The Ecology of Experiences for African American Women in Clinical Doctoral Programs

Abstract

African American women must navigate higher education, in particular, clinical doctoral programs, as a gendered racial minority. These women often endure multiple levels of discrimination to obtain their degree. Findings of this study highlight these experiences and suggest the importance of increasing supports for African American women in clinical doctoral programs. Practices and supports should be put in place so that students of color are not marginalized because of their race.Las mujeres afroamericanas tienen que pasar por la educación superior, y particularmente en programas de doctorado clínico, como una minoría racial y de sexo. Estas mujeres sufren con frecuencia múltiples niveles de discriminación para poder obtener su titulación. Los hallazgos de este estudio destacan estas experiencias y sugieren la importancia de incrementar los apoyos para mujeres afroamericanas en programas de doctorado clínico. Deberían implementarse prácticas y apoyos para que las estudiantes de color no sean marginadas por su raza.Palabras clave: mujeres afroamericanas, programas de doctorado clínico, discriminación, ecología, resiliencia R acial disparities are present in higher education for African Americans compared with majority group members. For example, among women who received doctorates, 6.9% were Black, 6.9% were Latina/Hispanic, 52.6% were White, 22.0% were Asian, and 0.2% were American Indian or Native American (National Science Foundation [NSF], 2017b). Although women are more represented than men in clinically focused doctoral programs (see Table 1), there remains a racial disparity among graduates from these programs (NSF, 2017a). To understand the experiences of African American women in these programs, this study focused on the overall environment and experiences of African American women.Although African American women receive more graduate degrees than African American men, there are costs associated with these achievements.

Counselor Education and Supervision: 2019 Annual Review

“…Conceptual work included topics exploring common precursors to racially charged unrest and providing a model for innovative counseling interventions, curriculum development, and advocacy (Hermann‐Turner et al, 2019); epistemological issues of belief justification, assumptions about student learning, and values related to counselor preparation (Wilkinson et al, 2019); and use of experiential activities to prepare mental health counselors to work with refugees, ensuring they understand the unique needs of this population and provide culturally appropriate counseling (Houseknecht & Swank, 2019). Qualitative studies within this subtheme included assessment of the influence of service‐learning interventions in a community‐counseling internship on students' social justice interest (Lee & McAdams, 2019); lived experience of counselors‐in‐training as they engaged in international cultural immersion and service‐learning (Merrell‐James et al, 2019); understanding of how counselor educators infuse multiculturalism and diversity throughout the curricula obtained by analyzing multicultural course offerings, finding themes related to insight, group environment, and social location awareness (Trahan & Keim, 2019); and the importance of increasing supports for African American women in clinical doctoral programs to improve program experience and completion (Horsford et al, 2019). Horsford et al (2019) recommended practices and supports so that students of color do not experience marginalization due to race.…”

“…Qualitative studies within this subtheme included assessment of the influence of service‐learning interventions in a community‐counseling internship on students' social justice interest (Lee & McAdams, 2019); lived experience of counselors‐in‐training as they engaged in international cultural immersion and service‐learning (Merrell‐James et al, 2019); understanding of how counselor educators infuse multiculturalism and diversity throughout the curricula obtained by analyzing multicultural course offerings, finding themes related to insight, group environment, and social location awareness (Trahan & Keim, 2019); and the importance of increasing supports for African American women in clinical doctoral programs to improve program experience and completion (Horsford et al, 2019). Horsford et al (2019) recommended practices and supports so that students of color do not experience marginalization due to race. Their research also included a focus on trainees' anxiety when talking about their faith and perceived fear of eliciting negative judgments, leading participants to avoid talking about their religion or defending it against what they believed to be negative perceptions of their beliefs.…”