Author ORCID Identifier
Semester
Fall
Date of Graduation
2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
College of Education and Human Services
Department
Not Listed
Committee Chair
Erin McHenry-Sorber
Committee Co-Chair
Nathan Sorber
Committee Member
Nathan Sorber
Committee Member
Rodney Hughes
Committee Member
Brad Price
Abstract
The number of students reporting or seeking assistance for trauma has steadily risen over time. Research suggests that between 67% and 84% of students in college will experience a potentially traumatic event (PTE) in their lifetime. This percentage increases for women and for Black students. As the number of PTE exposure rises so too does the need to understand how trauma impacts education, learning, and personal development. Researchers have expressed a growing concern over the needs of trauma-affected students in recent decades. There is a dearth of research on the experiences of trauma-affected students and their overall inability to persist in higher education. However, there is a lack of research on the experiences of successful trauma- affected Black women who have persisted past the second year of college. Employing a participatory research design, the purpose of this study is to explore and record the experiences of trauma-affected Black women who have defined themselves as successful at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) through photovoice. Data analysis from the pilot study illuminated three essential shared experiences across participants: (a) Black women persist despite numerous obstacles; (b) being happy and finding one’s sense of purpose is the key to success; and (c) institutions may not have the people or the resources to adequately support trauma-affected Black women which forces these students to live on the margins of this community. The second phase of this study complimented the experiences shared in the pilot study and include four more essential experiences across the participants: (a) persistence and resilience is complex and participants need adequate levels of support to succeed; (b) educational success is strongly impacted by mental health; (c) Black women are simultaneously hypervisible and marginalized in PWIs; and (d) there are experiences that are completely unique to doctoral students, especially first generation doctoral students.
Recommended Citation
Drake, Dariane B., "Seeing Our Voices: Using Photovoice with Trauma-affected Black Women College Students within a PWI to Explore Success and Persistence" (2022). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 11601.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/11601