NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED635175
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 156
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: 979-8-3796-9057-1
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
"Won't Let This Job Kill Me": A Phenomenological Inquiry into Black Women's Student Affairs Departure Decisions
Richardson-Echols, Mya
ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Georgia
The identity of college students continues to shift, requiring the availability of staff dedicated to student development. Black women represent the largest population of minority student affairs administrators (West, 2019). Black women endure a unique within the United States of America, historically enduring violence and societal vitriol due to existing at the margin of both an under regarded race and gender. The workplace is not exempt from trauma experienced by Black women. Microaggressions, pay inequities, and invisibility are a few of the experiences identified in literature by Black women in student affairs (Candia-Bailey, 2016; Miles, 2012; Mitchell, 2018). These experiences have been identified as causes of Black women's student affairs departure (Wiggins, 2017; Williams, 2019). Additional complications exist as America experienced an increase in televised violence and murders of Black people at the hands of police, racial and political divisiveness stimulated during the Trump era, and terror and confusion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These incidents do not exist external to the workplace, as the pandemic illuminated massive rates of employee turnover, deemed the "Great Resignation" (Thompson, 2021), within multiple career spaces including student affairs. Student affairs practitioners attributed the field's own Great Resignation to a departure from the stress of working in student affairs. Given the contemporary nature of these issues, there is little research on the Black female's student affairs experience nor departure decisions. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of Black women who have left the field of student affairs amidst a time of exacerbated societal issues within the United States. Utilizing Black Feminist Thought epistemology and phenomenological design, this study organizes data from the Black female perspective to illuminate the essence of departure phenomena amidst contemporary times. Findings confirm previous literature related to workplace bias and physical and mental distress endured at work. Findings also highlight intracultural implications, the revitalization experienced during COVID-19 lock-down, and the revelation of departure opportunity and necessity. This study provides implications towards the student affairs profession in support of equitable environments and to Black women to assume radical self-care within spaces which historically fall short in the support of Black women. [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: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A