Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2011, EDU Teaching and Learning

This study sought to address the lack of research on young Black girls' experiences in schooling and in their relationships with peers by exploring the experiences and perspectives of three second-grade Black girls, Adrianna, Raell, and Mariah. The particular goal of the study was to examine the ways that they were positioned and the ways they positioned themselves within the peer cultural discourses of the classroom and the prominent sociocultural discourses they drew from to explain their perceptions of these peer cultural discourses. Additionally, I was interested in the way in which discourses of difference, including discourses of race, class, and gender, were taken up within their perceptions and experiences. The results indicated that each girl had similar, yet distinctly different positionings within the larger sociocultural discourses of the classroom and their peer cultural worlds. Their perspectives were imbued with the sociohistorical, political, familial, and personal worlds that were a part of their experience. I began to theorize across each of these cases in the final chapter, revealing the complexity and commonalities of their perspectives and agency.

Committee: Barbara Seidl PhD (Committee Chair); Cynthia Dillard PhD (Committee Member); Laurie Katz PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Black Studies; Early Childhood Education; Education; Educational Sociology; Gender; Womens Studies

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2024, Psychology

Studies on the schooling experiences of Black girls have shown that they impact the academic performance of these girls. While many scholarly works suggest racial infiltrations in the school system create a negative school environment and contribute to the low academic performance and misbehavior observed among Black girls, there is a need to identify protective factors that would alleviate these negative experiences. Reportedly, parenting behaviors that are closely associated with high control and low affect, have been identified as protective factors for risky behavior among Black adolescents. However, there is little known about how these behaviors impact the schooling experiences of Black girls. Hence, in this study, the effects of parenting behavior on the schooling experiences of Black girls, aged 12 to 17 years, were evaluated. The results of the Ordinal logistics regression and Spearman's rank correlation were indicative of the significant effects parenting behavior has on the schooling experiences of Black female adolescents. Contrarily, Black parenting behavior that includes praising and validating these adolescents positively affects their schooling experiences. Future research would explore how parental behaviors could differ by gender and socioeconomic status and create interventions tailored towards the parenting behaviors prominent among Black parents.

Committee: Yvette Harris Dr. (Advisor); Veronica Barrios Dr. (Committee Member); Aaron Luebbe Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2022, Educational Leadership

The teaching force in the Post-Desegregation School District (PDS) is overwhelmingly White and female, despite its Black American majority student population. Black American female PreK-12 teachers are disproportionately underrepresented in the school district. Their underrepresentation is problematic because Black American students tend to have better academic achievement and behavioral outcomes with Black American female teachers than they do with White female teachers. This difference in outcomes is informed on one hand by the maternal socio-pedagogical approach that Black American female teachers take to their relations with their students, and on the other hand by White female teachers' tendency to lack cultural proficiency, which hinders their ability to relate to Black American students. Theoretically, based on these dynamics, the Post-Desegregation School District can improve its student outcomes by dramatically increasing the number of well-trained Black American female teachers in its teaching force. In this qualitative action research study, the author collaborated with a team of Black American female teachers to identify the critical elements of a practical teaching career pathway that could recruit and cultivate Black American girls as future PDS teachers. The study found that the most critical elements were psychosocial and socioemotional in nature.

Committee: Matthew Witenstein (Committee Chair); Pam Young (Committee Member); Rochanda Nenonene (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Pedagogy; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Educational Studies

The Guns Free School Act of 1994 led to the overuse of zero tolerance discipline policies and practices in public schools. Policy evaluations, empirical studies, and the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights found pervasive racial and gender disparities in school discipline in the decades following. When disaggregating discipline data for female students by race, Black girls consistently faced the highest rates of exclusionary punishments compared to any other racial group (regardless of other identifiers such as socioeconomic, disability, etc.). Despite this alarming trend, there is comparatively less scholarship and education policy focus on Black girls' educational experiences with school discipline. This sequential explanatory mixed-methods study used school and district-level data to investigate school discipline for female students in elementary, middle, and high-school in a Midwestern state. This study incorporated Black girls' voices to consider solutions by gathering their perspectives concerning current high school experiences related to discipline and effective alternatives and supportive resources for their schools.

