“THIS WILL NOT KILL US:” A REFLECTIVE EXPLORATION OF HOW BLACK WOMEN DOCTORAL STUDENTS AND ALUMNAE STRIVED FOR HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to develop a better understanding of the factors that influenced the holistic mental health and wellness of Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae during their doctoral journey. Although research is emerging on the wellness of graduate students, there is limited literature on Black women doctoral students’ wellness. From 2020 to 2023 there were national events involving Black women that underscored the necessity to understand and prioritize the holistic wellness of Black women doctoral students (e.g. Black women in higher education leaving their high-ranking positions and Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles taking a break from their respective sports and citing mental health as a factor). Using narrative inquiry as a methodological approach, and a conceptual framework comprised of Black feminist thought (Collins, 1986, 1989) and Hettler’s (1980, 1984) six dimensions of wellness, the experiences of nine Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae (who were no more than six-months post-graduation) were explored. This research sought to understand the strategies Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae used to manage and maintain their holistic mental health and wellness. The specific research questions that guided this study are: (1) How do Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae at Research 1 (R1) or Research 2 (R2) institutions in the mid-Atlantic region describe their mental health and wellness while pursuing their doctoral degree? (2) What contributed to and interfered with the holistic mental health and wellness of Black women doctoral students and recent alumnae during their doctoral programs?Co-narrators (participants of the study) participated in two semi-structured interviews, each ranging from 60 to 90 minutes in length. Data collection also included co-narrators submitting memes or gifs that represented their mental health and wellness during their doctoral journey. There were several themes that emerged from the data. First, the visual data revealed that co-narrators experienced exhaustion, anguish, fluctuation between joy and stress, and the need to keep moving forward despite what was happening around them. The images submitted served as a visual representation for the overall experiences of the women in the study and enhanced the understanding of the factors that contributed to or interfered with the holistic mental health and wellness of Black women doctoral students (i.e., Research Question 2). The additional findings that emerged from study are as follows: (a) “Wellness for Your Whole Body:” Co-Narrators Definitions of Holistic Mental Health and Wellness; (b) Factors that Contributed to Holistic Wellness, including the subthemes “They Needed the Sisterhood:” The Importance of Community with Other Black Women, and “Finding Those Pockets:” Intentionally Choosing Wellness in the PhD Journey; (c) Positive and Negative Contributing Factors to Holistic Mental Health and Wellness, which included the subthemes “All Skin Folk Ain’t Kinfolk:” Interactions with Challenging Black Faculty and Administrators, and “My Advisor . . . Was Super Supportive:” How Relationships with Black Faculty and Non-Black Faculty and Administrators of Color Can Influence Wellness; (e) Detractors From Holistic Mental Health and Wellness, which included the subthemes “The PhD Program Is Good About . . .Letting You Know You Don’t Belong:” Impostorism and Lack of Belonging in the Academy and “What Is the Benefit of . . . Being Productive, If You’re Literally Killing Yourself?”: Negotiating Wellness to Finish the PhD. The study concluded with implications for practice and research, followed by a letter from the author directly addressing Black women doctoral students.