The toxicity of the strong black woman narrative within student affairs
Thompson, Valerie J.
Thompson, Valerie J.
Authors
Other Names
Location
Time Period
Advisors
Original Date
Digitization Date
Issue Date
2024-09-27
Type
Article
Genre
Keywords
Black feminist thought,Black women,Hermeneutic phenomenology,StrongBlackWoman,Student affairs
Subjects (LCSH)
Citation
"The Toxicity of the Strong Black Woman Narrative Within Student Affairs", Valerie J. Thompson, Journal of Education Human Resources (2025) 43:1, 134-163
Abstract
Through an unsustainable moniker that often receives no reprieve, Black women student affairs professionals become the institutional fixer-the StrongBlackWoman who can do all. Through a raced and gendered expectation, they support the needs of their students, many of whom are students of color. This effort creates a precarious double bind that traps Black women student affairs professionals as they are seen through their strength, not through their humanity. Although there have been numerous studies in student affairs that have connected student affairs burnout and attrition and few others that have connected a raced and gendered experience to that burnout as Black women or folx of color, additional research is needed, especially to examine the connection between the experience of operating within a StrongBlackWoman phenomenon and how that impacts their well-being as Black women student affairs professionals. Rooted within Black feminist thought as a theoretical framework and utilizing a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, this article aims to discuss findings from a recent dissertation that explored the experiences of Black women student affairs professionals, which underscored the StrongBlackWoman phenomenon. The findings from this study discuss the theme that “Black women cannot disengage” and highlight the subtheme of the StrongBlackWoman and the BlackGirlMagic narratives and how they connect the experience of emotional exhaustion. The article concludes with implications for student affairs professionals, as well as recommendations for the area of human resources. © University of Toronto Press, 2025.
Table of Contents
Description
Click on the DOI link to access this article at the publishers website (may not be free).
Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Journal
Journal of Education Human Resources
Book Title
Series
Digital Collection
Finding Aid URL
Use and Reproduction
Archival Collection
PubMed ID
ISSN
2562783X