Committee: Karen Beard Ph.D. (Advisor); Ann Allen Ph.D. (Committee Member); Minjung Kim Ph.D. (Committee Member); Kisha Radliff Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Black Studies; Education; Education Policy

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2020, Educational Leadership

Through a Black Feminist and Black Girlhood Studies lens, this qualitative photovoice study explores the ways in which Black girls construct and make meaning of self and their educational experiences. Five Black adolescent girls from a leadership and mentoring after-school experience took pictures, interviewed, and participated in group discussions to co-create knowledge about themselves and their experiences. Through the analysis, there were four themes that were found. Voice, this highlighted the ways in which the co-researchers felt like they are often not listened to by educators, but also how they insert their voice on their own terms. The second theme, the politics of identity, illuminated how the co-researchers wanted to be judged as individuals, but also acknowledged that they are a part of a larger group (i.e African American and gendered as girls). The third theme, defining self/ Black girlhood displayed the ways in which, the girls chose to define themselves in comparison to how they felt others see them. Finally, the fourth theme, Space & place illustrated what the girls felt people could do in order to improve Black girls experiences in school and allow for space for them to be able to self-define and explore their identities. Through this study, the co-researchers created an emerging framework, Black Girlhood as Visual Oppositional Knowledge.

Committee: Lisa Weems (Committee Chair); Denise Taliaferro Baszile (Committee Member); Brittany Aronson (Committee Member); Gwendolyn Etter-Lewis (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Education; Multicultural Education

MA, Kent State University, 2018, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Anxiety is the leading disorder among adolescents and often goes untreated. Given adolescents' frequent technology use, mental health mobile applications may be one viable option for care. To date, few studies have empirically examined the effectiveness of mhealth apps for youth with anxiety. Moreover, mhealth apps designed for Black adolescents is nonexistent. This study investigated the use of the Sisters United Now (SUN) App, a culturally adaptive mhealth app designed to help Black adolescent girls manage their anxiety and stress. The SUN App allowed participants to use positive, meaningful lyrics to restructure negative thoughts —a process known as musical cognitive restructuring. A sample of 35 Black adolescent girls used the app following a 7-session culturally adaptive Sister circle intervention. It was hypothesized that negative thought would be lower on day 7 than day 1 and anxiety would be lower one-month post-intervention. It was also hypothesized that app use would be positively associated with change in negative thought and anxiety. During one-week period, participants used the app 19 times on average. Results showed that participants' negative thought scores were significantly lower on day 7, though anxiety scores were not. Additionally, results showed changes in negative thought and anxiety scores were not associated with frequency of app use. Findings indicated participants were compliant with SUN App protocol and negative thought scores decreased. Future work is needed to determine what aspects of the treatment may have led to the improvements seen in participants' negative thought and whether a longer duration of app use can increase treatment gains in anxious Black adolescent girls.

Committee: Angela Neal-Barnett Ph.D (Advisor); Robert Stadulis Ed.D (Committee Member); Christopher Flessner Ph.D (Committee Member); John Dunlosky Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, EDU Teaching and Learning

This dissertation consists of a nine month, three-state ethnographic study on the intersectional effects of race, age, gender, and place in the lives of fourteen Black mothers and daughters, ages 15-65, who attempt to analyze and critique the multiple and competing notions of Black womanhood as “at risk” and “in crisis.” Epistemologically, the research is grounded in Black women's narrative and literacy practices, and fills a gap in the existing literature on Black girlhood and Black women's lived experiences through attention to the development of mother/daughter relationships, generational narratives, societal discourse, and othermothering. I argue that an in-depth analysis and critique of the dominant “at risk” and “in crisis” discourse is necessary to understand the conversations that are and are not taking place between Black mothers and daughters about race, gender, age, and place; that it is important to understand the ways in which Black girls respond to media portrayals and stereotypes; and that it is imperative that we closely examine the existing narratives at play in the everyday lives of intergenerational Black girls and women in Black communities. Through a multi-genred methodology of portraiture and playwriting, Black women and girls are not only calling for their stories to be told, but for them to be told in ways that are representative of the vast dynamics at play in our intersectional lives.

