A Place to Rest My Soul: How a Doctoral Student of Color Group Utilized a Healing-Centered Space to Navigate Higher Education

Abstract

Students of Color have historically faced explicit and implicit forms of discrimination and oppression in educational settings. Unfortunately, not much has changed over the decades as Students of Color continue to experience white supremacy and other systems of oppression. As Students of Color enter graduate school, there are often fewer Students of Color, making these educational settings isolating and hostile. These experiences often encompass white supremacist policies, practices, and remarks that negatively impact Students of Color. With this in mind and as someone who identifies as a Chicana who was once in a doctoral program, I questioned how doctoral Students of Color navigate their programs at a predominantly white institution amidst racial trauma and stress occurring in and out of academia. This project is specifically guided by the following question: In what ways do doctoral Students of Color rely on each other to help navigate higher education? In order to address this, this project utilized participant observations, in-depth interviews, and pláticas. From the extensive community-based and collaborative work I conducted with a doctoral Student of Color group, two themes emerged from the data, which included (1) Community Space of Rest and (2) A Place to Heal. This project ultimately informs how various fields of study, especially social work, can better holistically support doctoral Students of Color in educational settings by centering healing frameworks that actively address and challenge white supremacy, along with other systems of oppression.