“From Whence Cometh My Help?” Exploring Black Doctoral Student Persistence

In previous decades, the bulk of research focused on Blacks in doctoral programs highlight issues of recruitment and access with little attention given to the racialized experiences or perspectives of African descent scholars-in-training. More recently, a growing body of research has used qualitative methods to dismantle the myth of a colorblind doctoral student experience. Instead these scholars illuminate the ways in which race and racism create challenges for Black doctoral students. The present study adds to this literature by revealing the ways that Black doctoral students persist amid this highly racialized context. Researchers employ critical race theory and qualitative focus group methods to describe the factors that contribute to Black doctoral student persistence. Findings expand the existing literature on Black doctoral student persistence in ways that further delineate the nature of support factors, which have implications for faculty and administrators