Advocacy Plan
Norman and Tang (2016) examined a study that revealed that a large majority of African American women experience racial discrimination and stereotyping that leads to occupational stress. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there is a substantial pay gap between African American women and other populations, such as African American men and European American women. African American women are also more likely to be labeled as poor than other groups. Many of these findings can be correlated with the prevalence of the prejudiced attitudes that still persist in today’s society. As a future school counselor, I have a responsibility to fight against these injustices. I plan to be an advocate for this population within the institutions and communities with which I work. I will stand up to prejudice in my workplace and work with local employers and universities to ensure that racial discrimination does not impact their systems. I will collaborate with these entities through education and communication to help meet the needs of Black females in the community.
This image illustrates the frustration I feel about Black women having to navigate these complicated systems to try to achieve their goals. People often believe that racism is gone, and therefore do not recognize it or do anything to stop it when it happens right in front of them. It is important to raise awareness around how prominent this issue truly is and how it is especially impacting the female African American population. I think this is a much more pressing issue than people realize. The image is a very accurate depiction of the numerous obstacles that these women regularly encounter. It highlights the immensity of what this population endures. It can truly be like walking through a maze with an incessant amount of dead ends. This image also does a great job of illustrating the intersectionality of the barriers that Black women are up against. I have learned a lot about how the issues of racial discrimination and sexism overlap and exacerbate the oppression of this group. I will continue to immerse myself in meaningful experiences to increase my knowledge on these issues and learn more about what I can do to advocate for this community.
Servant Leadership
Based on the findings of Booth & Myers (2011), there is a need for servant leadership in the professional and vocational development of African American women. Coordinating mentorship programs or guest speaker series to connect them with Black female professionals who have overcome the systemic obstacles to achieve their goals would provide them with more resources and networking opportunities to help them be successful. It could be a very beneficial initiative that would align well with the multicultural counseling competencies. This would also help foster interpersonal relationships between members of the community and allow young professionals to learn from those who have been in their positions before. Programs like these could be facilitated through school or university organizations to promote institutional support of the needs of this population. The value of empowering this community will help shift the trend of African American women occupying low-paying jobs and support them in being the best they can be.
This image is a great representation of the mentorship opportunities that would be created through this servant leadership initiative. I think it is important for young emerging African American women to learn from experienced professionals in their community, and this image does a great job in capturing that interaction. I feel a sense of responsibility to acknowledge how my own biases or privilege have perpetuated this systemic issue within career development. I understand the need for strong female role models from the African American community to combat this concern. I have learned that it is important to empower communities to support themselves and utilize their own uniqueness and strengths to overcome barriers and accomplish their goals.
Reference:
Ratts, M. J., Singh, A. A., Nassar, M. S., Butler, S. K., & McCullough, J. R. (2016). Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies: Guidelines for the counseling profession. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 44(1), 28–48.
Strengths-Based Needs
Booth & Myers (2011) noted that African American women typically work in lower-paying jobs. They cited racism and lack of opportunity, resources, and mentorship as some of the possible reasons for this finding. I can absolutely see this being a trend within this community. I also thought of stereotype threat as a potential contributor because Black women may sometimes fall victim to society’s false perceptions of them, causing low self-esteem and low confidence in their true abilities.
I feel frustrated by this because this group has not gotten the attention it needs over the years to allow its members to flourish in their careers. Black women are constantly facing challenges of racism and sexism in the workplace that hinder their progress toward reaching their goals. As a White woman, I feel a sense of responsibility to try and change the narrative around this topic and help empower African American women to use their strengths to get to the next level. This image represents my feelings by showing a handful of the many of their unique and empowering qualities that society must make an effort to recognize and celebrate. I think there is often a misconception that in order to help Black women, we must pity them, or assume that they are incapable of helping themselves. However, focusing on their strengths and providing them with resources to make their voices heard is much more effective. This image represents this approach by highlighting the strengths of this community rather than emphasizing the issues.
This immersion assignment has taught me a lot about the difference between sympathy and empathy. I have learned that in order to effectively help others, we must try to understand their experiences and focus on empowering them to showcase their positive qualities instead of just simply showing them pity. This new perception has changed the way I view social justice as something that is focused, not on fixing all of the issues for groups that are often oppressed, but on providing resources and opportunities for all people to thrive.
