes, the majority of
them may be Black, and so if they want to draw them in, they want to have, "Oh, we have
this club for you if you want to come," and showing the parents, "Hey, we have these

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 119
clubs. If you want them to be a part of their culture, come here." You come here and it's
like ... like I said in my class, we don't address certain situations. I feel like it's a front
maybe?
Prior to attending MSU, her issues with discrimination were found while she was a student
athlete. When asked about the historical relationship between racial discrimination and coping,
Nina commented,
So I told you about instances where, in my sports career, my coaches just really wouldn't
treat me right, and I'd get upset, and I'd ... that would take a toll on how my next race
would go. And I'd always go to my dad, and he'd be like, "You have two more years left.
You know how to handle it. Don't let them get to your head." And it was ... it took going
to another coach outside of them, who was Black, who's a Black Olympic athlete, to let
me know that he's been through so much, going to Germany and all that, and he told me
he learned when is the right time to speak up about it. And if it's going to affect you like a
lot, maybe that's not the right time. But, historically, you see people pick the right time,
and we wouldn't be where we are without it.
Nina also shared that for her first year at a PWI and without sports, she is adjusting to a new
identity for herself. She indicated,
Like I said, we're evolving right now, and I think the first two years of college, that's
when you really find yourself, specifically for me, I dropped sports. I'm now adjusting to
that. And this is my first year at this institution, and my first year without sports, and
then, I was psych major, and I was determined that I was just going to do psych and
neuroscience.
Don't know where that came from, but, (laughs) I adjusted and

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 120
I've found a new side of myself because of occupational therapy, and I feel like if I do
think if I didn't come here, I probably wouldn't have found that field, and I probably
would've done something athletic or something like that, and I think coming to this
institution was very good, and, adjusting was a huge thing.
For Nina, being a previous student athlete has been an adjustment. Positively, she has been able
to find and enjoy a major and academic community she enjoys in the area of occupational
therapy. On the other hand, she has been able to observe aspects of Black student athlete life that
she does not like such as non-Black students assuming that she could only get into this university
as a student athlete as well as the way Black student athletes may be misused by the PWIs they
heavily support with their talent. Both a Critical Race Feminist and Afro-Pessimist lens would
argue that PWIs deal with Black student athletes, male or female, in a manner that is a remnant
of the afterlife of slavery, (Hartman, 2007) and that little is done to dispel the ideas that Black
student athletes at a PWI are there mainly because of what their Black bodies represent, not their
academic ability.
Each of the participants shared that they identify as athletes either currently or previously.
This identity has shaped their first year experience at a PWI by opening their eyes to academic
fields of study they enjoy; helping them look deeply at Black student athletes’ relationship with
PWIs; and, experiencing microaggressions or belittling by non-Black students who assume they
could only attend a prestigious PWI for their athletic abilities, not their academic talents. Being a
Black female student athlete at a PWI, or being a non-student athlete for the first time, has
helped them to evolve during their early academic career in ways that will shape their outcomes
once they graduate.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 121
Identity and Institution
The participants of this study were asked to analyze their first year experience at a PWI.
Looking at their identities as Black female students did this and how the experience of Black
female students is shaped during the current political context, which includes a heightened sense
of anti-Black racism and dehumanization of Black bodies. As part of the interview process, the
participants were asked to think about what it means to be a Black female student within the
context of the PWI and what the PWI does to support them in this identity especially during their
first year of attendance. Each participant was asked why it is important to study Black female
students at PWIs during this current political time; did they take into account their identity when
choosing a university; what is the responsibility of the university to its Black female students;
and what do they hope for within the institution. Lastly, they shared how they would want their
experiences conveyed to the masses.
Why is it important?
Each participant was asked to share why they felt it was important to study Black female
students’ experiences during their first year at a PWI. The purpose of this question was to see if
the students felt that their intersectional experiences in predominantly white educational spaces
were important and necessary in educational research (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). Their
responses were as follows,
Nina
I just feel like it's the opportunities you're given. So if this comes up, it'd be good to
expand it, and I don't know if there have been other opportunities for people to, from
other, backgrounds to say, "Hey, I want to talk about these issues on campus," but I feel
like it's good as a Black woman to bring up these issues, because you want to see more

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 122
Black females in higher education, and it's just, I feel like opportunities is where you
need to, where it comes down to it. Who wants to bring up those issues, and if it's Black
women, then that's what we're going to do. So, yeah.
I think your study's really interesting, because you need to ... many girls who are
applying, or who are deciding to take that step, they want to know what your ... and want
to go to a great institution, [and] MSU's a great institution. You get great connections
from everything, and some might be afraid to apply here, because they don't know what
they'll be like. They don't know the experiences, and, having your study or other studies
similar to yours, will allow more girls to want to go to a college, or to go to this college
specifically, or a college like this.
Margaret
I think because like the amount or population size percentage of Black females are lower
than other races. I feel like I see a lot more, of other women of color than Black women,
but I will say that like there's a lot more than I've seen at like my high school and
everything, it was very different. Like coming here, I see that there's a larger community,
which is great. But there are a lot more of other races. [I’m] not sure how to say this. Just
'cause they, because we ... Hmm. Maybe 'cause like the image that there is about Black
women is, not really depicted at big universities, and, not having that higher education, so
I mean it's a, a way to like prove that we can get this higher education, that we can strive
for greater things.
[It's important to study Black female students’ experiences] To see how and what
they're doing, like how, how do they maintain a goal to graduate with the best degrees
that they can, what's their focus. Like how. Just, just to see like how, I guess from a

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 123
university's point of view, how they can improve, other statistics, I guess on other races.
But, it's important probably for like the Black community to see, just because it, it's a
great accomplishment, just to see so many Black women being able to, get in and finish
their degrees, and just move on and just find their way, and, after college, so.
KeKe
I think because when most people think of a PWI, based on it’s meaning, they assume
that the school is just made for white individuals. And even like outside of the stuff when
they hear of a Black female going to a PWI they like start to stereotype and assume like
how did they get accepted? What did they do to get accepted? And why would they
choose to go to a PWI, considering that it's a predominately white institution, over like
going to HBCU with their Black counterparts and things like that. I think it's important to
study their experience at a PWI 'cause like we previously said how it's been
predominantly white. So, although they got into it because of they, academics and stuff,
they can be suffering from feeling left out. Or, having experiences of racism and stuff
that they may be keeping inside and never like speak up about. So yeah.
I think it's very important because you [are] away from home, you [are] with
members that you don't know, for instance you stand with people you don't know. People
you [have] never seen before, or don't even know what they're like, what their
experiences [are]. And by being far away from home you can't go to your parents to have
them help you with situations and all that matters is how you deal with the situations at
hand, and yeah, and that's the main thing, being away from home. And not knowing' who
you're standing' with and what they're really like. Cause for instance... I know she wasn't
a first year but like the incident of the girl at one of the ... I don't remember which

