Race and Gender Intersectionality and Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venus E. Evans-Winters
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Queer Theory ◽  
Educational Inequality ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Personal Community

When recognizing the cultural political agency of Black women and girls from diverse racial and ethnic, gender, sexual, and socioeconomic backgrounds and geographical locations, it is argued that intersectionality is a contributing factor in the mitigation of educational inequality. Intersectionality as an analytical framework helps education researchers, policymakers, and practitioners better understand how race and gender intersect to derive varying amounts of penalty and privilege. Race, class, and gender are emblematic of the three systems of oppression that most profoundly shape Black girls at the personal, community, and social structural levels of institutions. These three systems interlock to penalize some students in schools while privileging other students. The intent of theoretically framing and analyzing educational problems and issues from an intersectional perspective is to better comprehend how race and gender overlap to shape (a) educational policy and discourse, (b) relationships in schools, and (c) students’ identities and experiences in educational contexts. With Black girls at the center of analysis, educational theorists and activists may be able to better understand how politics of domination are organized along other axes such as ethnicity, language, sexuality, age, citizenship status, and religion within and across school sites. Intersectionality as a theoretical framework is informed by a variety of standpoint theories and emancipatory projects, including Afrocentrism, Black feminism and womanism, critical race theory, queer theory, radical Marxism, critical pedagogy, and grassroots’ organizing efforts led by Black, Indigenous, and other women of color throughout US history and across the diaspora.

Introduction: Centering Intersectionality

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Johanna Bond
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The United States ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Intersectionality Theory ◽  
The World ◽  
And Gender

Intersectionality theory posits that aspects of identity, such as race and gender, are mutually constitutive and intersect to create unique experiences of discrimination and subordination. Perpetrators of sexual violence in armed conflict, for example, often target women on the basis of both gender and ethnicity. When human rights actors intervene on behalf of those harmed by sexual violence in armed conflict, they must understand the intersectional complexity of those violations. Global Intersectionality and Contemporary Human Rights examines the influence of intersectionality theory on human rights law in the modern era and its evolution as a theoretical framework in the United States and around the world. This volume draws on feminist theory, critical race theory, and human rights jurisprudence to argue that scholars and activists have underutilized intersectionality theory in the global discourse of human rights. This chapter introduces readers to the book’s argument that the United Nations and other human rights organizations must do more to actively embrace intersectionality as an analytical framework for the promotion of human rights around the world.

Exploring Black Girls’ Subversive Literacies as Acts of Freedom

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 456-481
Author(s):  
Lauren Leigh Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Racial Equity ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Consciousness Development ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Young Black Women

Research on Black girls’ and women’s literacies reveals how they utilize literacy practices to resist oppression and define their identities. Yet, these practices are frequently absent from or marginalized in formalized schooling spaces. In addition, Black girlhood is rarely placed at the center of equity interventions in schools. As the history of activism in the United States is tied to Black women’s struggles for freedom, research and practice involving racial equity must be attentive to the literacies and activism of Black girls. Grounded in Black feminist theory, this article describes a longitudinal study of the critical consciousness development of two young Black women as they engaged in distinct literacy practices to navigate and resist racial oppression in high school. The author analyzes interviews as well as literacy artifacts to explore how these girls enacted critical, digital, and subversive literacies to challenge intersecting oppressions of race and gender in a predominantly White, suburban school.

RING THE ALARM

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Jelisa S. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Black Girls ◽  
Black Boys ◽  
Exclusionary Discipline ◽  
School To Prison Pipeline ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Discipline Policies ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In this research, I use theories of framing and social construction to investigate how race and gender are featured in national news coverage of the school-to-prison pipeline, and how policies and practices funnel students from school to the criminal justice system. Results indicate that there are three primary narratives surrounding the school-to-prison pipeline. The first is a narrative that harsh disciplinary practices in schools are irrational and negatively impact all students. The second narrative crafts the school-to-prison pipeline as a social problem for all Black students irrespective of gender. The final narrative emphasizes the impact of exclusionary discipline on Black boys. Each of these narratives functions to erase the experiences of Black girls. Ultimately, I argue that we need to take a more intersectional approach to school discipline policies and take into account how Black women and girls are situated within popular and policy discussions.