Systemic Challenges
This image is a recreation of the famous portrait of Rosie the Riveter. The original image, capturing a white woman flexing her arm in strength with the tagline “we can do it!” was a poster for female empowerment that pushed back against misogynistic and sexist ideals. The image is similar, but it is representative of women of color and puts a twist on the original phrase by stating “we can alldo it!”. It emphasizes the idea that feminism and female empowerment must be inclusive to women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Today, Black women are facing systemic challenges with sexism and racism. Challenges brought on because of their race are often left out of the feminist agenda, not by intent, but because White persons sometimes fail to recognize the added struggles that people of color are faced with every single day.
Kendall (2001) discussed how the White race tends to discount people of color; therefore, diversity and inclusion are often overlooked in many civil rights movements and everyday life. Dating back to women fighting for their right to vote, this movement originally excluded black women and only pushed for the right for White women to have a voice in politics (Anderson, 2016). The challenges that people of color face today are often trivialized as unimportant or insignificant, with people holding the belief that racism no longer exists or affects the way the system works (Kendall, 2001). I agree with Kendall on this issue because I have heard many belittling comments made about the daily challenges faced by African Americans. I, myself, have even held similar skeptical beliefs about the validity of their problems. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and gain insight into what this population has actually gone through, and is still experiencing today.
This topic makes me feel guilty for not recognizing this issue. I have definitely taken advantage of my white privilege by not taking the time to learn about challenges that Black women face. The image conveys a message that should be obvious, but is often overlooked. It is easy to assume that feminism already accounts for all women, but there are definitely steps that need to be taken in order to be more accommodating to the unique issues the Black women deal with. There is an intersectional relationship between systemic racism and sexism that should be given more attention in these civil rights movements to push for equality for all. The topic also makes me feel empowered to be in a position that can affect change in these areas for allwomen. The image of three strong, diverse women is very representative of this powerful message. I think this is an interesting topic because the idea of feminism is supposedly all about equality, and yet it can be a very exclusive concept. I think the feminist movement is still important, but it must be accommodating to all racial and ethnic backgrounds. This image represents the diversity that is often excluded from the feminist narrative, and shows the importance of having discussions, not just about women’s rights, but also Black women’s rights.
The image helped me recognize the need for more inclusion in feminism and women’s rights. As a White woman, I must work to combat my white privilege and implicit bias to be more inclusive and more consciously aware of the systemic challenges that women of color face.
References:
Anderson, S. (2016). Today’s feminist problem? Black women are still invisible. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/todays-feminist-problem-black-women-are-still-invisible/article29082375/
Kendall, F. E. (2001). Understanding white privilege.
Annotated Bibliography
Booth, C. S., & Myers, J. E. (2011). Differences in career and life planning between African American and Caucasian undergraduate women. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 39(1), 14–23. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2011.tb00136.x
This study assessed the effect that future career and family plans have on career aspirations of African American women. The literature cited in the article provides a lot of information about statistics and trends in career development of African American women. Most of the data is from over ten years prior to when the study took place, and therefore may be a bit dated. The participants were selected from female undergraduate students under age 24 from three Southern universities (one historically black university, one predominantly white university, and one midsized rural public university). They consisted of 156 African American woman and 90 Caucasian women, 246 participants in total. They were given two paper-and-pencil assessments that were designed to measure internal career aspirations (Career Aspiration Scale) and multiple role planning attitudes (Attitudes About Multiple Role Planning Scale). There were also assessments that used desired career and educational choices to measure external career aspirations. Means and alpha coefficients from the scales were analyzed using multivariate analyses of variance to determine differences between African American and Caucasian groups. Between-groups differences were found within the sample, which led the authors to conclude that cultural factors should be a relevant and significant variable in career development. They also stated that more research should be conducted to gain a deeper understanding of how multiculturalism effects career planning. The implication of cultural factors playing a role in career selection trends for African American women is relevant to me as a future school counselor because I will need to possess the skills necessary to assist and advise students from various cultural backgrounds on their career and educational decisions. The use of convenience sampling, as well as the skewed amount of African Americans vs. Caucasians may have had a significant impact on the results of the study. Future research may also consider using different instruments to improve reliability and validity of their results.