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 124
campus, but her roommate was doin' things with her items and stuff like that. So it's all a
matter of tryin' to figure out who you stand with and getting' to know yourself better and
finding yourself. And on top of that maybe like struggling with classes and stuff like that,
so yeah. The transition is important.
The responses from each of the participants shows that, as Critical Race Feminism would
note, the intersectional experiences of Black female students is unique and merits researching
because many students do not have to deal with the experiences of what it means to be Black and
female, and the class issues that may arise from this intersectional identity (Berry, 2009; Evans-
Winters, 2010; Wing 1997; Zamani, 2003). The concept of Blacks as nonhuman as a result of the
afterlife of slavery (Hartman, 2007) has given birth to the current systems, laws, language, and
organizations such as PWIs (Dumas, 2016; Wilderson, 2010; Winters, 2017, September 5). It’s
important because as Black female students, these participants are partaking in a higher
education system that has not included them in the language, laws, policies and/or procedures of
a PWI at its inception, and therefore, has tried to adapt policies to include them.
Did you take race and gender into account?
The participants were asked if they took into account their race and gender when
applying for college and accepting attendance at a PWI. The purpose of this question was to
understand if the participants understood intersectionality and considered it upon their transition
to college. Their responses were as follows,
Nina
I feel like I didn't just because, like I said, my high school, I know what to expect, I
know how I will feel in certain environments. I did look into what clubs they did have
and I felt because there were so many more options, that was a good choice just because

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 125
it's totally different from my high school and I can join some clubs, I can go to events,
and I just went to an event this Saturday for Black excellence and I'm happy that they
have those events and it did help for college experience. I didn't look on my college list
and say, "Okay, so they have a Black club? Do they have a Black club?" I know a lot of
people who grow up in communities where they do have those options for clubs in their
high school, they do want to continue into college, but I didn't have that in high school,
so it wasn't something I checked off my list but it was there for me.
Margaret
I'm going to say no I did not because my dad is always pushed us to find what we want to
do and whether its' what sport we wanted to do, what field of education we were going to
go into. I feel like I focus, I spent so much time on either training or getting to MSU, I
feel like what made me really go to MSU is just the drive I had to get to this campus to
prove that I could get here. And because my high school, I was an average student. I was
just an average B student. And I didn't realize until my senior year, my second semester
that okay, I probably need to do a little bit more to get here. So, once I didn't get in
straight out of high school I just pushed to just get here to this campus and then find my
own identity here.
KeKe
I didn't really much think about the effects of attending a PWI, but I also didn't think
about how would it be if I was attending a HBCU, what would be the differences in the
experience that I would get, but I never really thought much of me attending a PWI.
The participants were asked whether or not they took their identities into account when
choosing to attend a PWI. Neither of them did, but they were able to give honest responses about

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 126
their identity and self-concept. Afro-Pessimism and CRF together raise questions as to how
antiblackness relates to the Black female students’ experience in higher education and whether or
not students would understand these concepts. By not taking into account intersectionality or
even their individual identities into account prior to attending a PWI, the participants had
difficulty noting how antiblackness influenced their perspective in higher education. Yet,
subconsciously, they were able to pick up on different ways in which it manifests itself even if
they did not think about ideas such as natal alienation, or, the way slavery severed Africans’ ties
to their family and to Africa, (Sexton 2016) and how that influenced their psyche and drive to
succeed. Nor did they take into account the afterlife of slavery and how violence impacted the
psyche of Black women as seen in the objectification of the body and its impact Black women
racially and by gender (Dumas, 2016; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Ray, Randolph,
Underhill & Luke, 2017; Sexton 2016).
What is the institution's responsibility?
Each of the participants were asked to determine the institution’s responsibility to Black
female students on their campus. The purpose of this questioning was to see what the students
felt they needed as Black female students in their own voices. Their responses were as follows,
Nina
I think their responsibility is to let students know that they have clubs that do help them
expand your culture or continue on your culture. But, the institution shouldn't limit, how
much we are exposed to our culture or our identity.
Margaret
Probably just to provide, support. And just activities, I mean I was able to go to the
Black Panther screening that they had for the campus. And I thought that was amazing

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 127
that they were able to just bring something so fun in for not only the Black community
but also allowed others. But, it was great to see they were doing this for just everyone to
come in. So, just providing activities for fun and then, support academically. And, yeah.
KeKe
Their responsibility is to protect us. If we come to them with sayings of experiences, of
experiences of racism, it should be their job to immediately handle it and not wait until
things get out of control to want to take control of the situation.
The participants were asked about the institution’s responsibility to them as Black female
students. The students shared that they want to be protected from racial negativity, supported
academically and emotionally, and for the institution to increase their acceptance of other Black
female students to ensure more visibility on campus to create community. PWIs are very
Eurocentric not only in their population but also in the way they support, research and educate
their students (Asher, 2009; Patel, 2016). Black female students require of their institution
increased support for their intersectional identity (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010) which may
include protection from microaggressions on campus from non-Black students and faculty;
understanding from the PWI of how Black bodies are represented in the language, policies, laws
and thought processes they continue to perpetuate (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017;
Sexton, 2016; Wilderson, 2016); and, an increase in representation of Black female students to
ensure community and continued presence in all aspects of university life.
Hope or Wish?
The students were asked what hope or wish did they have for institutional change
regarding their experiences as Black female students beyond the norm and beyond the structures
of the institution. The purpose of this line of questioning was to help the participants think

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 128
outside of themselves and see if they understood the institution in which they attend. The
participants responded as follows,
Nina
I do think so, and I think that's why they come to the schools. They come to see the
change, and they want to be a part of that change. And I think that's very important, not
only to just come to school to get your education, get your degree, get out. You need to
do more with your time. This is a valuable part of your life right now, and I think it's
good to change people's views on you, or, the issue at hand in social media or, the news
at the moment.
Like I said, I hope that they could come in here and, same with me, I haven't
done much on this campus, but, maybe change how someone looks at your culture. I'm
the only person, Black person in my OT club right now, and I just got approached to
maybe be on the E-board, so it's like I think that I could bring my ideas to that, and I want
to make an impact on that club. And, so just make an impact on campus while doing your
great things, getting your degree, going to, graduate school. So, yeah. I'd say I just want
people to understand where I'm coming from, or why I came here and, why I chose
education, and education from this school and, just ... yeah, be more open about what we
do or why we do things.
Margaret
I feel like, there is always room for improvement; there could be more of a Black
presence, especially Black females, just like outside of the athletic world and, in different
fields and everything. We want probably improvement on just the idea of us in higher
education. Yeah. Just finding your own interests on campus, and showcasing it to others

