The Self Concepts of Two Groups of Black Female College Students

In our transitional society, there appears to be ample evidence that the black female's sense of adequacy may be at stake. Black consciousness and identity crises have recently been applied specifically to black women. A fairly common assumption is that black women develop a negative self-image because of their black skin tone, kinky hair, and broad features. Depreciated by her own kind, judged grotesque by society, and valued only as a sexually convenient animal, the black girl has the disheartening prospect of a life in which the cards are stacked against her and the achievement of a healthy, mature womanhood indeed seems a very long shot. The miracle is that, in spite of such odds, the exceptional love of parents and the extraordinary strength of many girls produce so many healthy, capable black women (Ladner, 1971). Does this commonly held assumption hold true for black female college students? Perhaps success in academic settings, particularly in integrated schools and colleges, may be one factor which has offset the development of this negative self image which is assumed to exist. For example, the research done by Williams and Byars (1970) revealed that the Negro students in integrated schools obtained slightly higher scores on most of the basic selfesteem dimensions than the Negroes in segregated settings but not to a significant degree. The analysis of the self-criticism data yielded a significant interaction effect. Negro males were significantly lower than white males and Negro females, whereas the white and Negro females did not differ. This finding implies that the black male is more defensive about his reported self-esteem than the white male or black female. Thus, it seems that the black female may have more positive self concepts than has been assumed. If positive self concept is viewed as a result of feelings of competence as Banks and Grambs (1972) suggest, then the black fe

Black female · Mathematics education · Sociology · Gender Studies · Higher Education Research Studies · Mentoring and Academic Development · Psychology · Social Psychology · Youth Development and Social Support

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