(2023). An Examination of White Teacher Racial Identity and Teacher Credentialing on African American Racial Identity. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, San Francisco State University. The purpose of this study was to investigate five White teachers and their teacher preparation programs' effectiveness in preparing them to educate African Americans in the United States. Using critical race theory, Black psychology, and critical Whiteness studies, I found four main themes: (a) the "White Filter," (b) Absence of African American Discourse, (c) Black is Invisible in the Classroom, and (d) the Fear of Blackness. The teachers displayed a surface level consciousness that contributed to their deficit understanding of African American psychology, African American racial identity development, critical Whiteness studies, and the development and White racial identity. Additionally, this study displayed the importance of having Black psychology courses embedded in teacher preparation classes, and critical whiteness studies and Black critical pedagogy courses where teachers can develop their own critical consciousness of Black racial identity development to examine… [Direct]
(2023). An Exploration of the Racial Consciousness of White Teachers. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Widener University. This causal comparative study explored the relationship between racial consciousness and the beliefs and instructional behaviors of White teachers. Through this research, I aim to address the existing gap between preservice teachers and White faculty members, shedding light on the dynamics in K-12 classrooms. This examination was framed within the paradigms of Critical Race Theory and Critical White Studies, which emphasize the implications of Whiteness and its impact on culturally responsive teaching practices. The research questions were addressed through a combination of observations, interviews, and a focus group. Following this, the qualitative data was analyzed using the constant comparative method, while the quantitative data was subjected to analysis using Fisher's Exact Test. The findings indicated that White teachers held varying levels of racial consciousness beliefs, with some exhibiting high levels and others displaying low levels. Furthermore, it was found that there is… [Direct]
(2023). Understanding the Indigenous Student to Foster Success in Higher Education. Journal of Student Affairs, New York University, v19 p39-50. The development of the American higher education system is one of the defining moments in U.S. history. However, as the land was sold and colleges were established, the Indigenous people were displaced, converted, and erased. Colonization and Indigenous erasure persists to this day by means of low funding for reservations and minimal education about this population. When Indigenous peoples are seen as an "extinct, or dying, community," it implies they do not need acknowledgement (Masta, 2018, p. 830). This lack of recognition leads to little to no preparation for colleges to recruit Indigenous students, and also limited resources to help them be successful if they are accepted and enrolled. If future generations of Indigenous students continue to be underserved, the cycle of invisibility will be perpetuated. With theories like tribal critical race theory, funds of knowledge theory, and cultural wealth theory as frameworks, institutions could offer appropriate wellness… [PDF]
(2023). Classroom Communities, Pandemic Portals: Rethinking Solidarity through Pedagogy and Practice. Educational Studies: Journal of the American Educational Studies Association, v59 n2 p221-235. The P-16 classroom, already a space of potential conflicts and contradictions, gained new levels of complexity with the overlapping crises of 2020 onward: the COVID-19 pandemic; police brutality and corresponding "summer of abolition;" book and mask bans; and anti-critical race theory and anti-social emotional learning legislation. In this paper, we respond to these crises with collaboration through the concept of interdependency. Using disability and transformative justice organizer Mia Mingus's definition of interdependency, we argue that an interdependent classroom can be a way out of narratives of atomized disconnection. Interdependency sees an individual's survival as inherently connected to a larger community, emphasizing solidarity over the illusion of independence. Inspired by duoethnographic methods, we share our own reflections as students and teachers in classrooms where connection may or may not have been present. We find that, though we cannot go back to… [Direct]
(2023). Concurrent Enrollment in English Support Classes for Community College Students. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Southern California. This qualitative study aims to understand the experiences of students of color who have completed the transfer-level English class taught utilizing the concurrent model set by AB 705 and whether this model affects their academic success. The problem this study focused on was how equitable access to higher education is for community college students. The methodology of Critical Race Theory was used to study educational inequity among students of color and their experiences in educational systems. Participants expressed that embedded tutoring in English corequisite classes provided the necessary support needed to complete the transfer-level course successfully. However, the implication AB 705 faces is the understanding that students enter at different educational levels and the need for resources and support are essential to bridge the educational gap. Therefore, professors teaching corequisite model content must have a positive outlook toward scaffolding and building a welcoming… [Direct]
