She persisted: the pursuit,persistence, & power of African American women in social work graduate programs at Historically Black Institutions (HBI) |
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Authors: | S Rasheem Jordan Brunson |
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Institution: | School of Social Work, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD, USA |
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Abstract: | Social work graduate programs have long grappled with ways to attract and retain students at the intersection of race and gender. The central structure of this analysis is a hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative study on the pursuit and persistence of African-American women in graduate Social Work programs at a Historically Black Institution (HBI). The data in this article were derived from the responses of 13 participants written in their own words. The themes that emerged around the pursuit of a social work degree were (a) service to Black communities, (b) resistance to misrecognition, and (c) a seat at the table. After sharing the salient characteristics of the findings, the article opens a discussion around the significance of HBIs in educating social workers to work in urban communities and the implications for policy and practice. |
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Keywords: | Social work Black feminism women graduate student Historically Black Institution (HBI) intersectionality higher education college attainment Black social workers social work education |
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