A Collaborative Autoethnography of Six Black Women Walking Tightropes in Higher Education

This study employed collaborative autoethnography to explore how a group of Black women enrolled and employed at a predominantly White institution leveraged the metaphor of funambulism (i.e., walking a tightrope) to describe their academic and professional experiences and aspirations in higher educa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Negro educational review Vol. 72; no. 1-4; pp. 131 - 166
Main Authors West, Nicole M, Payne, Ashley N, Smith, Michele D, Bonds, Nechell T, Alston, Alexis D, Akalugwu, Whitney N
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Greensboro Negro Educational Review, Inc 01.01.2021
Subjects
Autobiographical literature
Autoethnography
Black people
Collaboration
Cooperative learning
Feminism
Higher education
Metaphor
Predominantly White Institutions
Race
Racism
Sexism
Students
Women
Women Faculty
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Summary:This study employed collaborative autoethnography to explore how a group of Black women enrolled and employed at a predominantly White institution leveraged the metaphor of funambulism (i.e., walking a tightrope) to describe their academic and professional experiences and aspirations in higher education. Utilizing a series of co-constructed protocols, Black feminist thought was used to ground the analysis of autobiographical narratives and focus group interviews. Findings revealed how the women in this study embodied those who came before them, while staying true to themselves; worked to silence Imposter Syndrome, which they believed was compounded for Black women; reframed fear, pain, and impossibility; weaved their own safety nets; and were cognizant that "not all skin folk are kinfolk." Also emphasized was the importance of not looking down, connecting with other funambulists, and building bridges to replace tightropes.
ISSN:0548-1457