Defense Date

3-20-2026

Graduation Date

Spring 5-9-2026

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

EdD

School

School of Education

Committee Chair

Christopher Harris

Committee Member

Deborah Luckett

Committee Member

Jessica Mann

Committee Member

Bridget Green

Keywords

Black Girl, Suburban PWIs, Intersectionality, Power of Domains, Counterspaces, Othermothering

Abstract

As Black and Biracial girls navigate the landscape of suburban Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), they encounter a unique convergence of institutional surveillance and interpersonal erasure. While existing literature often focuses on the “achievement gap” or urban school settings, this qualitative study investigates the lived experiences of Black girlhood within the sea of Whiteness that defines suburban education. Specifically, this research explores how a gendered sanctuary— BSU Salon Talk — serves as a site of resistance and a catalyst for wellbeing. Grounded in Black Feminist Thought Theory (BFTT) and Intersectionality, the study utilizes the theoretical frameworks of Patricia Hill Collins’ Domains of Power (DOP) and bell hooks’ Homeplace. Through a thematic analysis of grounded coding approach, the researched engaged with five participants to analyze how they make meaning of their wellbeing while navigating the structural, disciplinary, cultural/hegemonic, and interpersonal DOP within a PWI.

Findings reveal a transformative journey from academic shock and snitch culture to the acquisition of Intersectional Navigational Agency. The data illustrate that BSU Salon Talk functions as an institutional homeplace, providing the relational anchors and racial literacy necessary for students to externalize systemic harm. The study identifies the emergence of the ‘Golden Ticket’ — a portable asset of self-valuation that allows Black girls to move from institutional objects of surveillance to subjects of their own liberation.

The implications for educational leadership are significant, suggesting that the recruitment of Black female educators acts as a vital form of human infrastructure. This study concludes that for Black girls in a PWI, wellbeing is not a passive state of comfort but a dynamic act of resistance. The research offers a blueprint for practitioners to move beyond performative diversity and toward the institutionalization of sanctuaries that honor the loud joy and intellectual brilliance of Black girls.

Language

English

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