(2013). African American Faculty Women Experiences of Underrepresentation in Computer Technology Positions in Higher Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Walden University. African American women are underrepresented in computer technology disciplines in institutions of higher education throughout the United States. Although equitable gender representation is progressing in most fields, much less information is available on why institutions are still lagging in workforce diversity, a problem which can be lessened by hiring African American women in computer technology-related fields. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of African American female faculty about race underrepresentation in higher education. The critical race theory and Black feminist thought theory provided the conceptual framework of this study. Using a phenomenological approach, the primary data source was the interview. The sample was comprised of 8 African American faculty women from 1 southwestern state. Data were analyzed using a combined process of open coding, categorizing, and comparison for similarities and emerging themes. Nine themes emerged from the data:… [Direct]
(2013). The Native American Persistence in Higher Education: A Journey through Story to Identify the Family Support to Native American Graduates. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Idaho. This Indigenous Framed Research will utilize counter-storytelling through shared collaborator stories provided by Nez Perce Native American Graduates. The methodology is shaped by an Indigenous Framework as this form of research promotes and develops a culturally resonant environment for constructing, analyzing and sharing information. The foundation of an Indigenous Framework is to maintain the 3R's of Respect, Reciprocity and Relationality. Incorporating the 3R's in this research will aid to contextually analyze the family support the Nez Perce graduates were provided to persist to graduation from a public, four-year Institution of Higher Education. This Indigenous Research framework and arguments framed in Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) are central in analyzing the experiences that Native peoples have faced in the past and continue to face in the present, which are based on the unique relationship Native Americans have with the U.S. Government. By utilizing the… [Direct]
(2009). The Color of Money: School Funding and the Commodification of Black Children. Urban Education, v44 n5 p545-570. This article explores the roles of racism and Whiteness in the decentralized governance structure and practice of a weighted student formula funding policy in an urban, West Coast school district. Specifically, it examines the ways in which a racialized struggle for fiscal authority played out at one urban high school where the immense racial disparities in education and achievement were starkly highlighted. The analysis of this struggle is framed by Critical Race Theory and suggests that Whiteness operates as a form of property that maintains White racial dominance in schooling and achievement. (Contains 2 notes.)… [Direct]
(2020). Without Borders: Youth Debaters Reimagining the Nature and Purpose of Public Dialogue. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, v19 n3 p253-267. Purpose: This paper aims to analyze how a group of middle-school debaters integrated their identities and epistemologies into the traditional literacy practice of debate to advocate for more expansive and inclusive forms of academic and civic discussion. The adult and youth co-researchers of the Debate Liberation League (DLL) detail their creation of a critical debate praxis through the use of spoken word and translanguaging and illustrate how they sought to redesign a foundational activity of English Language Arts on their own terms. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing upon critical race and borderlands theories, the authors use critical ethnographic and participatory action research methods to explore how the DLL deconstructed the boundaries of what counts as public dialogue and offered an alternative model of what intergenerational and multi-voiced democratic discourse could look like in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms and beyond. Findings: The findings demonstrate how DLL… [Direct]
(2011). Intersectionality and Race in Education. Routledge Research in Education. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group Education is a controversial subject in which difficult and contested discourses are the norm. Individuals in education experience multiple inequalities and have diverse identifications that cannot necessarily be captured by one theoretical perspective alone. This edited collection draws on empirical and theoretical research to examine the intersections of "race," gender and class, alongside other aspects of personhood, within education. Contributors from the fields of education and sociology seek to locate the dimensions of difference and identity within recent theoretical discourses such as Critical Race Theory, Judith Butler and "queer" theory, post-structural approaches and multicultural models, as they analyze whiteness and the education experience of minority ethnic groups. By combining a mix of intellectually rigorous, accessible, and controversial chapters, this book presents a distinctive and engaging voice, one that seeks to broaden the understanding of… [Direct]
