Amid Dual Pandemics of COVID-19 and Racism: Helping Black Doctoral Students Thrive

Abstract

How can we help Black doctoral students thrive in a world of COVID-19 and racism? In the special issue’s final contribution, we explore this question first by identifying the longstanding challenges Black doctoral students have faced in higher education. Examples of such challenges include structural racism, microaggressions, and biases based on the intersectionality of race, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. We next address how the “dual pandemics” of COVID-19 and racial injustice have magnified such challenges. Then, we consider how institutions can better support Black doctoral students by recruiting and retaining faculty of color and enhancing student support initiatives. Finally, we suggest strategies that faculty and the students themselves can employ to increase Black doctoral students’ retention and overall success, including empathic mentoring, student and faculty collaboration, peer support, and attention to self-care and mental health needs.