Committee: Elaine Richardson Dr. (Advisor); Adrienne Dixson Dr. (Committee Member); Carmen Kynard Dr. (Committee Member); Wendy Smooth Dr. (Committee Member); Cynthia Tyson Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

Adolescent Black girls often experience marginalization in schools due to zero-tolerance policies, oppressive classroom curricula, and teachers who lack cultural competency. The literature on adolescent Black girls in school revealed that there are spaces within schools that can serve as homeplaces for Black girls. This study explored how adolescent Black girls experienced homeplace in an afterschool club at a predominantly White middle school in Decatur, Georgia. This research also expands bell hooks's (2001) theory of homeplace from the home environment to school buildings. Narrative inquiry was the methodology used for the study, and interview data was analyzed through thematic analysis. Black feminist thought served as the theoretical lens. The findings revealed that during their participation in the afterschool club, the study's participants experienced homeplace through: (a) a sense of belonging, (b) experiences that provided them the opportunity to grow and develop, and (c) access to caring Black women who facilitated a safe space that the girls needed. Recommendations for school policy and practice that may reduce the marginalization of Black girls and increase access to homeplaces inside schools are included. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Nancy Boxill PhD (Committee Chair); Michael Simanga PhD (Committee Member); Betty Overton-Adkins PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Black Studies; Curricula; Education; Gender; Gender Studies; Pedagogy; School Administration; Social Psychology; Social Research; Teaching; Womens Studies

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2024, Psychology

There is evidence from literature that has identified the infiltration of racism within the school system in the United States. Consequently, Black girls are victims of bias and stereotypes perpetuated by school officials. The impact of this is notable in their academic performance and attitudes towards school, such that due to the pressure associated with these effects, Black girls are experiencing academic stress that has affected their academic performance and schooling experiences. Additionally, they are twice as likely as Black boys to attempt suicide. While all these reports were inferred from comparative studies that examined adolescent males and females from both minority and white backgrounds, there is little known of the relationship between academic stress and suicidal ideation of Black female adolescents. In this study, the effects of suicidal ideation on academic performance among Black female adolescents were studied. Spearman's rank correlation and Ordinal logistics regression were used to assess the relationship between academic performance and suicidal ideation. The results showed significant correlations across the variables that measured suicidal behavior with no association between the predictors and the dependent variable. Future research would explore other dimensions of academic stress and the trend of suicidal ideation across different age grades for Black girls.

Committee: Yvette Harris (Advisor); Veronica Barrios (Committee Member); Aaron Luebbe (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

MA, Kent State University, 2021, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is the most widely used measure of perceived stress. However, limited PSS-10 data are available on Black adolescent girls. Previous studies utilizing the PSS-10 indicate that Black adolescent girls experience moderate and high stress. Despite its utilization, it is to the best of our knowledge that, to date, the PSS-10 has not been validated for use with this population. This paper examines perceived stress in Black adolescent girls (N=201) using a convergent parallel mixed-methods study design. Our results indicate that our participants' main stressors include interpersonal conflicts with friends, parents, family, boyfriends, and school-related stressors involving grades and teachers. Our participants averaged mild current perceived stress and moderate perceived stress in the last month. Our findings also supported the two-factor model (Perceived Hopelessness and Perceived Self-Efficacy) of the PSS-10 and suggest that this assessment is likely validated for use in populations of Black adolescent girls. Lastly, our data revealed that the PSS-10 has strong convergence validity with stress and anxiety assessments.

Committee: Angela Neal-Barnett (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2021, Arts and Sciences: Sociology

The use of zero-tolerance in schools has made these institutions begin to function more like prisons. Zero-tolerance punishments in school discipline include suspension, expulsion, and other out-of-school placements. Educational inequality shapes and manifests in school discipline disparities and opportunity gaps that reinforce performance variances around race. In 2017, Black youth in Cincinnati schools were 6.6 times more likely to be suspended than their white peers. In response to this disparity, I broadly ask how do Black girls make sense of school discipline? With data from 3 focus groups (and 2 individual interviews) with 18 Black girls in 7th-12th grade, I explore school discipline in the Greater Cincinnati Area along axes of race, class, gender, dis/ability, and sexuality. This project deconstructs the dichotomy between girls who are not disciplined and those who are disciplined to consider the overall impact of the violence taking place in schools. The racialized and gendered knowledges of Black girls are a necessary force in reimagining schools as sites of liberation, learning, and uplift.