(2013). Factors Associated with Couples and Family Therapy Students' Racial Awareness. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Minnesota. Racial awareness is a critical foundation to Couples and Family Therapists (CFT) being able to confront issues of race and racism with their clients. Current CFT literature has used qualitative methods to conclude that when strategies focused on issues of race and racism are competently incorporated across several domains of CFT education and training, students' racial awareness is increased. This study extends the current literature by quantitatively examining the relationship between several factors–including CFT graduate coursework and clinical supervision–and CFT students' racial awareness. Participants for this study consisted of 78 white and non-white CFT master's and doctoral students from various accredited CFT programs nationwide. Participants completed an on-line survey measuring their racial awareness, personal experiences with racism, and perceived exposure to racially competent coursework and clinical supervision. Students' personal experiences with racism as well as… [Direct]
(2013). African American Males' Success in Completing High School: The Impact of Mentoring Programs. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Walden University. Within a local school district, the dropout rate among African American males is among the highest in the United States. There is ample research on these dropout rates among African American males; however, what remains understudied are the experiences of young African American males who have successfully negotiated 4 years of high school to graduate, despite the dropout rate. The purpose of this case study was to understand the success of 6 African American male high school graduates aged 18 and 19 years. Using the critical race theoretical foundation, data were collected through in-depth interviews, questionnaires, and document analysis to examine the research questions regarding the influence of informal and formal mentoring programs on these young men in completing high school. Data were analyzed through content analysis and coding, from which themes emerged that addressed the research questions. According to study results, informal and formal mentoring programs have had a… [Direct]
(2012). Trespassing Barriers: Researching the Experiences of Latina Immigrants in a Community College Bilingual Early Childhood Program. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Colorado State University. There has been much debate on the politics and pedagogies of bilingual education in K-12 schools, but conspicuously absent in this debate are institutions of higher education. English-only ideologies are deeply embedded and rarely questioned in U.S. institutions of higher education, which predominantly require English language proficiency to access college-level coursework. Working within the intersections of critical race theory and participatory research, I engaged Latina immigrant students participating in a community college bilingual early childhood degree program as "research collaborators" in examining the influences of this program on their lives. Their stories, shared in a community narrative, reveal how this program opened the door to college access and empowered them as students, mothers, professionals, and advocates. In my discussion of our findings I highlight the capital Latina immigrant students bring to their academic journey, critique the English-only… [Direct]
(2012). Problematising the Role of the White Researcher in Social Justice Research. Ethnography and Education, v7 n3 p363-380. This article contributes to the debate on decolonising methodologies in qualitative research by considering how a white researcher can try and destabilise white supremacy when explicitly conducting research with social justice aims. It draws on data from a recent ethnographic study of minority ethnic pupils' experiences in secondary schools in England and interrogates the tensions between the research aim to challenge racial stereotyping in education and issues of race and power emerging from the research process. This article investigates specifically the ways in which interaction is shaped by–frequently hidden, particularly to those privileged by them–structures of white supremacy. Developing an innovative analytical framework which draws on insights from both critical race theory and the work of Judith Butler, the researcher problematises issues of voice and representation in conducting social justice research. It is argued that an approach which engages with elements of both… [Direct]
(2012). What Does Racism Have to Do with Leadership? Countering the Idea of Color-Blind Leadership: A Reflection on Race and the Growing Pressures of the Urban Principalship. Educational Foundations, v26 n1-2 p67-84 Win-Spr. Much of the history and study of leadership in general has omitted \other\ perspectives in the literature. The same is true in educational leadership in general, and the principalship in particular. The discourse of the history of African Americans and their struggle to achieve equity in education has been enhanced by the work of noted scholars. However, this story is not complete without a discussion of the lives of African-American leaders, especially principals. It is also important that these histories are reported from perspectives of African-American scholars who do not present them from a deficit perspective. The purpose of this article is to disrupt the broader societal narrative of effective African-American principals of urban schools as portrayed in movies and media. The author is using critical race theory (CRT) as an analytical framework and relying on its themes to construct a counternarrative that challenges general societal assumptions about African Americans in… [PDF] [Direct]
