Chapter 11: Looking Beyond Labels: Black Honors Students Negotiating the Intersections Between Their Personal and Social Identities

Psychologists, sociologists, and educators have long theorized about the process students go through as they develop an understanding of themselves and others based on race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and spirituality (for comprehensive overview, see Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn, 2009). However, the way academic performance and intellectual ability shape one’s identity and sense of self are less often considered (Steele, 1997). Steele suggests that high levels of achievement in school actually require significant internal commitment and identification with academics, such that the student derives significant satisfaction from their academic performance and sees opportunities for success in that domain. Steele refers to this interchangeably as an academic identity or intellectual identity, noting its importance and significance in the sustained academic motivation and success observed among high-achieving students. This study addresses the experiences and sense of identity among Black students who have a strong record of academic achievement in high school and college, referred to throughout this chapter as “Black high achievers.” Specifically, we consider how a group of Black students recognized for their intellectual abilities understand how their achievements play a role in their individual definitions of self, particularly as they consider and balance their intellectual identity with the other identities to which they ascribe.