University Policies That Increase And/Or Decrease Access For African-American Women Seeking Advanced Degrees

Abstract

The policies of most universities show a lack of dedication in addressing the needs of their non-traditional graduate students, particularly African-American women seeking advanced degrees. As African-American women return to the academy to pursue doctoral degrees,universities must address the issues facing women in general and African-American women in particular. The double-jeopardy that African-American women encounter in terms of race and sex is viewed by some Black feminists as a reason for conducting research specifically on Black women and their role contributions to American society (Brown, 2001).