Negotiating Worlds, Managing Subjectivities, and Redefining Selves: The Lived Experiences of African American Undergraduate Females at Predominately White Institutions

Abstract

A narrative analysis of the lived experiences of seven undergraduate African American females at Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) is presented in this study. The purpose of the study was to explore the ways the seven women constructed their identity and self-concept in the context of their PWI environment. Other key purposes of the study included strategies in which the women successfully negotiated their PWI environments and the influence of the intersection of race, gender, and class on the collegiate and life experiences of these African American undergraduate females. The framework which was conceptualized from previous literature portrayed the historical context of the African American woman’s struggle for educational access as both Black and female, her life on campus, tools for success, and the identity development of African American women. Critical Race and Black Feminist theoretical frameworks, were the foundation for the study. Through these theoretical lenses, the study looked closely at the academic, social, and cultural climate on PWI campuses and the impact of these factors on the identity development and self-concept of the women in this study. The research methodology of narrative analysis was used and resulted in the emergence of three key findings in this study. The findings indicate that African American undergraduate females at PWIs engage in negotiating worlds, managing subjectivities, and redefining selves as they make meaning and walk out their individual lived experiences as students on Predominately White campuses.