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 129
around you, that, that maybe are still looking to like find what they want to do, or other
interests, and just presenting your experiences as a Black woman, as a student at a PWI,
and just showing different interests, and, to everyone. Whether it's other Black women, or
others.
KeKe
I don't think they maybe require many changes, specifically here at MSU, cause like I
said there aren't many run-ins where we experience racism or injustice and stuff. But I
think they'll probably require change as in the stereotypes that they receive along the
lines of how they [Black students] didn't do anything to get in, or like me personally as
being a student athlete, like, as an athlete you have to do a lot to get in, especially a PWI.
You have to score high on your test scores; you have to have a good GPA. So for
instance, no matter if I had a 1.2 GPA and I was breaking world records, the coach, the
school won't admit me. No matter how fast I am or who I am. So like me personally I
have always had a 3.8, 3.9 GPA. So, most people stereotype that, oh I can just get into
school with a one point something GPA, meanwhile I have a 4.0 and can't get in. But it's
not really like that because MSU is one of the hardest schools to get in. You have many
students with 4.0's that are turned away. I would say yes, as a student athlete you may
have a step higher, cause our talent helps us, but academics plays a role as well.
I would say maybe for there to be more events or things that pertains to us, rather
than everyone, like, as a woman, or things like that. And that we can have more women
speakers that relates to us and that may have experienced maybe things that we
experience. Or other women that attended a PWI and can talk about their experiences and
stuff like that.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 130
The participants shared that their hope and wish for institutional change lies in the
representation and language that surrounds Black female students at a PWI. Each of the
participants makes an argument for increasing the number of Black female students on campus in
order to help change the narrative. An Afro-pessimist perspective would counter that until
society acknowledges past histories and the current language, policies and organizations
surrounding Blacks change will not occur (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017). Critical
Race Feminism would acknowledge the story and voices of Black female students need to be
told; however, changes to policies and procedures at the institutional level need to be changed
(Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). The participants acknowledge an institutional need for
change but may not understand that a societal systemic change is needed in order for that to
occur.
Personal Message
Each of the participants was asked to succinctly convey their lived experience as a Black
female student at a PWI. The purpose of this question was to allow the participants to share how
they felt about their first year experience at a PWI. The responses were as follows,
Nina
I'd say that it's been a good experience for me, just because I did get to see the bad
aspects or the negative aspects of college. But, then it's been good to see how I've
developed with those, the good and the bad, or overcome and not just say, "Oh, I've ... I
didn't do good in this class just because.” [I learned] not to let that affect how I'm going
to further my education. I just let myself look at that as something that didn't get in my
way. It was just an experience that I needed to learn in order to further my education and
how I go about that.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 131
Margaret
Well I'm going to take it as a transfer student. People have told me like, "Oh, it's not
going to be easy being a transfer student" coming in, my dad told me, "Okay, this isn't
going to be easy. You're not going to get that first year experience." And I would let
people know that, that is true. I didn't fully take that in. I'm like, okay, I'll find people in
my classes or just throughout campus. I would tell them that it isn't easy especially like I
said, being my first year without sports and all my friends I've ever made are through
sports. So, having to meet people outside of it is very different and difficult 'cause I don't
know how to. I was instantly put on a team. Like, “we do this together.” We're on the
same relay team. And it, that's just where I got, where I used to find my friends. So the
first year here has definitely been a challenge. But I feel like it's teaching me a lot of
things that I need to learn outside of sports. I need to disconnect myself from sports. Yeah
I can still go to all the events and everything, but I need to find how to function outside of
it.
KeKe
I would convey it as it is much different from your expectations of a HBCU, but despite
being here at a PWI and forgoing the HBCU experience, you'd come out with the same
outcomes you would if you were to attend a HBCU and it's all about how you tackle your
challenges to move forward.
Each of the participants spoke positively of her first year experience at a PWI as a Black
female. They acknowledged difficulties as it related to their identities but considered the
experience to be one of learning. Both Afro-Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism note hope in

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 132
the experience of Black people and Black female students. This requires for changes to happen
systemically on a global spectrum in order to have change at the institutional level.
Conclusion
This chapter explored the findings from the analysis of each participant’s interviews with
the intent to answer the research question presented in Chapter One. The analysis of each of the
participants’ stories was done to answer the research question while looking at their stories
through the lens of two theories including Afro-Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism. The
research question for this study was
1. How do Black female students perceive and characterize their experiences during their
first year at PWIs?
When answering the research question, the participants’ answers revealed that these participants
had very similar lived experiences and perspectives of their first year experience at a PWI as a
Black female student. This chapter allowed for each participant to share her individual story of
their first year at a PWI. Each of the young ladies shared that they identify strongly in their racial
identities and that through that lens, they have noticed that being Black has more influence on
their first year than being a female student. Also, they noted that by being Black on a PWI
opened them up to microaggressions that often challenged their very presence on campus. They
found that assumptions were often made about how they were able to attend the school or that, if
they were accepted to a prestigious PWI, it must be related to being an athlete on scholarship
solely for their athletic ability and not their academic achievement. They also reported feeling
supported by the university in both identities as Black and female, but have not felt strongly
supported as their intersectional identity.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 133
Using a syncretic theoretical lens of Afro-Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism allowed
the researcher to analyze how the participants operationalized their Blackness, determine any
instances of antiblackness, and interpret their ability to exist as Black female students in a
predominantly white educational space. This framework also helped to understand the
participants’ ideas about institutional or structural changes that are needed in order for them to
exist as themselves in the space that was not created for them. In the end, the participants
expressed hope about their current educational space and their place in it even during a time
where society is showing a historical replication of anti-Black racism and disregard for Black
bodies.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 134
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
History is repeating itself. The overt antiblackness, or the disdain or disgust for the Black
that sees Black people as nonhuman brought on with the ontology of slavery, that is present in
media, society and the current political system is happening at a time when Black female
students have increased their attendance at predominantly white institutions (De Walt, 2011;
Dumas & Ross, 2016; Linscott, 2017, NCES; 2011; Wilderson, 2010). Total undergraduate
enrollment in degree granting institutions increased by 31 percent from 13.2 million in 2000 to
17.3 million in 2014 (NCES, 2016). The increase in enrollment of marginalized groups
including, but not limited to, Black female students was important to note because Black women
were able to surpass all other groups in college entrance based upon race and gender with 9/7%
of Black women enrolling into a college or university (United States Census Bureau, 2011). The
concept of Blacks as nonhuman as a result of the afterlife of slavery (Hartman, 2007) has given
birth to the current systems, laws, language, and gratuitous violence that is reflected in America
today and educational organizations, such as predominantly white institutions (PWIs) (Dumas,
2016; Wilderson, 2010; Winters, 2017, September, 5). This is important to note because Black
female students encompassed a unique group of students at a PWI and they deal with the
intersection of their race, gender and class (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Zamani, 2003).
This qualitative study captured an understanding of Black female students’ experiences during
their first year at a PWI during this time of overt anti-Black racism.
Higher education for Black female students was important to research with more students
attending colleges to gain access and equity to the job market post-graduation. Predominantly
white institutions (PWIs) were important to focus on in higher education because in 2001, 87.1%
of Black undergraduates attended PWIs and these institutions accounted for 78.5% of

