NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED648414
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 229
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3514-5137-4
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
"Going Back to School Online Was a Very Scary Decision, but I Pushed My Fears Away and Went for It": A Critical Race Feminism Analysis of Adult, African American/Black Women's Experiences in Online Health Programs
Hana Sarran-Bridgemohan
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo
While there is research in the online environment on women's experiences (Muller, 2008), and African American/Black students more generally, (Kuo, 2014; Okwumabua, 2011), there is a critical gap with regards to the experiences of African American/Black women (Young, 2020; Ashong & Commander, 2012; Okwumabua, 2011). To address this gap, this qualitative narrative case study documented the nuanced experiences, interactions, and opportunities of African American/Black women enrolled in undergraduate online health programs at for-profit and public colleges, in a major Northeastern city. The focus on for-profit and public colleges informed how these contexts of online learning benefit and/or stagnate the potential and opportunities of African American/Black women. This study was framed by understandings of Critical Race Feminism and Andragogy. Data collection involved a two-part, semi-structured, in-depth interview, participants' multimodal online journals, and digital post-reflections. The main findings revealed that African American/Black adult women learners were intentional, and had a defined purpose for enrolling/re-enrolling in online education; how they navigated multiple intersecting identities: student, professional, mothers, wives, and caregivers; the contradictions of their claimed "strong Black woman" identity all while experiencing racialized invisibility, isolation and lack of work-school-home balance. While the women revealed a "perceived" sense of belonging at for-profit colleges, this was countered by the predatory higher tuition costs, limited career opportunities, resources, and institutional and financial support. These findings have implications for honoring the stories of adult African American/Black women learners in online environments; expanding understandings of critical race feminism in the online allied health domain; exposing how racism and predatory practices adds a tremendous cost to African American/Black women's success and economic mobility via online learning; and, how for-profit colleges even while commanding "convenient" enrollment, and public institutions being inaccessible--fail a critical population of adult learners. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations
Education Level: Adult Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A