(2023). Race and Dis/Ability Reporting in Higher Education Enrollment: A Quantitative Study in Intersectionality. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The University of Arizona. Historical, post-secondary enrollment data can provide insights into trends within self-reported racial/ethnic identities and dis/ability status over time. Research shows that students of color and students with dis/abilities often face bias and unique challenges when compared to their contemporaries. By acknowledging the American educational system's history of bias and discrimination toward these communities, this research has shed light on possible solutions for the creation of more equitable policies for future generations of students. My dissertation combines a quantitative study of historical enrollment data – provided by the National Center for Education Statistics – with a literature and historical review of Critical Race Theory, DisCrit, law, and educational policy. The trends and findings demonstrated herein will contribute in a unique way to educational policy by considering the aspects of race, dis/ability status, and the post-secondary enrollment process in a way which… [Direct]
(2023). An Analysis of the Advancement Pipeline to Leadership for Black Student Affairs Professionals in the CSU System: The Management Personnel Perspective. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania. A dissertation research study was conducted to examine the conditions behind the continued lack of advancement for Black student affairs professionals within the California State University (CSU) System. This study sought to understand the perspective of the executive and management-level positions categorized as the Management Personnel Plan (MPP). Since the 1960s, the CSU has embraced the principle of diversity and inclusion to improve its campus racial climate with an equity aim for Black people in leadership positions and its Black student population. These diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives have not made much progress, leading to a gap between the principle and the implementation of racial equity (P-I Gap). This study used critical race theory, white replacement theory, and symbolic racism theory to explore the elements behind the P-I Gap in the career pipeline of Black student affairs professionals within the CSU System. This was a mixed-method study from the… [Direct]
(2023). A Narrative Study on the Career Progression Enablers and Barriers of Women of Color Serving in Mid-Level Staff Administrative Roles at Historically White Public Institutions. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of West Georgia. The purpose of this study is to lend itself to the limited body of research on Women of Color in mid-level staff administrative roles serving on historically White campuses in the United States (Bazner, 2022). While there are articles that mention these women, they are typically grouped together with Women of Color in faculty roles (Rosser, 2004). There are few works that focus solely Women of Color in mid-level staff administrative roles. The goal of this study is to highlight these Women of Color's career barriers and career enablers at historically White institutions. Additionally, the goal of this narrative study rooted in the Critical Race Theory (CRT) tenet of storytelling (Martinez & Broussard, 2018) is also to provide interpretations and recommendations for Women of Color serving in these roles currently and those seeking to mid-level staff administrative roles at historically White institutions and for others to consider when working with these women. [The dissertation… [Direct]
(2023). You Don't Need Eyes to See: The Lived-Experience of College Graduates Who Are Black Men, Born into Poverty, and Living with a Visual Impairment: A Narrative Study. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Western Michigan University. The following study seeks to answer this research question: What is the lived experience of college graduates who are Black men, born into poverty, and living with a visual impairment? The researcher has used intersectionality as an aspect of Critical Race Theory (CRT) to conceptualize the research question and develop an interview protocol. The researcher has conducted in-depth interviews for this qualitative inquiry, resulting in a narrative study. Purposeful sampling was implemented to identify three participants who fit the criteria of being a Black man, born into poverty, and living with a visual impairment. Data was reorganized to tell the story in chronological order, as suggested by Creswell and Poth (2018), yielding a story with a beginning, middle, and end. The final product is an analysis of the participants' lived experience, one that they helped the researcher to shape. In the end, the researcher identifies themes that were a part of all the participants' lives. With… [Direct]
(2023). Faces at the Bottom of the Gap: Counterstories from Black Elementary Students about Their Experiences with White Teachers. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Louisiana at Monroe. Scholars have spent decades trying to determine the cause and solution to an overwhelming issue called the achievement gap. The achievement gap refers to the gaps in academic achievement among certain subgroups of students. One of the most prevalent determiners between those who achieve academic success and those who do not is race. The majority of research done on this topic has been through quantitative design. However, a knowledge gap exists within the research on how Black students' perceptions of the schooling experience is influenced by the treatment they receive from their White teachers. This study used Critical Race Theory as a theoretical framework to collect qualitative data via creative products and conducting one-on-one interviews with Black elementary students regarding their lived experiences as students most at-risk of experiencing the achievement gap. Using the method of counterstory, this study amplified a voice far too long silenced in the academic conversation… [Direct]
