| The purpose of this study of Black doctoral students in predominantly White institutions (PWI) was to give voice to the students' experience of their graduate programs and to consider their struggle to make meaning of their "double-consciousness" while matriculating. In the past, researchers have spent considerable time developing racial identity scales and measurements. Researchers have not, however, given equal attention to DuBois's idea of "double-consciousness" within Black graduate student populations.; Consequently, scholars know little of Black students' experience of their graduate program and the meaning they make of changes in their "double-consciousness" because of this matriculation. More important, there is a sparsity of research describing how Blacks reconcile the differences between who they are before entering their doctoral program and who they are to become after it.; Qualitative methods, i.e., autophotography, autoethnography, and in-depth interviews, are used to let the participants tell the stories of their struggles to reconcile the differences between who they are in the academy and who they are outside the academy. Each participant, four Black female doctoral students enrolled in a PWI, contributed to the study through each of these methods. Each of their contributions was then coded and analyzed; resulting in a single rich case study, four in all. A cross case analysis of all data sets followed the four case studies.; Researchers have had access to quantitative and qualitative data describing the Black student experience in higher education since the early 70s. Yet, Blacks and other minorities are still blind-sided by the realities of higher education---the doctoral experience. Many Black doctoral students are left with irreparable psychic damage resulting in high attrition and "all but dissertation status" (ABD) status. This study began to develop a coherent framework describing not "what" but "HOW" Blacks experience their doctoral program. Themes such as: participant background, experiences of the PWI, double consciousness, and representations of self emerged from the participants' stories. These themes are considered in this study and their implications for other students, faculty, and universities are provided. |
