Career Narratives of African American Female College Students: Insights for College Counselors

Abstract

The authors collected narrative data from 11 African American female college students at a predominantly White institution using the Career Construction Interview (Savickas & Hartung, ), the Future Career Autobiography (Rehfuss, ), and a qualitative career experiences questionnaire. Using the constant comparison method (Strauss & Corbin, ), the authors uncovered 4 overarching themes based on the unique experiences of participants. The authors present insights for college counselors providing career development services.

Understanding Influences of Development on Black Women’s Success in U.S. Colleges: A Synthesis of Literature

“…All authors of the 38 empirical articles illuminated navigating the educational matrix required Black women to understand their identity(ies) and developmental processes as part of the institution wherein they were positioned (Greyerbiehl & Mitchell, 2014; Hotchkins, 2017; Storlie et al, 2018). Black women grappled with and gained a deeper understanding of their identities (and their “place”) through interactions with White students, other students of Color, specifically Black women, and faculty and staff on campus.…”

“…Example categories for this final theme included the following: storytelling and counterspaces influenced Black women’s understanding of who they were individually and in relation to others (Porter & Dean, 2015; Roland & Agosto, 2017); incongruence with campus community and local city due to dominance of bicultural (White and Hispanic) environment (Bonner et al, 2015); culturally specific group counseling approaches (Jones et al, 2016; Jones & Sam, 2018); need for role models/support agents who understand how racism, sexism, and intersectionality work (Croom et al, 2017; Miller, 2017); and [in these spaces] support and affirmation of Black women’s intersectional identities (Greyerbiehl & Mitchell, 2014; Storlie et al, 2018). In their examination of Black women resident assistants, Roland and Agosto (2017) named these counterspaces as safe.…”

“…More recently scholars have furthered earlier works by adding to and broadening the discourse on Black women in college (Banks, 2009; Chambers & Sharpe, 2012; Commodore et al, 2018; Patton & Croom, 2017; Patton, Crenshaw et al, 2016; Patton et al, 2018; Winkle-Wagner, 2008). Examinations of, with, and alongside Black women have consisted of their identity intersections (Hannon et al, 2016; McGuire et al, 2016; Patton & McClure, 2009; Porter & Dean, 2015; Porter et al, 2020), academic development and success (Jackson, 2013; McPherson, 2017; Porter et al, 2018; Russell & Russell, 2015), and career development (Storlie et al, 2018).…”

Familial and Social Influences in Career Exploration for Female Youth of Color

“…Specifically, 65% of African American children and 62% of Latino/a children live with families from a low-income background compared to just 31% of White children (Jiang, Ekono, & Skinner, 2016). Marginalization and discrimination centered on the African American race and female gender continue to impact the world of work and educational institutions providing improved access to tomorrow’s jobs (Storlie, Lara, Duenyas, Eastman, & Glavin, in press).…”