| Abstract: |
Purpose and Significance
Black women’s political and social positioning in the United States has afforded them a unique set of experiences as American citizens. Teaching was once a highly desirable career field for college-educated Black women, and Black women teachers were highly respected within their communities. In 1930, a study of Black college graduates revealed a strong preference for the teaching profession for Black women, as more than 70 percent of those surveyed identified themselves as teachers (Murnane et al., 1991; Shipp, 2000). In recent years, these numbers have been dramatically different, with Black women making up only 7 percent of the US teaching force and only 3 percent of the nation’s science teachers. Future projections for Black women teachers are quite bleak, as 78 percent of the newly certified teachers were White and female in 2012 (Hill-Jackson, 2017). What factors contribute to these low numbers, particularly in the science education field? While most would point toward teacher recruitment as the primary issue, several recent studies have uncovered an issue of Black teacher attrition (Farinde-Wu & Griffin, 2019; Ingersoll & May, 2012).
Ingersoll et al. (2019) suggest that widespread efforts over the years to recruit more Black teachers have been successful but found that those efforts have been undermined due to high teacher turnover amongst Black teachers. The research questions for this study were: Why are Black teachers entering the teaching field, then leaving after a few years? Why are Black science teachers more likely to leave the field than teachers of other disciplines?
Methods and Conclusion
Informed by a sociocultural framework of identity construction coupled with a Black feminist lens, I employed a narrative inquiry approach to learn from the experiences of five Black female veteran (10 or more years) teachers while teaching in urban secondary science classrooms. Study findings suggest that Black women experience regular instances of microaggressions while working as science teachers. The teachers in this study shared that they were victims of microaggressions because of their positionality as Black female teachers of science. This study also revealed three important themes across all participants: (a) an interest in science as a vehicle for altruism and social uplift, (b) a desire to teach science to marginalized students as a form of resistance, and (c) the need to employ stereotype management strategies to cope with the frequent microaggressions they experienced from school stakeholders (teacher peers, administrators, parents, students) while teaching science. The teachers’ positionality as Black women shaped the (mis)recognition they received as capable and competent science educators inside their schools. These alternative (non-science) educational spaces presented opportunities for these women to be recognized as competent science teachers, provided a professional community for them, and supported their science identity development.
Implications of study findings include the need for school districts to improve job conditions for Black female science teachers by educating administrators about Black women’s experiences with microaggressions. These understandings can be used to create school structures that are tailored to combat issues unique to Black female science teachers.
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