Chapter 13: Navigating The Doctoral Process: Using Critical Race Theory to Examine Black Students’ Mentorship Experiences

In the essay, “The Talented Tenth” (1903), W. E. B. Du Bois declared that “Education must not simply teach work-it must teach life” (p. 227). He reminds us that education is the key to knowledge, while simultaneously forewarning institutions of higher education were not built for Black people, and of those that have access, education was more than to obtain knowledge of a discipline and skills of a trade, it was about the comprehension of life. Du Bois’ contention about the role of education and what Black students should attain through their experiential education was ambitious at a time in which legislation, race relations, and the United States of America did not fully support nor endorse the educational engagements of Blacks.