Women's History Month: Breaking Barriers in Higher Education

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March marks the celebration of Women's History Month - a time to acknowledge and honor women’s pivotal achievements in social, economic, cultural, and political spheres globally. Since the establishment of the first women’s colleges in the late 19th century, the number of female student enrollment in postsecondary institutions has steadily increased, with women now constituted a majority of undergraduates. By fall 2020, female students made up 58.6% of all postsecondary enrollment, totaling approximately 11.2 million. Despite this noteworthy progress, women, especially those of color, continue to confront persistent challenges as they navigate their educational journeys. The disparity in postsecondary enrollment is apparent, as fewer students of color are granted the opportunities to enroll in four-year universities and attain degrees compared to their white counterparts.

The National College Attainment Network’s (NCAN) mission of improving college access and degree attainment for all necessitate recognizing the manifold intersectional struggles faced by female students of color. According to Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, an influential American civil rights activist and scholar of critical race theory, intersectionality refers to the overlapping social identities and associated systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination. For young female students of color, this entails overcoming obstacles and disparities both as women and as racial minorities in a historically male-dominated realm.

In celebration of Women’s History Month, I have invited my female-identifying colleagues of color to share their experiences navigating postsecondary education. They discussed the obstacles they encountered and how they triumphed over those challenges. Their responses have been edited for clarity.

Alessandra Cipriani-Detres, Program Associate

It's easy to feel invalidated about your experiences as a woman of color on a PWI (predominately white institution) if you're surrounded by people who can't relate to you. For this reason, it was important for me to find a group of Latinas who I could learn from and share experiences with.

Joy King, Chief Talent, Strategy, and Operations Officer

In my postsecondary education journey as a woman of color, I faced several challenges that tested my resilience and determination. One significant hurdle was the lack of representation and support for minority students within academic institutions. Often, systems and structures were not designed with our unique needs and experiences in mind, leading to feelings of isolation and marginalization.

Financial barriers were also a significant obstacle. Despite my dedication and talent, securing funding for tuition, books, and other expenses was challenging, especially when resources and scholarships specifically tailored to support women of color were limited.

To overcome these challenges, I relied on my resilience and sought out support networks. I actively sought mentors and advisors who could provide guidance and encouragement, as well as resources to navigate the academic landscape and access financial assistance.

My commitment to anti-racist work and dedication to creating pathways to success for marginalized groups fueled my perseverance. I advocated for inclusivity and equity within my academic environments and used my leadership roles to champion diversity, actively working to dismantle inequitable systems and create a more supportive and empowering environment for myself and others.

Ultimately, my tenacity, strategic problem-solving approach, and commitment to fostering inclusive spaces were instrumental in overcoming the challenges I faced during my postsecondary education journey.

Tong Lee, Senior Manager, Retention and Database Management

Growing up in Westminster and Santa Ana, CA, during the 1990s, Hmong girls my age did not leave their homes unless one was getting married or became pregnant. Going to college was not a topic of conversation at home. How could it be when both my parents had no formal education and our family’s introduction to this country were as refugees from Laos? Even after we rebuilt our lives here, college was still foreign to us.

One of the first challenges I faced pursuing a postsecondary education was completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). At this time, only the paper form was available and contained 108 questions. My parents did not read and write English very well, nor could I translate the form to my parents. Furthermore, I had no knowledge of their financial status.

But from an early age, I knew my parents respected and relied heavily on my eldest brother, also their first-born son of six children. This status gave him tremendous sway with my parents. With his mediation and understanding of two diverse cultures and languages, he was able to complete the FAFSA for me.

Simone Pringle, Program Associate

When I went back to school to get my master’s degree at American University, I had a soothing confidence in my academic abilities. After undergrad at Howard [University], I figured it’d come back like riding a bike. The grad school experience would be different, less involved in day-to-day campus life, so I wasn’t particularly worried about switching from a historically Black university (HBCU) to a predominantly white one. My assumption was I’d only really need to worry about mastering my assignments.

But I faced issues before I even arrived on campus. I began at American in August 2017, and that previous spring, there had been a string of racist incidents on American’s campus. My parents, staunch HBCU supporters, questioned my choice. I had also gotten into Morgan State University in Baltimore (MD), and they pushed me to continue down the HBCU path. But I knew nothing changes if we do what we’ve always done.

My cohort and I were a diverse class; about roughly half of my 40+ person cohort identified as people of color. From the first semester, we challenged our classmates’ biases and privilege. The program was designed for teachers who aspired to leave the classroom for the policy sector or school leadership roles, so it was crucial that we all start doing the work to correct harmful beliefs before we set out to achieve leadership roles or pursue policy jobs. Over the next two years, we’d work on projects about drastic differences in charter school quality and regulation across states, and strategies America could use to improve our national rankings on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a test that compares education quality globally. While students in my cohort didn’t always see eye to eye, it was one microcosm of the mutual cultural learning and understanding on American’s campus, and I think we all walked away better educators, policy advocates, and people because of our time together.

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