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 135
undergraduate degrees conferred to Black students (Provasnik & Shafer, 2004). With the
increase of Black female students enrolling into higher education institutions, the transition to
these institutions comes with both academic and socio-cultural challenges (Morosanu, Handley,
& O’Donovan, 2010). Being a Black female student at a predominantly white institution required
the participants to attend to multiple identities that for other students, even other marginalized
women, was not required. This problem was important to address because Black female
students’ experiences at PWIs were not widely reported in educational literature especially from
the voice of Black female students. There was even less literature about how the first year at a
PWI had an influence on the overall academic experience of Black female students. Research
indicated that the first year experience was critical for the overall academic achievement within
post-secondary education. Due to the importance of this time in a student’s higher education
academic career, more information was needed to create the support required for this population
as well as to ensure retention in PWIs, which was necessary for both the students as well as the
institutions they attend (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009; Jamelske, 2008).
Focusing on the stories of Black female students allowed for Black female students to
share their experiences at a PWI that deal with what it means to be both Black and a woman in
an organization that was not initially created for them and has since attempted to adapt policies,
structures, and practices to provide for them with very little academic research available to
ensure that these attempts for equity and access were appropriate and echoed the needs of these
students. To provide university administrators, policymakers, researchers, and student affairs
professionals with an understanding as to how Black female students perceive their experiences
at a PWI during their first year, this study focused on the lived experiences and narratives of
three Black female students who have completed their first year at a PWI. In this qualitative

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 136
study, these young women discussed their perceived experiences during their first year and how
it has been influenced by overt anti-Black racism heavily prevalent in society. Learning from
Black female students about how they perceived and characterized their first year experience at a
PWI allowed for a better understanding on how this unique demographic envisioned their school
experience and explained their needs with their voices.
In this study, the researcher interviewed three self-identified Black female students who
have recently completed their first year at a PWI. These students were purposefully selected
because they identified as female, Black, completing their first year at a PWI, and were actively
seeking to obtain their degrees. The primary form of data collection for this study was
counterstorytelling through multiple interviews (Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). The researcher
conducted multiple semi-structured, open-ended questions. On average the interviews were 35-
45 minutes in length. To answer the research question and ensure credibility of data, the
researcher used strategies when collecting and analyzing the data including member checks
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016); reflexivity (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016; Miles, Huberman, & Saldana,
2014); and, collecting rich, thick descriptions (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Ultimately, the
researcher used these methods to help answer the research question for this study:
1. How do Black female students perceive and characterize their experiences during
their first year at PWIs?
Discussion of Findings
In this final chapter, the findings from this study were centered on the perspectives and
lived experiences of the Black female students first year at a PWI. Their stories were analyzed
using an integrated theoretical framework centered on Critical Race Feminism and Afro-
Pessimism to provide in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of the three Black female

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 137
students. Additionally, this chapter provides suggestions for further research and implications for
practice to work with this unique population at PWIs. The goal was to present the participants’
characterizations and perceptions of their first year experience at a PWI, connections to
literature, and implications for research and practice. Finally, this chapter addresses
recommendations for practice for university administrators, policymakers, researchers and
student affairs professionals as well as the as this study’s limitations.
Syncretism of Theories
This study’s main research question focused on how Black female students perceive and
characterize their first year experience at a PWI. The narratives provided by the participants were
supported by the tenets of Critical Race Feminism (CRF) and Afro-Pessimism. CRF and Afro-
Pessimism worked together to investigate how the historical, political, and social contexts of the
Black experience represented themselves in the individual contexts of Black female students in
predominantly white educational spaces that were neither originally created for them to access
nor have been completely successful in supporting their academic successes (Dumas, 2016; Ray,
Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016; Wilderson, 2016). CRF helped to inform the
Black female students’ experience at a PWI and brought to light the intersectionality of race,
gender, and class in educational spaces (Berry, 2009; Evans-Winters, 2010; Wing 1997). As it
relates to this study, antiblackness, as supported by Afro-Pessimism, helped to operationalize
what race means in CRF. Often when race has been mentioned in educational literature, it was
referring to a simplistic idea of skin color and not how Black people were represented in society
in its language, laws, and systems as nonhuman (Dumas, 2016). For the students, their
perceptions of their experience as Black female students were dictated by their identities as
Black, female, and surprisingly, as athlete (previous and current).

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 138
Identity and Experience
The young Black female students in this study discussed their experience at a PWI in
terms of being Black, female, and an athlete. They defined being Black as discovering an identity
and being proud to identify as Black; being under the watchful eye of and being monitored by
non-Black people; thinking that you have to work twice as hard to prove yourself; a privilege
because of prior experiences; and, having the ability to share those experiences in a
predominantly white educational space. For these participants, antiblackness as represented in
their definitions and experiences showed knowledge, even if subconsciously, that the current
Black experience was a result of the afterlife of slavery. They also demonstrated that they were
trying to see the hope in the experiences anyway. Overall, the participants of this study felt that
as Black students at a PWI, they were able to share their experiences in classes, proudly identify
as Black students at a PWI and, felt they have experienced some degree of support from the
institution as it relates to blackness and speaking out against antiblackness. They each shared that
it was the responsibility of a predominantly white institution to be a safe space for Black students
and that this PWI is partially successful in doing so.
The young Black female students in this study discussed their experience at a PWI in
terms of being Black, female, and an athlete. As women at a PWI, each of the participants felt
that that identity alone has not had much influence on their first year experience at the university.
They each shared that their identity as Black shaped their first year experience more and that as
Black women at a PWI their experience was unique because of the limited visibility of other
Black women on campus. Due to this, each of the participants felt that it was their responsibility
as Black female students to succeed in order to show others that it was possible. This also shaped
the language surrounding Black women for them in higher education in that they saw their

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 139
personal experiences as testimonies of what Black women can do when enrolled in
predominantly white institutions in spite of them attending a PWI. All the participants shared
that the experience of Black female students was considered unique. Each of them shared that
their experience was distinct to them because they are not able to see themselves represented
well across the campus. They asserted that since there is limited visibility of Black female
students that that alone makes their experiences special and that the institution should provide the
necessary resources to help with the transition to a PWI. It is helpful to note this distinctive
demographic because PWIs need to understand the unique voice of Black female students during
a time where being Black is being challenged daily and in various forms (Childers-McKee &
Hytten, 2015; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Linscott, 2017; Ray, Randolph, Underhill, &
Luke, 2017).
The young Black female students in this study discussed their experience at a PWI in
terms of being Black, female, and an athlete. Each of the participants shared that they identify as
athletes either currently or previously. This identity has shaped their first year experience at a
PWI by opening their eyes to academic fields of study they enjoy; helping them look deeply at
Black student athletes’ relationship with PWIs; and, experiencing microaggressions or belittling
by non-Black students who assume they could only attend a prestigious PWI for their athletic
abilities, not their academic talents. Being a Black female student athlete at a PWI, or being a
non-student athlete for the first time, has helped them to evolve during their early academic
career in ways that will shape their outcomes once they graduate. Through the lens of both
Critical Race Feminism and Afro-Pessimism, PWIs deal with Black student athletes, male or
female, in a manner that is a remnant of the afterlife of slavery, (Hartman, 2007) and that little is

