I identify as a heterosexual, Black, Christian, Southern woman and that came across in my interview. It highlighted for me how I was similar to some of the participants and different from others. While many of the participants identified as Christians, some of the participants spoke of Spirituality and the Ancestors. One participant shared that she belonged to a spiritual group and discussed some of their practices. Another participant shared that she was married to a woman.
Upon hearing this information, I was initially taken aback. I took notes about my initial thoughts and feelings and was forced to acknowledge that I had a bias. After the interview, I processed my thoughts with a colleague. I was able to think about how her wife and the other participant’s religious practice impacted their experience. It also revealed to me how researchers (people in positions of power) often omit or try to invalidate these truths because they make them uncomfortable. I was reminded of the purpose of this study and was able to suspend my personal thoughts and beliefs and accept that each of these women’s stories was theirs and did not need my approval.
As a social work professional and researcher, I came into this study expecting that each person who volunteered to participate in the study would be welcoming to the interview process. This was not always the case. One participant was curt in their response to demographic questions being asked and also had an unflattering view of the social work profession. I had a negative emotional response to this participant and recall wanting to end the interview as soon as possible. Due to those feelings, I didn’t ask many follow up questions of this participant. Again, I processed my thoughts and feelings with a colleague and journaled about the experience. In this process, I realized that her response highlighted the level of concern that participants had about remaining anonymous and challenged my own views of how the social work profession addresses racism.
After completing my interviews, I found it interesting that the issue of duality came across for me as well as many of the participants in the study. Many of the participants stated that the places where they found support were also the places where they were meet with challenges. For example, family members can be a tremendous support in the process but also be the source of stress and frustration. For me, this was true in many aspects of my life, both personal and educational.
Another challenge that came up for myself and some of the participants was the disappointment in not being supported by Black women and other women of color. Many participants took these experiences as lessons learned and reminders that not everyone who looks like you will support you and that you must take your support from wherever it may come no matter the race, gender, class, or status.
Ethical Considerations.This study was conducted in accordance with Adelphi University’s policies regarding the ethical and legal conduct of research involving human subjects, and approval from the university’s Institutional Review Board (Appendix F) was obtained before beginning data collection (#081015). Participants signed an informed consent form before participating in this study. All participants were informed that their participation was voluntary and that they could quit the study at any time with no consequences. As stated previously, all respondents were de-identified to ensure confidentiality. All respondents were members of a small group of black women who have earned their Ph.D. in social work, therefore the names of the universities they attended were excluded. Instead, the institutions were generalized by
