Sampling Size and Composition. Twenty (20) Black women who have earned their Ph.D. in Social Work participated in this study. The researcher was also interviewed by a colleague and current Ph.D. student as a participant in this study. At the start of each interview, a demographic data sheet (Appendix B) was completed with the participants. The information collected included age, hometown, city and state of current residence, marital status, first-generation college student status, name of undergraduate, graduate (both masters and Ph.D.) institution, major in undergraduate, graduate (both masters and Ph.D.) level, the year they started their Ph.D. program, the year they defended their dissertation proposal (if required), the year they defended their dissertation and the year they completed their doctoral program. This provided background information that was used to help frame the experiences of participants and offered context for information shared during the interview, opportunities to ask follow-up questions, as well as an opening to exploring possible themes that emerged. The descriptive statistics and remaining data obtained is located in the Findings Chapter where the significance is better contextualized. It is also important to note that after the interviews began, many participants were concerned about being identified if certain descriptive information was shared due to being one of a few Black women to have earned a Ph.D. at their institution. The methods used in the following sections were used to address these issues.
Qualitative studies run a significant risk of breaching confidentiality in reporting the results of a study (Padgett, 2008). Great care was taken to change inconsequential facts and certain information excluded to minimize the risk of someone being able to identify participants in this study (Padgett, 2008). Pseudonyms were used to help prevent breaches of confidentiality. The researcher used the names of black women social worker and activist, who made a difference at the local, state, federal, national and international level. The stories of these women can be found at the Black Past website (Social Workers, 2017).
Data Collection
This section will describe the use of semi-structured interviewing as part of the data collection process, and close with a discussion of the obstacles that came up in the process. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were used to gain information on participant’s perceptions of factors that allowed them to be successful in earning their doctorate. Semi-structured interviewing was well suited for this study because it allowed the researcher to elicit the participant’s story (Starks & Trinidad, 2007). Questions included on the interview guide (Appendix E) were developed from previous literature and through conversations with my dissertation chair. Semi-structured interviews provided open-ended questions structured around the study’s categories of informational needs (Padgett, 2008). The interview structure also allowed for the interviewer to probe with follow up questions as needed.
Data was c