Graduation Semester and Year
Spring 2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
Department
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
First Advisor
Dr. Ericka Roland
Second Advisor
Dr. Wideline Seraphin
Third Advisor
Dr. Sahar D. Sattarzadeh
Abstract
Despite the expansion of the literature on Black women in college student identity development, there is little understanding of how Black college women express their identity and what influences the expression of their multiple identities. This study focuses on understanding to what extent the significant cultural influence of Hip-Hop influences Black women college students’ expression of their multiple identities within the various college environments. As Hip-Hop culture increasingly becomes significant within contemporary college student life, it is more critical than ever to understand its impact on Black college women’s identity expression and lived experiences as they navigate college. Thus, in this study, I examined how Black college women express their multiple identities in college environments from an asset-based approach through the Black Feminist Thought and Hip-Hop Feminism lens. There were six participants for this study, with 12 dialogic conversations, two dialogic conversations per participant, and lyric and photograph elicitation. There were two findings from the study: 1) The participants used aesthetics and language to express their identities, especially their Blackness and womanhood, and 2) The participants used Hip Hop as inspiration for multifaceted identity expression. The findings centered on Black college women’s lived experiences and unique standpoints within the contemporary college environments, which led to their self-definition and self-valuation. Ultimately, this study was designed for Black undergraduate women as they experience a blossoming into becoming “that girl” while finding personal liberation related to their multiple identity expressions regardless of the space or place and using Hip-Hop’s influence to embrace their multifacetedness.
Keywords
Black women college students, Black women undergraduate, identity expression, Hip-Hop
Disciplines
Education | Educational Leadership | Higher Education
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Frank, Fallan S., ""I'm That Girl": Exploring Black Women College Students’ Identity Expression and Hip-Hop" (2024). Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations. 6.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/edleadershippolicy_dissertations/6