This book explores the experiences of gifted Black women doctoral graduates, featuring narratives of their challenges related to race, gender, parenthood, class, and first-generation status offering discussion on the role of community and academic support in their success. Delivering concrete guidance on navigating the challenges of doctoral programs, this critical text draws on endarkened epistemology, recognizing the nuanced path gifted Black women walk in the academy. Accessible and evocative, this collection highlights the role of academic and social sisterhood, supplying a much-needed contribution to the ongoing discussion around race, academic achievement, gender, and mental health.

The intersection of black feminism and gendered racism has formed a complex narrative that impacts black women's leadership, specifically in predominantly white workspaces. As society wrestles with persistent gender and racial disparities, the stories of black women stand out as both bold and brilliant but stifle their professional opportunities and experiences in academia and education. Despite standing as the most educated demographic nationally and displaying unmatched levels of labor market participation, black women are alarmingly scarce in leadership roles across sectors, also facing significant challenges as educational leaders. Their ascent to higher positions is often impacted by barriers stemming from damaging stereotypes such as the "angry black woman" or the dangerous transition from being perceived as a "work pet" to a "work threat." Against this backdrop, Sharing the Legacy and Narrative Leadership Experiences of Black Women in Education explores black women's challenges, unraveling the narratives that need attention, understanding, and urgent action. Sharing the Legacy and Narrative Leadership Experiences of Black Women in Education invites readers to step into the shoes of black women as leaders in academia and education, providing an authentic and raw glimpse into their experiences. The book challenges societal workplace expectations and attempts to reshape conversations around how intersectionality cross-connects with diversity, equity, and inclusion. By intertwining powerful storytelling with compelling research, it seeks to dismantle the barriers that have hindered the progress of black women with a focus on offering relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest academic research. The book empowers leaders, educators, and organizations to become allies in the fight for a more equitable workplace for black women in leadership. It envisions a future where black women can feel empowered to be authentic while thriving and leading with unapologetic determination.

This book seeks to understand the complexities of talented and high-performing Black girls and women in STEM across the P-20 trajectory. Analogously, this volume aims to understand the intersections between giftedness, its identification, and racial, gender, and academic discipline identities. The dearth of literature on this subject suggests that Black girls and women have unique experiences in gifted programming, in large part because of factors associated with gifted programs in general. Key factors affecting Black students, and Black girls in particular, are identification and underrepresentation. These factors can be shaped by interlocking systems of racism, classism, gender bias, and other forms of oppression. Teachers in the P-12 educational system are the first identifiers for gifted programming and look for student characteristics, such as natural leadership, inquisitiveness, and students’ desire to be in gifted programs. Because many Black girls are stereotyped and teachers rarely have deep understanding of cultural differences, Black girls are less likely to be identified for gifted programming. More specifically, Black girls’ lack of representation in gifted mathematics or STEM programs contradicts research that finds that girls reach several developmental advantages ahead of boys. For example, research has shown that girls talk and read earlier, receive higher grades in elementary school, and drop-out less often than boys. Other studies have also shown that Black girls have higher mathematics career aspirations than their White and Latina female peers; yet, they are rarely represented in gifted math and Advanced Placement (AP) math programs. Furthermore, the underrepresentation of urban, low-income African-American students in gifted education is related to low test scores, student and family choice, a lack of teacher referral, and a mismatch between home and school cultures. Some high-performing Black girls and women are participating in programs that nurture and support their racial and gender identities and contribute to them developing into strong and efficacious girls and women who have agency in their lives. This anthology includes studies that illustrate the complexities of intersectionality in various STEM programs, while also demonstrating that increasing access to STEM for Black girls and women is doable.