Cooley, E. L., & Garcia, A. L. (2012). Attachment style differences and depression in African American and European American college women: Normative adaptations? Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 40(4), 216–226. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2012.00019.x
The purpose of this study was to measure the ethnic differences between African American and European American college women in attachment style and depression. The literature cited in this study provides background information on the associations between African American women and attachment style. This data was relevant to the study due to the importance of understanding attachment style and the history of racial and ethnic differences in this concept. College women ages 17 to 57 years old participated in the study. There were 288 European American and 97 African American female participants. The authors used the Relationship Questionnaire to measure adult attachment style and the Beck Depression Inventory-II to measure depressed mood. These instruments were given in group settings outside of classes. The results showed little to no difference in the association between depression and attachment style among these groups, but did show a less favorable view of people in close relationships among African American women. The main conclusion was that some African American women may be cautious when approaching relationships as a way of adapting to racial inequalities and discrimination. Additionally, counselors should consider this when trying to develop a positive counselor relationship with African American female clients. These implications are very relevant to my work as a counselor. In order to maintain positive relationships with my future students, I need to be educated and aware of the cultural differences that affect the way they form relationships and influence their mental health. There could be issues in the data related to the reliance self-reporting from the participants as well as the limited group that was examined, excluding other ethnic groups and making it more difficult to generalize to other populations.
Hunn, V. L., & Craig, C. D. (2009). Depression, sociocultural factors, and African American women. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 37(2), 83–93. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2009.tb00093.x
The purpose of this paper was to highlight sociocultural aspects of oppression and racism that influence symptoms of depression in African American women. The literature cited in this article provides relevant information about the cultural factors that affect the mental health of African American women and the history of neglect for their mental health needs. The authors’ main arguments are that sociocultural factors must be considered when assessing the psychological well-being of African American women. Additionally, they argue that research needs to consider the validity and reliability of the assessments being used in the treatment of depression and other mental illness for African American women. They concluded that further research needs to be conducted with a focus on understanding the sociocultural and biological causes of mental illness in African American women. As a future school counselor, part of my role will be to notice signs and symptoms of mental illness in my students, and it will be valuable for me to understand the cultural and racial differences that may affect mental health in different groups. A lot of the data cited in this study is quite dated, so it may be beneficial to reexamine this information and how it has been relevant in more recent years.
Norman, R. L., & Tang, M. (2016). Investigating occupational stress, racial identity, and mentoring for African American women in health care. Journal of Employment Counseling, 53(1), 2–13. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1002/joec.12024
The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of racial identity and mentoring experiences on occupational stress among African American women in health care. The literature cited in the article, although it may be a bit dated, provides a background on the effects of stress on African American women’s work and personal lives. The participants of the study consisted of 76 African American women employed in a nonprofit health care organization in the Midwest from three different occupational groups (professional/managerial, technical/sales/admin/clerical, and service). The authors used a demographic questionnaire, Black Racial Identity Attitudes Scale, and Occupational Stress Inventory during meetings with the participants to collect their data. Correlations and multiple regression analyses were used to analyze the data. The authors concluded that racial identity development, occupational stress, and personal resources impact the work experiences of African American women. They also determined that there should be interventions pertaining to these factors in place to decrease work-related stress and increase access to resources. The implications of social justice advocacy being a key aspect of career development is very relevant to my future role as a school counselors because it will be important for me to actively work to ensure that there are opportunities and resources for all different groups of people, especially when pertaining to future career or educational development. Some limitations of the study include the fact that the sample was not random and targeted at a specific demographic group that may not be totally representative of the population intended.
Pieterse, A. L., Carter, R. T., & Ray, K. V. (2013). Racism‐related stress, general life stress, and psychological functioning among Black American women. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 41(1), 36–46. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/10.1002/j.2161-1912.2013.00025.x
The purpose of this study was to determine if there was an association between perceptions of racism, stress related to racism, and general life stress. The authors also wanted to know if this perceived racism could predict psychological functioning more so than general life stress.
The literature cited in this article provides background information on the psychological effects of racism as well as the association between racism-related stress and general life stress among African American women. It is important to look at this information to understand how it has been studied in the past. The participants included 118 African American women ages 18 to 64. The authors collected their data by administering the Schedule of Racist Events, The Perceived Stress Scale, and The Mental Health Inventory to each of the participants. They conducted an analysis of variance to detect significant differences on independent variables. The authors concluded that further research should be done to examine the ways in which gender, racism, and roles influence general life stress in African American women. The implications of racism affecting psychological functioning and general stress are important for my future role as school counselor because these will be important factors for me to consider when working with groups that have experienced racism. There are limitations with the instruments used in this study that restrict the experiences about which the participants could report. The acquisition of the sample was also significant in that it only drew people from hair salons in predominantly black neighborhoods. These participants may have been subjected to different experiences of racism, therefore making their data less generalizable to populations from other neighborhoods.