(2010). Shadows of Transformation: Inclusion and Exclusion of Academic Staff at a University of Technology. South African Journal of Higher Education, v24 n6 p935-952. A study of academic staff at a South African university of technology used questionnaires and interviews to understand perceptions and experiences related to inclusion and exclusion. Taking critical race theory as the theoretical framework, the study revealed high levels of anger amongst staff of different racial identities. Expressions of alienation related to racism were particularly high from African staff members. The response rate by Indian men was particularly low. Indian and white women were more likely to report a sense of exclusion than men from these groups. While whites tended to feel included, there was some resentment over affirmative action. Issues of gender and class also arose but seldom separately from discussions of race. The prevailing neoliberal discourse of universities is seen as one factor that impedes transformation. Recommendations are made to assist the institution to become more genuinely inclusive. (Contains 3 tables.)… [Direct]
(2011). In Search of Excellence in Education: The Political, Academic, and Curricular Leadership of Ethel T. Overby. Journal of School Leadership, v21 n4 spec iss p521-547 Jul. This article examines the educational leadership of the first African American female principal in Richmond, Virginia: Mrs. Ethel Thompson Overby. It seeks to ascertain, through a historical framework utilizing critical race theory, how this particular educational and instructional leader conceptualized academic achievement given the context of segregation, known for its lack of resources, physical inadequacies of facilities, underfunded schools, underpaid teachers, and limited social, political, and economic power of students and their communities. More important, this research assesses what measures Overby as a school leader developed to foster the academic achievement and excellence of urban African American youth at the Elba School. We argue that this research documents how one African American female principal and her teachers conceptualized achievement beyond test scores to include other measures of achievement, such as educational access, critical and cultural literacy,… [Direct]
(2011). Cultural Vibrancy: Exploring the Preferences of African American Children toward Culturally Relevant and Non-Culturally Relevant Lessons. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, v43 n2 p279-309 Jun. Despite the laudable intent of various educational initiatives in raising the achievement level of all children, limited progress has been made. In an effort to diminish the achievement gap of students of color, some researchers have examined the cultural relevancy of the curriculum in promoting student achievement. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the preferences of African American children toward culturally relevant and non-culturally relevant lessons, through a six-week series of lessons in an American History classroom. Critical Race Theory and Racial Identity Development provided the theoretical underpinnings of this study. This study takes place in an ethnically diverse high school in Colorado. Culturally relevant lessons were rich in oral traditions, music, historical connections, and a structured culturally relevant field trip. Non-culturally relevant lessons were administered devoid of cultural referents, and utilized the existing curriculum guide…. [Direct]
(2011). Becoming White: Reinterpreting a Family Story by Putting Race Back into the Picture. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v14 n4 p421-433. Many teacher educators attempt to prompt teacher candidates, who are usually majority white, to examine themselves as culturally and historically located beings in order to prepare for multicultural and anti-racist teaching. But with white teacher candidates in colonialist societies, this work is difficult. Family history stories that white teacher candidates tell tend to disassociate individuals from the context of race and class relations in which they lived. Using insights from Critical Race Theory, critical whiteness studies, and post-positivist realist identity theory, I probe below the surface of a \heroic individual\ story I grew up hearing about one of my immigrant great-great-grandmothers. This paper reports detailed historical research that situates her life in a social and cultural context, thereby making racism visible. Using a research methodology I am calling \critical family history,\ I uncover the story's silences related to her claiming of a white identity in the… [Direct]
(2011). On Negotiating White Science: A Call for Cultural Relevance and Critical Reflexivity. Cultural Studies of Science Education, v6 n4 p941-950 Dec. This article is a response to Randy Yerrick and Joseph Johnson's article \Negotiating White Science in Rural Black America: A Case for Navigating the Landscape of Teacher Knowledge Domains\. They write about research conducted by Yerrick in which videos of his teaching practice as a White educator in a predominately Black rural classroom were examined. Their analysis is framed through Shulman's (\1986\) work on \domains of teacher knowledge\ and Ladson-Billings' (\1999\) critical race theory (CRT). Although we appreciate a framework that attends to issues of power, such as CRT, we see a heavier emphasis on Shulman's work in their analysis. We argue that a culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) framework has the potential to provide a more nuanced analysis of what occurred in Yerrick's classroom from a critical lens. Thus we examine Yerrick and Johnson's work through the five main CRP components (as defined by Brown-Jeffy and Cooper \2011\) and ultimately argue that science educators who… [Direct]