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 140
done to dispel the ideas that Black student athletes at a PWI are there mainly because of what
their Black bodies represent, not their academic ability.
Identity and Institution
The participants of this study were asked to analyze their first year experience at a PWI.
This was done by looking at their identities as Black female students and how the experience of
Black female students is shaped during the current political context, which includes a heightened
sense of anti-Black racism and dehumanization of Black bodies. As part of the interview process,
the participants were asked to think about what it means to be a Black female student within the
context of the PWI and what the PWI does to support them in this identity especially during their
first year. Each participant was asked about the importance of studying Black female students at
PWIs during this current political time; whether or not the participants took into account their
intersectional identity when choosing a university; the responsibility of the university to its Black
female students; and their hope for the institution. Lastly, they shared their experiences and how
they wanted them conveyed to the masses.
The participants were asked to share their perspective about the importance of studying
Black female students’ experiences during their first year at a PWI. The purpose of this question
was to see if the students felt that their intersectional experience in a PWI was important and
necessary in educational research (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010). The participants’ responses
showed that, as Critical Race Feminism would note, the intersectional experiences of Black
female students was uncommon and merited researching because many students do not have to
deal with the experiences of what it means to be both Black and female, and the class issues that
may arise within this intersectional identity (Berry, 2009; Evans-Winters, 2010; Wing 1997;
Zamani, 2003). The concept of Blacks as nonhuman as a result of the afterlife of slavery

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 141
(Hartman, 2007) has given birth to the current systems, laws, language, and organizations such
as PWIs (Dumas, 2016; Wilderson, 2010; Winters, 2017, September 5). This concept is
important because as Black female students, these participants are partaking in an higher
education system that has not included them in the language, laws, policies or procedures at the
onset of a PWI, and therefore, has tried to reconstruct policies to include them.
The participants were also asked about whether or not they took into account their
intersectional identity when applying for college and accepting admittance to a PWI. The
purpose of this question was to understand if the participants understood intersectionality and
considered it when looking to choose to attend college. None of the young ladies considered their
race and gender when choosing to attend a PWI but, were able to give honest responses about
their identity and self-concept. By not taking into account intersectionality or even their
individual identities into account prior to attending a PWI, the participants had difficulty noting
how antiblackness influenced their perspective in higher education. Yet, subconsciously, they
were able to pick up on different ways in which it manifests itself even if they did not think
about ideas such as natal alienation, or, the way slavery severed Africans’ ties to their family
and to Africa, (Sexton 2016) and how that influenced their psyche and drive to succeed. Nor did
they take into account the afterlife of slavery and how violence impacted the psyche of Black
women as seen in the objectification of the body and its impact Black women racially and by
gender (Dumas, 2016; Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010; Ray, Randolph, Underhill & Luke,
2017; Sexton 2016). Afro-Pessimism and CRF together presented questions as to how
antiblackness related to the Black female students’ experience in higher education and whether
or not students would understand these concepts.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 142
As part of the interview process, the participants were asked to determine a PWI’s
responsibility to Black female students on its campus. The purpose of this questioning was to see
what the students felt they needed as Black female students in their own voices. An Afro-
pessimist perspective related to this question counters that until society acknowledges past
histories and the current language, policies and organizations surrounding Blacks, change will
not occur (Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017). Critical Race Feminism as it related to this
question acknowledges the story and voices of Black female students needing to be told but, that
changes to policies and procedures at the institutional level need to be changed using the voices
of the population (Evans-Winters & Esposito, 2010).The participants shared that their hope and
wish for institutional change involved the increased representation and altered language
surrounding Black female students at a PWI. Each of the participants made an argument to
increase the number of Black female students on campus in order to help change the narrative.
The participants acknowledged an institutional need for change but may not understand that a
societal systemic change is needed in order for that to occur.
The participants were asked to share their personal message of their lived experience as a
Black female student at a PWI. Each participant spoke positively of her first year experience at a
PWI as a Black female. They acknowledged difficulties as it relates to their intersectional
identity but considered those experiences as tools for learning. Both Afro-Pessimism and Critical
Race Feminism note hope in the experience of Black people including Black female students.
This hope for the participants manifested in each young lady talking about her future goals and
how those goals would be a part of the change required at an institutional level.
When answering the research question, the participants’ responses revealed that these
young ladies have had similar lived experiences and share common perspectives of their first

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 143
year experience at a PWI as a Black female student. These findings allowed for each participant
to share her individual story of their first year at a PWI. The three participants shared that they
identified strongly in their racial identity and that through that viewpoint, they have noticed that
being Black has had more influence on their first year than being female. Additionally, they
noted that by being Black at a PWI it opened them up to microaggressions that often challenged
their very presence on campus. They shared that assumptions were often made about their
attendance at a PWI or that, if they were accepted to a PWI, it must be related to being an athlete
and not their academic achievement. They also reported feeling supported by the university
individually in each identity as Black or female, but have not felt strongly supported as their
intersectional identity.
Using an integrated theoretical lens of Afro-Pessimism and Critical Race Feminism
allowed the researcher to analyze how the participants operationalized their blackness, determine
any instances of antiblackness, and interpret their ability to exist as Black female students in a
predominantly white educational space. This framework also helped to understand the
participants’ ideas about institutional or structural changes that are needed in order for them to
exist as themselves in this educational space that was not created for them. In the end, the
participants expressed hope about their current educational space and their place in it even during
a time where society is showing a historical replication of anti-Black racism and disregard for
Black bodies.
Implications for Practice and Research
This study helped Black female students share their lived experiences as students during
their first year experience at a predominantly white institution. These experiences were important
to acknowledge because they offer an understanding of this unique population’s perceptions