(2016). Utilizing Critical Race Theory to Examine Race/Ethnicity, Racism, and Power in Student Development Theory and Research. Journal of College Student Development, v57 n2 p168-180 Mar. Recognition of social forces (racism, privilege, power) to the extent that is required by critical race theory (CRT) results in a paradigm shift in the way that we theorize and research student development, specifically self-authorship. This paradigm shift moves the center of analysis from individual, to the individual in relation to her political, racialized, environment, which then provides a new vantage point to capture additional developmental processes. In this article, each dimension of self-authorship is reconsidered with revised questions that seek to examine the ways that race/ethnicity, racism, and power influence the self-authoring process…. [Direct]
(2024). Whiteness in the Ivory Tower: Why "Don't" We Notice the White Students Sitting Together in the Quad? Multicultural Education Series. Teachers College Press Whiteness is the foundation of racism and racial violence within higher education institutions. It is deeply embedded in the ideologies and organizational structures of colleges and universities that guide practices, policies, and research. The purpose of this book is not to simply uncover these practices but, rather, to intentionally center the harm that Whiteness causes to communities of Color broadly in order to transform these practices. For example, Cabrera explores what academic freedom and tenure could look like if they actually divorced themselves from Whiteness. Cabrera also demonstrates how campus-based segregation is largely a problem created and maintained by White students, contrary to popular belief. Readers will dive into these and other pressing issues guided by both critical social analysis as well as hope for the possibilities of human liberation from oppression. This is important reading for university and college professors, scholars, diversity officers, student… [Direct]
(2021). Indigenous Students' Identities in Australian Higher Education: Found, Denied, and Reinforced. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v24 n1 p112-131. Indigenous Australian identities are enmeshed in racializing discourses that often occlude diversity, hybridity, and intersectionality. Australians who self-identify as Aboriginal are often disbelieved by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, or confront hierarchies of authenticity. Critical analysis of focus groups with undergraduate Aboriginal students suggests that while there are opportunities to find and reinforce their identities in Australian universities, those identities are also denied. Using counterstories and critical race theory, this study exposes dominant misrepresentations of Aboriginality in Australian higher education that can affect academic success and attrition. Universities need to abandon rigid, culturalist constructions of Aboriginal students' identities, and expectations that these can be codified and regulated. Academic and administrative staff require sustained education in the histories of defining Aboriginality, and knowledge of Aboriginal identity… [Direct]
(2021). Supportive or Exclusive? Institutional Agents and Undocumented Latina/o College Students in the Midwest. Journal of College Student Development, v62 n5 p575-590 Sep-Oct. This critical qualitative study of testimonios with undocumented Latina/o students in the Midwest explored how institutional agents impacted the level of difficulty students experienced in navigating their collegiate environments. We used social capital theory and Latino critical race theory as our analytic frameworks and employed a critical race methodology to examine and deconstruct students' interactions with institutional agents. Two types of institutional agents emerged in the data: (a) unapologetically uneducated stakeholders who were not knowledgeable of ways to support undocumented or DACAmented students (and often resisted seeking out this knowledge) and (b) supportive and knowledgeable stakeholders who often independently sought out ways to assist undocumented students within institutional contexts that were often unprepared to support them systematically. Findings revealed students often encountered institutional agents who knew very little about relevant resources and… [Direct]
(2021). 'Complicating My Place:' Multiracial Women Faculty Navigating Monocentricity in Higher Education–A Polyethnography. Race, Ethnicity and Education, v24 n2 p167-185. This polyethnography is an interdisciplinary collaboration between four multiracial women faculty employed at different universities across the US to examine their experiences navigating monocentricity in higher education. This insightful study amplifies the voices of a particular subset of women of color faculty who identify multiracially — a group overlooked in existing literature examining diverse faculty experiences in higher education. Utilizing Multiracial Critical Race Theory (MultiCrit), we reflex on the similarities and nuances that exist within and between our written stories of experience. Conjointly, our critical reflections reveal the prevalence of monoracism within institutions of higher education, which places both internal and external pressures on multiracial women faculty to demarcate themselves monoracially, while simultaneously maintaining a clandestine borderland identity within their departments. Implications for this study reveal the importance of multiracial… [Direct]