They are referred to as ‘The Great Eight.’ That’s the collective name for eight Black women scholars who are on track to earn their Ph.D’s at Indiana University’s School Of Education. The group says that support helped them stay the course despite having such a low percentage of African-Americans in their program.
After beginning the program the ladies soon realized not many women of color had come before them or at least not at the same time. So they set out to change that feeling of being the odd ball out.
“We understood very early on that we had a distinction, a commonality, a thread between all of us and so we began to meet as a group,” said PhD candidate Nadrea Njoku.
The women were on different paths at different times, but cheering each other on in a field that sees less than two percent of African-American women.
“We often deal with this idea that we always have to do more. And our collective black female community here we were able to tell each other you’re enough,” said PhD candidate Jasmine Haywood.
The group was the only thing that kept them sane when the journey got tough.
“We really value the fact that we need each other to deal with emotional expression,” said PhD candidate Johari Shuck.
8 African-American Women Are Ph.D Candidates At Indiana University At The Same Time [VIDEO] was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
