Negotiating Power, Developing Trust: Transgressing Race and Status in the Academy

Abstract

Exploring the experiences of African American students engaged in doctoral studies reveals disturbing realities. In this article, we use narrative inquiry to engage in a collaborative project between two White faculty members and three African American graduate students. Transgressive pedagogy provided a conceptual framework for both our initial study and our subsequent reflections on the need to create supportive networks for graduate students of color in the academy. In the project we conversed and reflected about how our understanding of race and status had an impact on our experiences in the academy. Our study contrasted student experiences in environments in which students expressed feeling like “casualties of war” with those in which they expressed feeling like valued colleagues. We found that unspoken assumptions about race and status often created a turbulent climate for the participating African American doctoral students and White faculty members who shared values of inclusivity.

"Difficult yet rewarding": The experiences of African American graduate students in education at an Ivy League institution.

“…According to the literature, African American graduate students frequently sense that their perspectives are not valued in the classroom. According to Gasman et al (2004), African American graduate students often feel academically isolated in the classroom due to the lack of alignment between their viewpoints and those of their white professors. In addition, graduate students of color frequently feel discouraged from participating in class discussions if there are no other minority students in the classroom (Pruitt & Isaac, 1985).…”

“…In addition, graduate students of color frequently feel discouraged from participating in class discussions if there are no other minority students in the classroom (Pruitt & Isaac, 1985). Furthermore, due to the “risky” nature of addressing racial issues, faculty members may not feel comfortable addressing these issues within the classroom (Gasman et al, 2004, p. 697).…”

“…In terms of curriculum, many faculty members and institutions have historically privileged Eurocentric knowledge in the classroom (Pruitt & Isaac, 1985). Due to the lack of inclusion of alternative racial and ethnic perspectives, this prevalent Eurocentrism often creates an inhospitable environment for African American graduate students (Gasman et al, 2004). For example, in their study of 26 women of color in a sociology Ph.D. program, Margolis and Romero (1998) noted that the graduate school experience “simultaneously reproduces gender, race, class, and other forms of inequality” (pp.…”

“…For instance, dissertation topics that focus on African American issues may be considered “unworthy” by some white faculty (Pruitt & Isaac, 1985, p. 534). Additionally, due to scrutiny by colleagues and professors, African American graduate students may feel that it is necessary to “prove themselves” academically above and beyond their classmates (Gasman et al, 2004; Pruitt & Isaac, 1985, p. 534). This finding underscores the reasons why African American graduate students may flounder when their insight and research topics are not valued in the classroom.…”

“…As defined by Claude Steele (1999), stereotype threat is “a situational threat… that, in general form, can affect the members of any group about whom a negative stereotype exists” (p. 94). Based on this definition, one participant in Gasman et al's (2004) study spoke about how stereotype threat may cause African American students to question their compatibility with academic life, which could negatively influence their graduate school experience. Taylor and Antony's (2000) study also found that “the experience of negative stereotyping… was universal” among African American study participants (p. 189).…”