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

• Published in: The 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
• Language: English
• 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
• ISSN: 0548-1457

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.