Photo Credit: http://itooamoxford.tumblr.com/
The
challenges Black people have endured in pursuit of education, in this country,
is no secret. The disparities in economic prosperity and wealth attainment
after earning a degree is also no secret. However, what may be a lesser known
fact is the lack of representation for this demographic within Psychology. Out
of the near 87,000 psychologists actively practicing in the United States, only
5% are Black (APA, 2015). Within this group, the disparity of Black
psychologists is lower for women—about 70% in the gender gap in this workforce
(APA, 2015). This is not also considering the wage gap that is also present for
Black women across occupations. These obstacles, alone, present their own
issues with attainting professional success when considering their place in a
society that has often oppressed their access to education. However, what is
less known is the social stigma of achieving an education within the Black
community.
This stigma experienced
by Black women is a form of misogynoir. Misogynoir is defined as “anti-Black,
racist misogyny Black women experience” (Bailey & Trudy, 2018). More or
less, this is the experience of discrimination within the Black community. The
acceptance of Black women earning a college and/or graduate education is a
socialized norm within our dominant, White society (Johnson, 2017). This is
also considered a milestone, of course, within the Black community. Conversely,
this socialized acceptance does not necessarily constitute a cultural norm
within the Black community. In some ways, a Black woman earning a college
degree is potentially negative.
Using the same
conceptualization of the feminist construct, the more education a woman
achieves, her autonomy and independence increases. There is this fear within the
Black community that if a woman is too independent, she will not need a man.
Mind you, this is strictly considering heteronormative customs within society.
Black women share a unique intersectionality between their identity as Black
women and a scholar (Corbin et al., 2018). The intersectionality stands to be
further bifurcated within their community. Lower socioeconomic communities
historically do not value education as much as communities of higher
socioeconomic status (White, 1982); hence, lower degree attainment (Mirowsky,
2017). This presents a gap in the literature on the subject.
Future research must be
conducted to explore the impact of misogynoir on the Black women pursuing
education. There are many perspectives to be considered such as:
1.
The value of education;
2.
How much of the value is learned?
3.
How is pursuing an education perceived as an obstacle
intrapersonally and interpersonally? And,
4.
How is their identity development and formation affected?
Written by Tahlia Bragg, M.A.
References
American Psychological Association. (2015).
Demographics of the US psychology workforce:
Findings from the
American Community Survey. Washington, DC: Author.
Bailey, M., & Trudy. (2018). On misogynoir:
citation, erasure, and plagiarism. Feminist Media
Studies, 1-7.
Corbin, N. A., Smith, W. A., & Garcia, J.
R. (2018). Trapped between justified anger and being
the strong Black woman:
Black college women coping with racial battle fatigue at historically and
predominantly White institutions. International Journal of Qualitative
Studies in Education.
Johnson, Olivia Ann, "Black Girl Magic?:
Negotiating Emotions and Success in College Bridge
Mirowsky, J. (2017). Education, social
status, and health. Routledge.
White, K. R. (1982). The relation between
socioeconomic status and academic
achievement. Psychological
bulletin, 91(3), 461.
No comments:
Post a Comment