Committee: Derrick Brooms Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Annulla Linders Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, Educational Studies

Limited research exists on the potential outcomes of experiencing disciplinary action in educational spaces for Black girls. More research is needed to explore how negative experiences with discipline and policing in their K-12 educational journeys influence Black girls' thoughts around post-secondary education. Specifically, what role do disciplinary actions and their consequences have for Black girls as they pursue higher education? Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation study was to explore first-year, Black collegiate women's experiences with disciplinary action in high school and the influence of discipline on their experiences in higher education. Through portraiture methodology, I explored the stories shared by five participants about their experiences with high school discipline, messaging received that shaped their views of higher education, and how these two instances collide to describe the influence high school discipline has on the collegiate experiences of Black women. Data for this study were collected through two individual interviews and one focus group interview. Participants were recruited from a large, midwestern, public institution of higher education. Data analysis was conducted through the development of participant portraits and emergent themes across portraits as a means to highlight the authentic voices and experiences shared by participants. Implications are shared for policy, practice, and research with a focus on supporting the needs of Black women and girls as they prepare for and transition to institutions of higher education and challenging biased disciplinary policies that can influence their educational trajectory before entering postsecondary education.

Committee: Marc Guerrero PhD (Advisor); Susan Jones PhD (Committee Member); Wendy Smooth PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Education; Higher Education

PHD, Kent State University, 2019, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Previous research indicates that the acting White accusation (AWA) is one of the most pertinent and detrimental accusations a Black adolescent can encounter. The AWA arises when a Black adolescent's ethnic/racial identity (ERI) is perceived as being not Black enough by another Black adolescent or group of adolescents. The AWA is one of the most harmful accusations a Black adolescent can hurl at another because it is an attack against one's ERI, and can occur during a time when identity development is most salient. Given that the AWA is embedded in ERI, it has implication for the psychological well-being of Black adolescents. Studies have shown that the AWA was positively associated with general anxiety, social anxiety, and bullying victimization. One group of individuals in particular who may be negatively impacted by the AWA are Black adolescent females in STEM disciplines, which is due to their double minority status. Several sociocultural factors related to ERI have been identified as contributing factors to the underperformance of Black students in STEM, including stereotype threat and low self-efficacy. Another potential factor affecting these students might be the AWA. This study investigates the relationship between the AWA, social anxiety, and bullying among Black female students who attend a STEM school, and compare this group to Black females who attend a non-STEM school.

Committee: Angela Neal-Barnett PhD (Committee Chair); Josefina Grau PhD (Committee Member); Clarissa Thompson PhD (Committee Member); Robert Stadulis EdD (Committee Member); I. Richmond Nettey PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology

MA, Kent State University, 2019, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

In the context of psychopathology, media images have been implicated in a wide range of negative psychological and behavioral outcomes including decreased mood and body esteem and increased violent and anti-social behavior. However, within the limited literature examining the effect of media portrayals on Black women and adolescents, results have been inconsistent suggesting a need to explore the impact of media images further in adolescent Black girls. The current study is an examination of the relationship between media exposure to stereotypical images of Black women and anxiety symptoms in a sample of 66 adolescent Black girls. It was hypothesized that increased exposure to stereotypical media images of Black women would be associated with a negative appraisal of these images and increased anxiety symptomology. Results indicated that more frequent exposure to these images was in fact associated with a more negative appraisal and this relationship was moderated by racial identity. Future work is needed to examine potential clinical implications of this negative appraisal as well as potential factors contributing to Black girls continued resilience to media portrayals.

Committee: Angela Neal-Barnett (Advisor); Karin Coifman (Committee Member); Jennifer Taber (Committee Member); Robert Stadulis (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychobiology

MA, Kent State University, 2016, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

One of the most harmful accusations one Black adolescent can hurl at another is the acting White accusation (AWA). The research on the acting White phenomenon and the impact on academic achievement remain controversial. However, the accusation itself remains prevalent in the lives of Black youth given that it is embedded in ethnic/racial identity (ERI). The AWA is an attack against an individual's identity and many have even described it as a bullying experience. However, not everyone accused of acting White is bothered by the accusation. Those who experience it frequently and are bothered by it may perceive the accusation as a bullying experience, and peer victimization has been associated with several negative outcomes including social anxiety. The present study examines the relationship between the acting White accusation, bullying victimization, social anxiety, and ERI. Results indicated that the AWA was positively associated with bullying victimization and social anxiety. However, the AWA was not associated with ERI.