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 144
about who they are within this environment. The presence of anti-Black racism within society,
outside of the bubble that is a university, was something that each student did not feel was deeply
present on the campus. However, they did share however difficulties with microaggressions,
limited visibility, and the need for more resources to help them with their experiences and
transition to a predominantly white institution. The following paragraphs describes the types of
theories and resources that similar Black female students would benefit from as they navigate
their first year at a predominantly white institution.
This study also allowed for two contradicting theories to be used in syncretism to attempt
to merge the two ideas to help with analysis of the participants’ stories. The purpose of this was
to see how CRF and Afro-Pessimism worked together to investigate how the historical, political,
and social contexts of the Black experience represented themselves in the individual contexts of
Black female students in predominantly white educational spaces that were neither originally
created for them to access nor have been deeply successful in supporting their academic, mental
or social successes (Dumas, 2016; Ray, Randolph, Underhill, & Luke, 2017; Sexton, 2016;
Wilderson, 2016). CRF helped to inform the Black female students’ experience at a PWI and
brought to the forefront the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in educational spaces
(Berry, 2009; Evans-Winters, 2010; Wing 1997). As it relates to this study, antiblackness, as
supported by Afro-Pessimism, helped to operationalize what race means in CRF. Often when
race has been mentioned in educational literature, it was referring to a simplistic idea of skin
color and not how Black people were represented in society in its language, laws, and systems as
nonhuman (Dumas, 2016).
At the conclusion of the data analysis, it was difficult for the researcher to fully integrate
two opposing ideas. CRF and Afro-Pessimism do not share similar foundational reasons about

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 145
the struggle and plight of Black people in structures, organizations, and society. CRF narrowly
focuses on higher education, which is one of many systems in Afro-Pessimism. It also fails to
look beyond the Black-white binary in its understanding of Black students’ experiences in higher
education.
Most educational literature focuses on the Black-white comparison, which for Afro-
Pessimism limits the true difficulties Black people have in various areas of society and narrowly
relates to the Black American experience and not a global idea of antiblackness that impacts
Black people everywhere and daily. However, this broad idea of antiblackness is hard to contain
in educational research and is extremely philosophical making it difficult for educational
researchers, as it relates to this study, to apply it in a way that can bring about solutions to
identified problems. Afro-Pessimism does help to bring clarity to the concept of race when
studying Black people in higher education. Nonetheless, the theory is still limiting in its ability to
understand intersectional experiences. Yes, Afro-Pessimism can be used to understand Black
women’s experiences and has tenets that can be used to interpret those experiences, but it does
not incorporate Black women at its core. This is similar to other educational research that focuses
on grouped Black experiences and negates the unique experience of Black women as a
demographic. Implications for future research and practice could include redefining how race is
presented in decolonized educational literature and understanding how that operationalized
definition can influence how Black female students are represented in the language, laws and
systems within higher education.
Implications for Practice
At the conclusion of the interview process, each participant was asked what advice they
would give to a Black female student transitioning into a PWI. Review of the responses showed

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 146
that other Black women should find a community that fits them; to be impactful while attending
a PWI through your education; and, to be confident in the face of adversities that one may
encounter while attending a PWI because they will be present.
The researcher found these recommendations to be consistent with previous studies on
the needs of Black students in higher education particularly Black female students. Shavers and
Moore (2014) studied Black women at PWIs in doctoral programs. Through the lens of Black
Feminist Thought, the authors found two subthemes that emerged from the overall theme of “the
double-edged sword” including prove-them-wrong syndrome and part-of-a-bigger-whole
syndrome. The study found that Black women in doctoral programs at PWIs reflected these
themes as resiliency factors to help them get through their programs. In both a negative and
positive perspective, these Black women felt encouraged by their communities to persist in their
academic pursuits but were left to feeling overwhelmed with a sense of responsibility to these
communities by trying to represent their communities in a positive manner when in PWI
environments (Shavers & Moore, 2014). The Black women also reported being determined to
finish their programs to support others and combat stereotypes (Shavers & Moore, 2016). This
study showed the importance of how Black female students’ persistence related to their personal
stories and was ever present in the psyches of the current participants (McGee & Stovall, 2015;
Shavers & Moore, 2016; Zamani, 2003). Each of them spoke to the need to do better for others
around them and to show that Black women can be successful in these spaces. This is reflected in
their recommendations to be impactful in education.
Community. In support of the recommendation to find a community, review of the
research indicated that when the first year experience (FYE) was studied, it was often explored
through a narrowed lens of the researcher, or concerning a program, and did not take into

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 147
account the voice of the student describing her experience during the first year of attending
college. For example, Jamelske (2008) studied the impact of a FYE program for freshmen
students and how it impacted their grade point averages (GPAs). The author found that with this
program, which included curricular and extracurricular components to help students integrate
into the university community, students’ GPAs were positively impacted; however, retention was
not positively impacted except for with below average students, including female students
(Jamelske, 2008). Museus (2008) found similar results in his study on how participating in ethnic
student organizations is crucial to help students culturally adjust and gain membership at PWIs.
Students reported needing access to these organizations and fellow Black students to help with
developing and securing their identities as well as feeling comfortable in the PWI environment
with something as personal as using informal language (e.g. African American Vernacular
English, AAVE) (De Walt, 2011; Glenn, 2010; Museus, 2008). This is important because it
shows how the voices of Black students reflect a need that is not being addressed in higher
education. The limited response could be due to how the students’ experiences are viewed by
university administrators, faculty and staff, when the popular opinion is that racism is a
perception and not a reality (Harper, 2012).
Opportunities. Each of the participants shared that the university needed to increase the
amount of events and opportunities to build community for Black female students when
transitioning to a PWI. This increase in events and opportunities to build community can have an
impact on a student’s academic performance. This would be important to note for student affairs
professionals and senior-level university administrators. Within a higher education institution
context, administrators can change policies that allow for the creation of programs, events, or
centers for Black female students that help with community building that would have a positive

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 148
impact on retention, academic achievement, and graduation rates and takes into account the
voices and experiences of these students during a time of heightened overt anti-Black racism in
both social, systemic and political contexts (Brownlee, Walker, Lennox, Exley, & Pearce, 2009;
Harper, 2012; Jamelske, 2008). Studying the first year experiences of Black female students in
PWIs can help student affairs professionals to create an environment that produces different
experiences for marginalized groups by developing culturally relevant supports and interventions
that are particular to the dual world of being both Black and a woman (Chavous & Cogborn,
2007; De Walt, 2011; Glenn, 2010; Museus, 2008). These programs and interventions would
benefit the students and the university to work on building a community that can help the
increase of academic and social successes (Briggs, Clark, & Hall, 2012; Morosanu, Handley,
O’Donovan, 2010).
Presence. Lastly, in order for Black female students to feel as though their presence has
impact and that they can face the adversities they will encounter as both Black and a woman,
university professionals need to understand the concept of antiblackness and how it is
demonstrated within the language, laws, policies, and procedures within a predominantly white
educational space. This requires training for all faculty and staff to not only work more
effectively with Black female students and provide programming and safe spaces, but to also
work on being conscious of antiblackness to help them better assist these students effectively on
a daily basis. With enrollment in PWIs increasing, the experience of Black students in this
environment has become important to understand. Research shows that Black students deal with
difficulties before enrollment, such as lack of readiness for the postsecondary experience,
absence of paternal support, or lack of awareness of academic rigor of higher education (Benton,
2001) as well difficulties while enrolled at PWIs such as campus-wide internalized oppression,

