Chapter 13: Finding our Voice: Becoming Scholar-Practitioners as Black Women in Student Affairs

The history of higher education in the United States is rooted in the practice of exclusion. It was an “elite activity for much of its history, excluding individuals based on gender, religion, race/ethnicity, and social class” (Eckel & King, 2007, p. 1035). Institutions of higher learning, therefore, sought to educate upper-class White Christian males. Changes in the sociopolitical and economic climate in America served as a catalyst to implement more inclusive practices over the years. Nevertheless, traces of the foundationally exclusive practices can be identified, especially when one explores the experiences of women of color, particularly Black women, who engaged with academia as scholars and/or practitioners.