Institutions of higher education are under pressure to enroll, retain, and graduate competent students today more than ever. Although the number of single mothers attending college continues to increase each year, the graduation rates of single mothers do not. These low graduation rates indicate that special attention should be given to the needs…

Patriotic education plays a crucial role in the national policies of many countries, focusing on students as the primary beneficiaries and educational institutions as the main platforms for its implementation. Despite its importance, there is limited research on how students engage with patriotic initiatives. This study explores how patriotic…

Female students, Latinx students, first-generation students, and transfer students often feel uncomfortable in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) environments. However, some departments have been making progress in changing that. Guided by double consciousness and person-environment fit theory, we investigated the lived…

This phenomenological study delves into the experiences of Black female college (BFC) students at predominately white institutions (PWIs), focusing on their conceptualization and experience of belonging within the academic environment of a PWI. Grounded in social constructivist epistemology, the research employed qualitative interviews and…

The aim of this qualitative action research study was to explore what happens when first-generation college students engage with Critical Participatory Action Research (CPAR) as a form of humanizing research experience that can serve as an alternative to traditional research experiences for first-generation college students. It also investigated…

This study is guided by theory and research that point to the importance of campus climate as a critical factor in college student achievement and belonging. Minoritized groups, however, are often found to have negative experiences on college campuses due to their marginalized racial and gender positions. For college women specifically, there is…

This article sets out to understand what the views of Ruvimbo, a Black female student teacher, are on the role of the university, and how and why these views emerged. The social philosophy of higher education of Ronald Barnett was used as a theoretical framework, and arts-informed methods such as drawings and photovoice, were used for data…

Black women undergraduate STEM students at Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) contend with difficult experiences in their academic majors (Charleston et al., 2014; Fletcher et al., 2017; Johnson, 2007; McGee & Bentley, 2017). Black women undergraduate STEM students are battling isolation, microaggressions, chilly climate, and other…

This narrative inquiry explored the experiences of African American female students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) in the United States, focusing on how campus climate and racial identity influence their academic and social lives. It amplifies the voices of these students and sheds light on the unique challenges they face within…

Black undergraduate women who attend a HPWI are impacted by racist patriarchy and Black patriarchy. To examine patriarchies across campus, I explored unmarked spaces on campus which are generic, white spaces; and racially marked spaces, such as the Black Student Center. To better understand how racist patriarchy and Black patriarchy shape Black…

Objective: Due to high prevalence rates of sexual assault among college-aged women and the benefits of disclosure (e.g., emotional well-being), it remains important to consider barriers to disclosure. The current paper aimed to examine if barriers to disclosure may be more salient to sorority women. Participants: We examined differences in rates…

This qualitative study describes the experiences of Black undergraduate women who are involved in a Black student organization at a public predominantly White institution (PWI) beyond the freshman year. Understanding how these students are involved, the meaning they make of their participation, and how they simultaneously manage extracurricular…

The purpose of this study was to illuminate how and to what extent Black women's developmental processes have influenced their success within their respective U.S. college environments. Crenshaw's three dimensions of intersectionality guided our analysis. We synthesized 38 peer-reviewed articles and interpreted five themes: (a) navigating the…

Stereotype threat theory has been profoundly influential in examining how racial stereotypes undermine the academic performance of highly capable Black students. Overwhelmingly, researchers have examined stereotype threat using experimental methods; few have examined how it manifests in real-world collegiate classrooms where students are not…

In this paper, we use narrative analysis to examine the case study of "Nicole" (pseudonym), a student in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program who transferred from a 2-year college (TYC) to a 4-year college (FYC). We draw from longitudinal qualitative data that follow Nicole's experience pre- and…