Intersectionality in US educational research: visibilizing the historically excluded and under-recognized experiences of disabled girls of color

ABSTRACT

The experiences of disabled girls of color have historically been ignored within and/or excluded from US educational research and thus, are often unheard and under-recognized. Few scholars use an intersectional lens to examine how inequities impact disabled girls of color. In this call to action to the research community, existing scholarship focused on their lived experiences is reviewed first. Next, the affordances of intersectionality as an axiological, methodological, and theoretical approach to educational research are discussed. As such, scholars, educators, and policymakers can use intersectionality to learn about the types of experiences disabled girls of color are having in school, including what is working and what is not working for them, from their perspectives. Therefore, intersectionality supports a deeper and more complex understanding of how schooling inequities impact students. Moreover, intersectionality supports engagement and transformation wherein scholars, educators, and policymakers act on the suggestions and solutions disabled girls of color bring forth for dismantling unjust educational systems to (re)imagine, (re)design, and (re)construct them. Finally, implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed. In sum, honoring the experiences and perspectives of disabled girls of color has the power to transform schooling.

KEYWORDS:

• Disabled girls of color
• educational research
• intersectionality
• redesigning schools
• youth perspectives
• intellectual and developmental disabilities

Acknowledgements

I want to take time to thank my research co-collaborators, colleagues, and the reviewers for the time and care you dedicated to strengthening the ideas presented in this piece.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).