Research on the Leadership of Black Women Principals: Implications for Black Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 336-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kofi Lomotey
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Women Principals ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Black Feminist ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Aspiring Principals ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Black Women Principals

In this exploratory review, I consider research on Black women principals for the period 1993 to 2017, using 57 research reports obtained from dissertations, journal articles, and a book chapter. This exploration is of particular significance given the continuous disenfranchisement and subsequent underachievement of Black children in U.S. schools and the importance of black women principals in addressing this quagmire. I highlight the methodological and theoretical traits of these studies, single out overstressed approaches, and highlight the most significant gaps in research on Black women principals. Major findings are (1) the large majority of studies on Black women principals appear in dissertations; (2) researchers studying Black women principals explore the lived experiences of Black women principals (e.g., race, gender) and aspects of the leadership of these women (e.g., transformational leadership); (3) the most common theoretical framework in these studies is Black Feminist Thought, followed by Critical Race Theory and Standpoint Theory; (4) all of the studies employed qualitative methods, while a few also included quantitative methods; (5) the principals who were studied served in elementary, middle, and high schools; and (6) spirituality, race, and gender are important to these leaders. Following a discussion of the findings, I conclude with implications for (1) future research, (2) the preparation of aspiring principals, and (3) the professional development of practicing principals.

THE SINS OF THE FATHER: GENDER- BASED VIOLENCE IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyn Snodgrass
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black Women ◽  
South African ◽  
African Women ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
And Gender ◽  
South African Women

This article explores the complexities of gender-based violence in post-apartheid South Africa and interrogates the socio-political issues at the intersection of class, ‘race’ and gender, which impact South African women. Gender equality is up against a powerful enemy in societies with strong patriarchal traditions such as South Africa, where women of all ‘races’ and cultures have been oppressed, exploited and kept in positions of subservience for generations. In South Africa, where sexism and racism intersect, black women as a group have suffered the major brunt of this discrimination and are at the receiving end of extreme violence. South Africa’s gender-based violence is fuelled historically by the ideologies of apartheid (racism) and patriarchy (sexism), which are symbiotically premised on systemic humiliation that devalues and debases whole groups of people and renders them inferior. It is further argued that the current neo-patriarchal backlash in South Africa foments and sustains the subjugation of women and casts them as both victims and perpetuators of pervasive patriarchal values.

Race, Gender, and Perceived Employment Discrimination

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 509-527
Author(s):  
Philip Q. Yang
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
White Women ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Employment Discrimination ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Independent Effect ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Job Discrimination ◽  
And Gender

This study investigates the effects of race and gender on perceived employment discrimination using the 2016 General Social Survey that provides new data on perceived employment discrimination that aligns more closely with the legal definition of employment discrimination. It is found that 19% of the American adults self-reported the experience of employment discrimination in job application, pay increase, or promotion in the past 5 years. The results of logistic regression analysis show that either controlling or not controlling for other factors, Blacks were much more likely to perceive being discriminated in employment than Whites, but other races were not significantly different from Whites in perceived employment discrimination after holding other variables constant. While gender did not have a significant independent effect on perceived job discrimination, it did interact with race to influence perceived job discrimination. Regardless of race, women were somewhat less likely than men to perceive job discrimination, but Black women were significantly even less likely than White women to self-report job discrimination, and Black men were much more likely to self-report employment discrimination than White men. These findings have implications for combating employment discrimination and addressing social inequalities.

scholarly journals I’m Every Woman: Advancing the Intersectional Leadership of Black Women School Leaders as Anti-Racist Praxis