Committee: Angela Neal-Barnett Ph.D. (Advisor); Robert Stadulis Ed.D. (Committee Member); Josefina Grau Ph.D. (Committee Member); John Dunlosky Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Clinical Psychology; Psychology

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2012, Theatre

for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf is a choreopoem performance play written and developed by Ntozake Shange. The piece grew out of an artistic collective which included Asians, Black Americans, Northern Continental Indigenes Peoples, European Americans, and Puerto Rican. The original west coast production included both Puerto Ricans and Asians. I believe that, that casting choice was as deliberate as Shange's choices of language and content. Those multicultural women were bodied cultural references. In its move and further development, though, the casting changed to only include Black American women; narrowing the works physicalized cultural references. The major focus of my paper is to reconnect with Shange's original casting choices as reasoning for re-widening casting and by extension, bodied cultural reference. My purpose is to lay the foundation for a return to the author's original cultural intentions for the play which I assert were to write and perform a feminist piece that presented the lives and cultures of many “different kinds” (ethnicities/ cultures/ nationalities) of women. In addition, through the bodied references in the production, I intend to apply the work to the lives of more than just Black American and African American women; using the play as a feminist connective tissue between different women and differing feminisms who are all fighting again female oppression. I will pursue my objectives by reviewing the history of the author, the origins of for colored girls…,exploring feminist concepts, script research, examination of the play's themes, and an examination of my production decisions as director.

Committee: Paul Jackson (Advisor); Andrew Gibb (Committee Member); Cheryl Johnson (Committee Member); Richard Quantz (Committee Member) Subjects: Dance; Multicultural Education; Social Structure; Theater History; Theater Studies

PHD, Kent State University, 2006, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Adult, Counseling, Health and Vocational Education

The purpose of this study was to examine African American adolescent females, how their development may be influenced by their cultural values (racial identity development), societal values (skin color preference) and self-concept. The Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS), a Demographic Questionnaire, and the 30-item Racial Identity Attitude Scale form B (RIAS-B) were administered to 100 African American adolescent females between the ages of 14 and 18 years. An Analysis of Variance and a Multivariate Analysis of Variance were conducted; the findings in this study suggest that in the population sampled, there is an association between African American adolescent females' scores on skin color satisfaction, the RIAS-B, and self-concept. The participants widely supported internalization attitudes (79%), were satisfied with their skin color (74%), and had high self-concept (74%). Finally, limitations and delimitations to the study are discussed along with implications for counselors.

Committee: Marty Jencius (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Guidance and Counseling

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, EDU Teaching and Learning

Given that the lives and literacies of Black female youth remain under-researched (Evans-Winters, 2005; Hill-Collins, 2009), the purpose of this dissertation is to highlight the ways in which Black female adolescents conceive of self and society. Although the interests and identities of Black females have been brought to the fore by a number of writers and researchers, more attention is often placed on Black women and not on Black girls. Therefore, this dissertation, which draws on qualitative data collected during a two-year period, focuses on: 1) Black female adolescents' understandings of themselves and the world around them, 2) how their use of autoethnography—a common methodological approach to researching the self—helps to shape these understandings, and 3) the implications of using autoethnography for deeper investigations into the lives and literacies of Black female adolescents. In this study, theories in Black feminism, critical pedagogy, and research in adolescent literacy are employed to further address Black female adolescents' conceptions of self and society. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed through the use of note-taking in a research journal, video-taped recordings of weekly meetings, video-taped interviews with participants, writings by participants (e.g., their autoethnographic work), and literacy artifacts that were utilized and/or produced within weekly meetings. Findings reveal the girls' understandings that society places lesser value on young Black woman- and/or Black girlhood, the girls' resistance to commonplace notions of young Black woman- and/or Black girlhood, the girls' desire to engage in both traumatic and triumphant story-telling, and shared understandings of self and society. Therefore, this dissertation study has greater implications for: 1) extending conversations on what counts as (qualitative) research and how research can be carried out by and with Black female adolescents specifically and youth, generally, 2) e (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Valerie Kinloch Dr. (Committee Chair); Beverly Moss Dr. (Committee Member); Elaine Richardson Dr. (Committee Member); William McDaniel Dr. (Other) Subjects: Education