University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Redefining the Black superwoman: Racial and gender microaggressions at predominantly white institutions

King, Tanisha

Content Files
KING-DISSERTATION-2019.pdf
Tanisha_King-Taylor_Women_s_March_Speech.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/104844

Description

Title
Redefining the Black superwoman: Racial and gender microaggressions at predominantly white institutions
Author(s)
King, Tanisha
Issue Date
2019-04-17
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Brown, Ruth N.
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Brown, Ruth N.
Committee Member(s)
  • Zerai, Assata
  • Mendenhall, Ruby
  • Dixson, Adrienne
Department of Study
Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp
Discipline
Educational Policy Studies
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2019-08-23T19:55:39Z
Keyword(s)
strong Black woman, Black superwoman, gendered racism, microaggressions
Abstract
Using auto-ethnography, this dissertation shares personal experiences through self-reflection of the use of the Strong Black Woman and Black Superwoman archetypes. This dissertation also uses focus groups to obtain a representative of voices of Black women’s experiences at a large Midwestern predominantly white institution. The work explores the relevance of racial and gender microaggressions to the phenomena of the Strong Black Woman (SBW) or Black Superwoman (BSW) archetypes. Within traditional literature, unique experiences of Black women have been lacking, specifically in terms of microaggressions. Moreover, Black women’s experiences at predominantly white institutions (PWI) have been documented as being unwelcoming, where Black women don’t feel a sense of belonging. In turn, the archetypes of SBW or BSW have become a response to cope and/or resist instances of subtle racism. As such, the primary goal of this dissertation is to explore the experiences Black female students have at one particular predominately white campus in order to enhance our understanding of the use of SBW and BSW. Findings indicate that the archetypes SBW and BSW are not interchangeable, contrary to previous literature.
Graduation Semester
2019-05
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104844
Copyright and License Information
© 2019 Tanisha King-Taylor

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