The HBCU Black Woman Professor and the US Academic Prestige Hierarchy

Abstract

The dissertation examines Black women professors who are current faculty members of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States. Specifically, it analysed their historic position within the Academic Prestige Hierarchy (APH) from the birth of the HBCUs to the present. Historical analysis and Black feminist theory were utilized to examine the HBCU Black woman professors’ existence, thereby illuminating the exclusionary strategies implemented by differing groups to relegate these women scholars in higher education institutions where they teach, mentor, and advocate for their students. The study highlighted the patriarchal administrative policies, restrictive career guidance, as well as, competitive male and female colleagues served to inhibit the scholastic growth of the Black women professors in efforts to maintain the predominantly white institutional status within academic system. The narratives of the study participants challenged the defamation of Black women scholars and the slander of Black institutions. By sharing their deft navigation of highly sexist and racist academic environments, the HBCU Black women professors honoured their predecessors and offered solutions for the Black students today.