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 149
negative classroom experiences, and underdeveloped support systems (Glenn & Johnson, 2012;
Rodgers & Summers, 2008). The participants shared how faculty often do not engage in complex
conversations that relate to their identity of being Black but may often discuss issues related to
being a woman. A PWI can begin with training for current training of faculty and staff on how to
have these discussions with all students as well as hire more diverse faculty and staff members
with similar identities who often can bridge the conversation gap.
Implications for Research
Most of the current literature on Black female students’ experiences at predominantly
white institutions fails to allow these young women to share their lived experiences through their
voices. Research often views their experience through a Eurocentric perspective that justifies
inequalities and normalizes white superiority and/or white supremacy (Perez Huber, 2008).
Therefore, it is recommended that future research focus on Black female students’ experiences in
predominantly white educational spaces through their voices in order for this group to be heard.
It is imperative to acknowledge their lived experiences in order to develop these students during
their academic career and normalize their experiences.
The findings of this study are a starting point in understanding Black female students
perspective using their voices as the main focus. However, more research is needed on this
population of students. There is need for the research to be led by Black female researchers and
conducted through lenses that are non-Eurocentric epistemologies. Although there is an increase
in research done on this population, educational researchers need to focus on how they can
engage in research that creates safe spaces for authentic experiences and voices to be shared.
Furthermore, future inquiry can delve into specific aspects of the first year at a PWI or even how

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 150
Black female students transition to a PWI from the K-12 setting and what is needed to prepare
them academically, socially, and/or psychologically.
An additional area of inquiry could focus on a topic brought up by the participants that
discusses the experiences of Black female athletes. Each of the participants was interested in
knowing more about Black female athletes’ experiences within a predominantly white institution
and their relationships with the universities they compete for. Most of the research on Black
athletes focuses on men. A researcher could focus on the intersectionality of race and gender
within athletics and the lasting effects that may occur on that experience.
One of the limitations to this student was a small number of participants included in the
study. This was due to time constraints and limited location options. In the future, researchers
could interview more Black female students and even conduct a longitudinal study of their entire
first year to better understand their voice and lived experience. Also, it may be helpful to study
upper class Black female students to reflect on their perspective of their first year after
completing a bachelor’s degree and how they would characterize their experience.
The researcher chose to use a thematic approach to present the findings of this study. This
decision was made to present the stories of the participants in a manner that showed both their
similarities and differences. Each of the participants was able to present their perspectives and
voices regarding their experiences at a PWI, yet many of their stories had similarities. Another
option considered by the researcher was to present the stories in a narrative form. The benefit of
a narrative presentation of each participant would help readers to delve into a deeper
understanding of the lives, voices, and experiences of the participants. A thematic approach was
chosen over a narrative approach due to the limitation of time to amass even richer knowledge of
the participants lived experiences as a Black female student at a PWI. It is recommended that

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 151
future research consider longer studies with more interviews to help present a narrative form of
qualitative research to help readers better understand the lived experiences of Black female
students at a PWI.
Moreover, the current study had participants with demographic backgrounds that
contributed significantly to the experiences shared. Two of the participants are twin sisters and
one is a student-athlete. Each of these profiles brings a different layer to the experiences shared
in this study that may not pertain to other Black female students at a PWI. These very specific
backgrounds of the participants presented a perspective that is unique to this study and would
require future studies to delve deeper into whether or not the demographics play a special role in
the lived experiences of Black female students at a PWI. Future research could focus on twin-
siblings attending a PWI together, the experiences of Black female student-athletes at a PWI
and/or how a specific demographic that expands beyond being Black or a female student has an
impact on the lived experiences of that student at a PWI.
Lastly, future research could look to use a theoretical framework that includes both
Critical Race Feminism and Afro-Pessimism. These contradicting theories both leave something
to be desired: CRF does not provide a clear definition of race even though it is specifically used
to study Black women in educational spaces; Afro-Pessimism is new, broad and philosophical
and is difficult to use to determine solutions to identified problems while also not including
Black women at the core of its theoretical tenets. In the future, researchers could use the idea of
antiblackness from Afro-Pessimism to better understand a global concept of race and its
implications in critical race theoretical frameworks such as CRF to better understand how Black
women perform in educational spaces at various stages.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 152
Conclusion
This study aimed to explore the lived experiences of Black female students during their
first year at a predominantly white institution. Using data collected from multiple interviews with
three participants, the findings point to the unique experiences of what it means to be Black,
female, and, at times, an athlete at a predominantly white institution during a time of overt anti-
Black racism in society. The narrative offered in this study advances the combined elements of
Critical Race Feminism and Afro-Pessimism in that it allows Black women the opportunity to
share how the intersectionality of race, gender, and class impacts their individual contexts at a
PWI that is a result of colonization in both research and product especially during a time of overt
antiblackness as seen in the media, society, and political scene.
Furthermore, the findings in this study show the importance of creating spaces for
community building for this group in order to help them continue to develop their sense of
identity so that they can be impactful in their educational choices and handle the psychological
impact of antiblackness as a woman. Lastly, it is important to provide Black female centered
research opportunities for this population. This ultimately allows them to have a platform to
share their experiences to help make impactful change on an institutional, and hopefully, global
level.

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 153
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Student Services, 2003: 5–18. doi:10.1002/ss.103

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 163
APPENDIX A

Solicitation Email

Hello ladies!

My name is Ashley Perryman and I am a doctoral student at the University of Southern
California (USC). I am conducting a study on Black female students’ perspectives on their first
year experience at a predominantly white institution (PWI).

The purpose of this study is to understand your experiences during the first year at this PWI. You
have been chosen to participate because you identify as Black/African American, are a female
student, have recently completed your first year, are attending an institution identified as a PWI,
and are actively working toward your Bachelor’s degree. Please support my efforts to understand
your experiences, so that we can inform the improvements of student services, academic
programs, practices and policies that may serve as barriers for other students at PWIs.

I am looking for volunteers to participate in a set of interviews. To participate, you must be a
Black female student who recently completed her first year at this PWI and is in good standing at
the university.

If interested, please call me (323) 828-3099 or email me at anperrym@usc.edu. I will
immediately contact you to schedule a convenient time and location to meet for the interview.

I look forward to working with you and please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any
questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Ashley Perryman

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 164
APPENDIX B

Selection Screener Survey and Informed Consent Form

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BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 166

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 167

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 168

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 169
APPENDIX C
Interview Protocol and Interview Questions
Interview I
Interviewer:
Hello. Today we are doing our first interview for my dissertation study. Again, thank you for
participating. For the purpose of the recording, I am not going to use your name because when I
do the actual write-ups, it will be anonymous and you will be assigned a pseudonym. That
means, that while we are doing this interview, I will not say anything with your identifying
information. Also, for the purpose of this recording, do you give me permission to audio record
the interview? (Pause for response). Thank you. I’ll be taking notes during the interview.

