Showing papers in "Harvard Educational Review in 2021"

No Choice Is the “Right” Choice: Black Parents’ Educational Decision-Making in Their Search for a “Good” School

Abstract: In this article, Linn Posey-Maddox, Maxine McKinney de Royston, Alea R. Holman, Raquel M. Rall, and Rachel A. Johnson examine Black parents’ educational decision-making in the racial and educational contexts of predominantly white suburban districts, majority-Black urban schools with an Afrocentric focus, and racially diverse urban public and private schools. Undertaking a qualitative meta-analysis, they ask, How and why is anti-Black racism salient in Black parents’ educational decision-making around schooling? Their findings reveal that race and anti-Black racism are central to Black parents’ school choice decisions. Specifically, they shape the trade-offs parents made in choosing a school for their child(ren), their ongoing risk assessments regarding the potential for racialized harm in their child(ren)’s schooling, and their continuous decision-making about whether to keep their child enrolled or move them to a different school. Regardless of geography, school type, grade level, and/or social class, race and anti-Black racism shape Black parents’ educational decision-making as they work to ensure that their child(ren) receive a high-quality education within highly racialized schooling contexts.

Effective Modalities for Healing from Campus Sexual Assault: Centering the Experiences of Women of Color Undergraduate Student Survivors

Abstract: In this article, Jessica C. Harris, Nadeeka Karunaratne, and Justin A. Gutzwa examine the modalities Women of Color student survivors perceive as helpful in healing from campus sexual assault. Existing scholarship on healing from campus sexual assault largely relies on the reduction of psychological symptoms of trauma, an understanding that is often race-neutral and founded on the narratives of white women. Centering the experiences of 34 Women of Color undergraduate student survivors, this qualitative study reimagines healing through a race-conscious lens and positions it as a community-oriented and culturally contextual process that is often at odds with the ways US institutions of higher education aim to support survivors of sexual assault on their campuses. The authors’ findings guide implications for how institutions and individuals can account for and support student survivors’ multiple and intersecting identities in their healing journeys and also inform future research that centers minoritized students’ experiences with sexual assault in postsecondary contexts.