"Hopping on the Tips of a Trident": Two Graduate Students of Color Reflect on Teaching Critical Content at Predominantly White Institutions

Waring, Chandra D. L.; Bordoloi, Samit Dipon

doi:10.5406/femteacher.22.2.0108

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…While all doctoral students share similar sources of stress, some groups experience structural and systemic challenges that add additional barriers to well-being and degree persistence. Doctoral students of color have reported a variety of race-related stressors in the academy, including difficulties connecting with faculty of color for mentorship experiences, microaggressions from peers and faculty, isolation, devaluation of research on race, experiencing "low expectations and high standards," and anxiety around managing racial bias as a classroom instructor (Davis & Livingstone, 2016;Dortch, 2016;Truong & Museus, 2012;Waring & Bordoloi, 2012). There is an intersectionality between race and gender that presents unique challenges for doctoral student women of color, including simultaneous experiences of both racism and sexism in academia (Ramos & Yi, 2020).…”

Section: Doctoral Student Challenges To Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Work Doctoral Student Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Study

Evans

Holmes

Prince

et al. 2021

IJDS

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Aim/Purpose: This descriptive study examines indicators of well-being and sources of emotional connection for social work doctoral students at American institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, work-related burnout, emotional connection to others, and changes in child care among parent respondents. This study also explores if particular groups of doctoral students experience heightened risks to well-being during the pandemic. Background: Social isolation strategies associated with the COVID-19 pandemic present challenges for doctoral student well-being, mental health, professional relationships, and degree persistence. Of particular concern is the potentially disproportionate impact the pandemic may have on the well-being of students who already face additional barriers to degree completion, such as parents and caregivers, as well as those who face obstacles associated with structural oppression, including persons of color, women, and sexual minority (SM) students. Methodology: Baseline data was used from a longitudinal survey study conducted by the authors on social work doctoral student well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N = 297) were recruited through the Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work’s (GADE’s) publicly available list of 89 member institutions in the United States. The majority of respondents identified as women (80.1%), 35% of the sample identified as a person of color and/or non-White race, 30% identified as a sexual minority, and 32% were parents of children under 18 years of age. Contribution: This study contributes to the larger body of literature on factors associated with risk, resilience, and well-being among doctoral students, and it offers a specific exploration of these factors within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study deepens our understanding of social work doctoral students in particular, who have higher rates of doctoral enrollment by women and persons of color than many other academic disciplines. Findings: Emotional connection to loved ones was significantly correlated with lower levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and work-related burnout. Outcomes varied by race, with Black and Asian respondents indicating higher levels of emotional connection to loved ones as compared to White respondents, and Black respondents indicating lower levels of anxiety and depression compared to White respondents. SM respondents indicated significantly lower levels of emotional connection and higher levels of depression and anxiety, as compared to heterosexual respondents. Parents reported receiving substantially less child care assistance than they were before the pandemic, but also reported lower levels of anxiety, depression, and work-related burnout compared to childless respondents. Recommendations for Practitioners: Recommendations for doctoral program directors and chairs include implementing a purposive communication strategy, faculty modeling self-care and boundaries, creating opportunities for connection, scheduling value-added activities driven by student interest and needs, approaching student needs and plans of study with flexibility, and creating virtual affinity groups to help students connect with those facing similar challenges. Recommendation for Researchers: Outcome evaluation studies of doctoral program initiatives and policies to promote student well-being--both during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic-- is warranted. Impact on Society: The COVID-19 pandemic presents complex financial, interpersonal, and programmatic challenges for doctoral faculty and program directors, many of which affect the well-being and mental health of their students. Findings and recommendations from this study may be used to address the needs of doctoral students and support their path to doctoral degree completion. Future Research: Future studies should include measures that tap a broader range of indicators of depression, anxiety, and emotional connection, and additional domains of well-being. Multivariate analyses would permit predictive conclusions, and follow-up qualitative analyses would offer deeper insights into doctoral students’ well-being, coping skills, and experiences within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Section: Doctoral Student Challenges To Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Work Doctoral Student Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Study

Evans

Holmes

Prince

et al. 2021

IJDS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…According to Vargas (1999), in a primarily White campus, the classroom becomes a "contested terrain", and racial minority instructors often embody the image of an "other" when they do not resemble a "stereotypical academic authority figure" (p. 360). Several studies have featured narratives based on the experiences of racial and/or linguistic minority instructors in higher education (e.g., Rodriguez, 2008;Waring & Bordoloi, 2013). These accounts, like those produced by the ITAs in this study, play a critical role in diversifying the understanding of instructors' identities and experiences in higher education.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Exploring Socialization and Teaching Self-Efficacy through a Community of Practice for International Teaching Assistants

Hakkola

Chien

Pelletreau

2020

JoSoTL

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International teaching assistants face unique and often challenging experiences when entering graduate studies in the United States. Challenges include navigating socialization into graduate education, and instructional, linguistic, and social difficulties. Communities of Practice can impart academic knowledge and information to assist with teacher self-efficacy, while simultaneously helping with creating a sense of community for graduate students. This multi-methods case study examined the impacts of a Community of Practice designed to socialize international teaching assistants and improve teacher self-efficacy. Researchers found that participation in this learning community enhanced teaching self-efficacy, heightened self-confidence, strengthened social relationships, and increased participants’ sense of belonging.

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“…It is essential to recognize that these spaces are never neutral or purely meritocratic; they are constructed and maintained by the cultural norms, practices, and values of the individuals and groups who inhabit them. Most Global North university spaces are essentially white spaces and often unwelcoming of BAME staff and students, who may experience marginalization, ranging from subtle microaggressions to more overt forms of discrimination (Harbin et al, 2019: 6; Waring and Bordoloi, 2012), and lack of representation in leadership and decision-making roles.…”

Section: Global North Universities As Hostsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decolonizing the Global North university: Host-guest dynamics and the limits of hospitality

Lau,

Mendes

2024

Arts and Humanities in Higher Education

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This article critically assesses the hospitality premise on which the project-practice of decolonizing the curriculum rests, investigating the texture and limitations of the hospitality that Global North universities seem willing to offer their many Others, including students, staff, and stakeholders, particularly in the form of knowledges and pedagogies. It investigates how the guests-strangers are treated within the Global North Universities, their knowledges posited as a separate category within the epistemic system rather than integrated into being a part of the system; guests relegated to unpaid servants when obliged to shoulder the lion's share of the work in addressing the unfair, racist systems which devalue them and their knowledges. Embedding the discourse of decolonizing the university in and with postcolonial concepts, the article highlights the profoundly unequal power relationships between hosts and guests that continue to inform even the best-intentioned Global North higher education institutions, self-declaredly dedicated to decolonization efforts. It argues for pressing need on the part of the Global North universities to deepen their awareness of the historical legacies of coloniality and its matrix of power, and consequently reflect on the treatment of Global South guests and knowledges. This long, hard look at their role of host is necessary for a true committment to decolonising the university spaces and rendering them genuinely hospitable, and to transforming the unequal power dynamics and the impacts on guests-stranger Others.

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"Hopping on the Tips of a Trident": Two Graduate Students of Color Reflect on Teaching Critical Content at Predominantly White Institutions

Cited by 10 publications

References 33 publications

Social Work Doctoral Student Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Study

Social Work Doctoral Student Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Study

Exploring Socialization and Teaching Self-Efficacy through a Community of Practice for International Teaching Assistants

Decolonizing the Global North university: Host-guest dynamics and the limits of hospitality

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