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 7-28
Author(s):  
April L. Peters ◽  
Angel Miles Nash
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
Leadership Framework ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Resisting Oppression ◽  
Epistemological Basis

The rallying, clarion call to #SayHerName has prompted the United States to intentionally include the lives, voices, struggles, and contributions of Black women and countless others of her ilk who have suffered and strived in the midst of anti-Black racism. To advance a leadership framework that is rooted in the historicity of brilliance embodied in Black women’s educational leadership, and their proclivity for resisting oppression, we expand on intersectional leadership. We develop this expansion along three dimensions of research centering Black women’s leadership: the historical foundation of Black women’s leadership in schools and communities, the epistemological basis of Black women’s racialized and gendered experiences, and the ontological characterization of Black women’s expertise in resisting anti-Black racism in educational settings. We conclude with a four tenet articulation detailing how intersectional leadership: (a) is explicitly anti-racist; (b) is explicitly anti-sexist; (c) explicitly acknowledges the multiplicative influences of marginalization centering race and gender, and across planes of identity; and (d) explicitly leverages authority to serve and protect historically underserved communities.

scholarly journals Balancing race, gender, and responsibility: Conversations with four black women in educational leadership in the United States of America

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322199183
Author(s):  
Natasha N Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Hermeneutic Phenomenology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
And Gender

This article focuses on equitable leadership and its intersection with related yet distinct concepts salient to social justice pertinent to women and minorities in educational leadership. This piece is rooted and framed within the context of the United States of America, and the major concepts include identity, equity, and intersectionality—specific to the race-gender dyad—manifested within the realm of educational leadership. The objective is to examine theory and research in this area and to discuss the role they played in this study of the cultures of four Black women, all senior-level leaders within the realm of K-20 education in the United States. This work employed the tenets of hermeneutic phenomenology, focusing on the intersecting factors—race and gender, specifically—that impact these women’s ability and capability to perform within the educational sector. The utilization of in-depth, timed, semi-structured interviews allowed participants to reflect upon their experiences and perceptions as Black women who have navigated and continue to successfully navigate the highest levels of the educational leadership sphere. Contributors’ recounted stories of navigation within spaces in which they are underrepresented revealed the need for more research specific to the intricacies of Black women’s leadership journeys in the context of the United States.

Prototypes of race and gender: The invisibility of Black women

2010 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 356-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda K. Sesko ◽  
Monica Biernat
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
And Gender

Black Women Superintendents

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya Douglass Horsford ◽  
Dessynie D. Edwards ◽  
Judy A. Alston
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Educational Administration ◽  
Education Leadership ◽  
Leadership Preparation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women Superintendents ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Race And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
K 12

Research on Black women superintendents has focused largely on their racial and gendered identities and the challenges associated with negotiating the politics of race and gender while leading complex school systems. Regarding the underrepresentation of Black female superintendents, an examination of Black women’s experiences of preparing for, pursuing, attaining, and serving in the superintendency may provide insights regarding their unique ways of knowing and, leading that, inform their leadership praxis. Informed by research on K-12 school superintendency, race and gender in education leadership, and the lived experiences and knowledge claims of Black women superintendents, important implications for future research on the superintendency will be hold. There exists a small but growing body of scholarly research on Black women education leaders, even less on the Black woman school superintendent, who remains largely underrepresented in education leadership research and the field. Although key studies have played an important role in establishing historical records documenting the service and contributions of Black women educational leaders in the United States, the bulk of the research on Black women superintendents can be found in dissertation studies grounded largely in the works of Black women education leadership scholars and practitioners. As a growing number of aspiring and practicing leaders who identify as Black women enter graduate-level leadership preparation programs and join the ranks of educational administration, questions concerning race and gender in leadership are almost always present as the theories presented in leadership preparation programs often conflict with or represent set of perspectives, realities, and strategies that may not align with those experienced by leaders who identify as Black women. For these reasons, their leadership perspectives, epistemologies, and contributions are essential to our understanding of the superintendency and field of educational leadership.

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