First, we will go over some demographic information. Some of these questions may be redundant
from the information you filled out on the screener. However, this will help me to obtain more
in-depth responses that could not be obtained from the survey. Any questions before we begin?
(Pause for response). Ok, let’s begin.
Part I
Demographic Questions
1. How old are you?
2. Where were you born?
3. How do you identify your race, ethnicity, and/or nationality?
4. What is your major(s), if you have declared?
5. Did you grow up with both parents or in a single parent household?
6. What level of education did your parents complete?

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 170
7. How did your parents feel about you pursuing your education?
8. Do you have any siblings? If so, how many?
a. What is your birth order among your siblings, if any?
b. Do you have a sibling(s) who completed college? Did that have impact on your
educational goals?
9. How was your experience growing up in your neighborhood?
10. How did you identify yourself during this time of your life?
11. Describe your feelings about your race and ethnicity?
Education Questions
12. Why did you choose this institution?
13. Tell me about your first year experience at MSU.
14. How do you feel about your general college experience at a PWI?
15. How does identifying as Black have influence on your college experience at a PWI?
16. How does identifying as a Woman influence your college experience at a PWI?
17. In comparison to other groups, race or gender, what is different about the Black female
students’ experience?
18. Do you feel that your ethnicity/gender is a barrier or privilege to your first year
experience? Please explain.
19. What does it mean to be a Black woman in higher education for you?
Part II
1. Read/listen to this quote:
a. “...black is in the break, it is fantastic, it is an absented presence, it is a ghost, a
mirror, it is water, air; black is flying and underground; it is time-traveling,
supernatural, inter-planetary, otherworldly; it is in between the lines and it is
postcolonial; black is bulletproof and magical and in every dark corner; black is

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 171
social death, afro-pessimist, afro-optimist, afrocentric, afropunk, afrofuturist,
soulful, neosoul, blues; it is negritude, postslave, always enslaved; black is like
who/black is like me; black is everywhere and everything; it is make-believe and
magic. Black is fantastic…” -- Katherine McKittrick (Commentary: Worn Out,
2017)
i. What is your understanding of what Dr. McKittrick says here?

2. Based on this quote, what does it mean to be a Black student during this current era?
a. Does it differ from what it means to be a Black female student? Please explain.
3. How does this (e.g. being a Black female) influence your college experience at a PWI, if
at all?
4. Did you take this into account prior to choosing to attend this PWI?
a. If so, what are you trying to accomplish, if anything?
5. How does this (e.g. being a Black female) influence your first year at a PWI, if at all?
6. As a Black female student, what would you want someone to know about your first year
experience at a PWI?
7. Do you have a special way/talent to convey that message (e.g. poem, song, dance, video,
meme, etc.)?
a. If not, do you want to share it at our next meeting?

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 172
Interview 2
Interviewer:
Thank you again for coming for the second part of our interviews. Today we are going to have
more of a discussion than a formal interview. I have questions to help us guide the discussion,
but today I want to focus on your lived experiences as a Black female student. More specifically,
I want you to think of our current political times, (e.g. the current president, current movements
within the Black community and America, etc.) and I want you to think about how does a Black
female student deal with societal tensions at an institution that is supposed to foster higher order
thinking, create civilized citizens for society, and prepare students for adult life as an American
citizen. We will discuss topics of despair, hope, change and other areas that pertain to being a
black female student. Any questions? Ok. Let’s get started:
1. What is blackness? And, how would you define anti-blackness?
a) Has it shown up in your experiences as a student at this PWI?
2. During a post-Obama era, what is the narrative of blackness in higher education?
3. Have you experienced any negativity as it relates to being a black woman while attending
this PWI? Please provide an example of a negative experience related to your blackness
or womanness since being on this campus.
4. Why should we discuss the narrative of black female students at PWI when there are
other women of color with difficult experiences?
5. Even with successes of black people, why do black people still have struggles within
higher education?
6. How does the history of black people globally relate to your current experience as a black
student?

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 173
7. What are the contradictions from the historical ways black folks are taught to deal with or
cope with mistreatment?
8. Reports show that Black women are enrolling in college higher than others and that we
are graduating from college. With the increase of black women enrolling in colleges and
the success of black women earning more degrees than black males and/or other
races/gender combinations, why is it important to study their experiences at a PWI?
. What is the importance of focusing on the first year experience?
9. Is the idea of “diversity” and “multiculturalism” a benefit or hindrance to black female
students?
10. What language surrounds black female students at this PWI?
11. Do you feel that the more you pursue education, the further you get away from your
definition of blackness?
12. Do you feel that you have to “perform” or “act-white” to fit into the structures of the
institution?
13. Do you have conversations with other black female students about your experiences? Are
they shared or different? Explain.
14. Do you feel that this institution supports your blackness? Womanness? How do they
show it?
15. Do you think black female students hope or wish for institutional change regarding how
their experiences are perceived? What do you hope or wish for for black female students
in this institution beyond the hopeful situation in front of you (selves, family, how you
show up to class, seen or not seen)?

BLACK FEMALE STUDENTS’ FYE AT PWI 174
16. Do you feel during this current political time, that you can honestly speak about your
experiences as a Black female student in your classes at a PWI or do you feel stifled?
17. Do you feel you can talk about the issues of being black at this institution?
18. Have there been instances on campus where you’ve felt that your blackness has been
challenged?
. Do you feel that there is push-back on blackness at this institution?
19. What is the responsibility of the institution to address experiences or instances of anti-
blackness?
20. What needs to change or end at PWIs in general in order to ensure that the future
experiences of black female students is not like it is now, regardless of whether or not it
is seen as positive or negative?
21. After this discussion, who are you? Is that person allowed to be and/or exist in this
educational space?
22. What hopes do you have beyond the structures of the institution?

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Asset Metadata

Creator Perryman, Ashley Nicole (author)

Core Title Authors of our story: Black female students' experience during their first year at a predominantly White institution through a syncretic lens of critical race feminism and Afro-pessimism

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 10/09/2018

Defense Date 08/24/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Afro pessimism,antiblackness,Black female students,black students,Black women in higher education,Blacks in higher education,critical race feminism,critical race theory,decolonization,first year experience,Higher education,identity,intersectionality,OAI-PMH Harvest,predominantly White institutions,race, gender, and class,syncretism,women in higher education

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Green, Alan G. (committee chair), Hinga, Briana (committee chair), Harper, Shaun (committee member)

Creator Email anperrym@usc.edu,anperryman@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-76344

Unique identifier UC11671809

Identifier etd-PerrymanAs-6801.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-76344 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-PerrymanAs-6801.pdf

Dmrecord 76344

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Perryman, Ashley Nicole

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA