Toward Understanding COVID-19’s Economic Impact on Black Women in U.S. Higher Education
Christa J. Porter, LaWanda Ward, Lori D. Patton
Abstract
Black women pursued graduate and professional school, post-degree options, and employment at a time when their economic future and livelihood were unknown. The novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) complicated what many Black women were already experiencing. Guided by critical race feminism, the purpose of our exploratory study was to highlight how and to what extent COVID exacerbated Black women’s economic trajectories via their financial obligations, financial support, and financial stability. We offer two implications for practice: disrupting systemic oppression/inequities and developing a critical awareness of Black women’s economic precarity.
Topics & Concepts
PrecarityOppressionLivelihoodBlack womenCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)IntersectionalityExploratory researchPolitical scienceBlack feminismPovertyEconomic growthHigher educationFinancial stabilityHistorically black colleges and universitiesSociologyGender studiesBlack femaleEconomicsSocial scienceGeographyMedicineArchaeologyPoliticsAgriculturePathologyFinancial systemInfectious disease (medical specialty)LawDiseaseEmployment and Welfare StudiesWork-Family Balance ChallengesHigher Education Research Studies