Over and over, studies have concluded that the doctoral experience is a monumental challenge in higher education, particularly for women. This book, Women Scholars: Navigating the Doctoral Journey, provides an enlightening ethnographic look at women and their doctoral developmental experiences. The book’s aim is to empower women to be able to contextualize their experience while also offering support and inspiring readers to consider alternative ways to successfully approach the doctoral process. Women anticipating and entering the life of academia will benefit from the voices and experiences shared by the women scholars in this book. The essay writers in this volume offer an examination of critical incidents in their doctoral experiences and offer strategies they have found helpful in managing those incidents. The book also addresses challenges presented by the transition from doctoral study to post-doc employment. The volume presents 46 essays from 40 women representing a range of ages, ethnicities, academic disciplines, sexual orientations, family circumstances, and family educational histories. Their stories are told in five stages: Stage 1: Preadmission to Enrollment Stage 2: First Year of Program Stage 3: Second Year Through Candidacy Stage 4: The Dissertation Stage Stage 5: Completion and Transition to Employment These are stories of empowerment, of pitfalls and barriers overcome, of successful negotiations of the graduate school process, of the joys and challenges of scholarly pursuits, of positive help-seeking behaviors and strategies, and of life after the dissertation is completed. Potential applicants for doctoral studies will walk away with a sense that graduate education is possible and that one can be successful. Higher educators in doctoral programs, as well, will acquire a deeper understanding and appreciation for the idiosyncratic challenges facing their female students and, one hopes, develop policies and/or strategies and behaviors that empower and encourage these students’ completion of their doctoral studies.

Black women in higher education continue to experience colder institutional climates that devalue their presence. They are relied on to mentor students and expected to commit to service activities that are not rewarded in the tenure process and often lack access to knowledgeable mentors to offer career support. There is a need to move beyond the individual resistance strategies employed by Black women to institutional and policy changes in higher education institutions. Specifically, higher education policymakers and administrators should understand and acknowledge how the race and gender makeup of campuses and departments impact the successes and failures of Black women as they work to recruit and retain Black women graduate students, faculty, and administrators. Black Women Navigating Historically White Higher Education Institutions and the Journey Toward Liberation provides a collection of ethnographies, case studies, narratives, counter-stories, and quantitative descriptions of Black women's intersectional experience learning, teaching, serving, and leading in higher education. This publication also provides an opportunity for Black women to identify the systems that impede their professional growth and development in higher education institutions and articulate how they navigate racist and sexist forces to find their versions of success. Covering a range of topics such as leadership, mental health, and identity, this reference work is ideal for higher education professionals, policymakers, administrators, researchers, scholars, practitioners, academicians, instructors, and students.

Former First Lady, Michelle Obama believes that every individual should have some type of postsecondary education or training beyond high school to achieve economic and personal success (Reach Higher Initiative, Better Make Room, 2019). Educational attainment (e.g., a high school diploma, college degree, or postsecondary training) provides career opportunities for advancement into leadership positions and benefits such as health insurance and retirement (Heckman, 2000). Additionally, an individual with a college degree can make over one million dollars more over a lifetime in salary than someone with a high school diploma (Carnevale, Cheah, & Hanson, 2015). Acquiring a college degree can lead to employment opportunities and is considered an asset in the U.S. economy (Washington, 2010). However, certain populations encounter barriers to attaining an education, particularly a postsecondary education, leading to a disparity in receiving the aforementioned benefits. Some of these populations include African American students, LGBTQ students, and students with disabilities. There is a dearth of information and research on providing guidance on implementation, research, and best practices in equity-based career development, college readiness, and successful postsecondary transitions for minoritized, at risk, or vulnerable populations. The editors of this volume invited authors with research and practice expertise around various student populations in preparing them for college and career readiness as well as postsecondary transitions. This book is the first of its kind to discuss career development and postsecondary transitions from an access and equity perspective. Further, this text serves as a call to action to ensure the United States’ most vulnerable populations has an opportunity to successfully transition into multiple postsecondary options after high school.

Embracing Queer Students’ Diverse Identities at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Primer for Presidents, Administrators, and Faculty is both a call to action and a resource for historically Black college and university (HBCU) leaders and administrators, focusing on historical and contemporary issues related to expanding inclusionary policies and practices for members of HBCU communities who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+). The essays, by HBCU presidents, faculty, administrators, alumni, and researchers, explore the specific challenges and considerations of serving LGBTQ+ students within these distinct college and university settings, with the ultimate goal of summoning HBCU communities, higher education scholars, and scholar-practitioners to take thoughtful and urgent action to support and recognize LGBTQ+ students. With this book as a primary resource, HBCUs can work toward becoming fully inclusive campus communities for all of their students.