Chapter 3: Many Into One: Using Intersectional Perspectives to Understand Black First-Generation College Student Identities

Intersectional identities¹ can be likened to a group of tributaries that flow into a primary stem river and eventually, to a lake. Important to the tributaries is the idea that while there are many smaller streams that could flow into the parent river, they are ultimately the same body of water. Similarly, while there may be multiple categories, characteristics, identities, or roles with which a person must contend, they all intersect in such a way as to be one and the same, all within one person and all activated simultaneously in social interactions. As an individual interacts with others, one cannot untangle the way that one’s multiple identities, such as race, gender, and class intersect. They all flow to the same lake, potentially altering the interaction in tacit and explicit ways. As the tributaries can eventually influence the flow of the stem river, so too can the intersections of race, class, gender, religion, or sexual orientation affect one’s experiences in education. Applying this idea to higher education, all the varying intersectional identities related to could influence not only an individual’s perceptions of his or her current college experiences; but, also one’s aspirations and plans for the future after college. It is this future, particularly Black college students’ preparation and socialization for graduate education that is the topic of this chapter.