And Still They Rise

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a qualitative study that sought to gain insight into the process of college enrollment among African American females from low-income communities. A comparative case study approach was used to examine the life histories and social relationships of five African American young women who enrolled in college and two who did not. The findings indicate that their ability to enroll in college appeared to be connected to a pattern of perceptions regarding self, their family inter active patterns, and their connectedness to others. Social factors such as poverty, inadequate educational institutions, and multiple systems of oppression that are traditionally viewed as risk factors were viewed by the young women of this study as being inconsequential in regards to their ability to enroll in college.