COLLEGE WOMEN OF COLOR: INTERSECTIONALITY, RESILIENCE, RESISTANCE, AND EMERGING ADULTHOOD

ABSTRACT

In this special issue, we focus on the resilience processes found among diverse groups of CWOC. We emphasize four key concepts: developmental perspective (emerging adulthood), resilience, resistance, and intersectionality. Included are the studies with African American and Latinx young adult women, Latina mothers, and Chinese sojourner women. Papers in the special issue appear as follows: Rana et al.’s paper on Latinx mothers attending college, then Causey et al. on African American women navigating white college spaces with typologies of success, followed by Johnson et al.’s paper, amplifying African American and Latinx women’s intersectional strivings using maternal messages as rudders, and finally, Qin et al.’s paper on international Chinese women managing their immigrant experiences as sojourners in the U.S. In each study CWOC demonstrate successful resistance and striving as the press the boundaries of gender-race constraints.

Keywords:

• African American
• Latinx
• Asian
• college women
• emerging adulthood
• intersectionality
• resilience
• resistance
• racial socialization
• women of color

In 2011, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) produced a national report on sexual violence among women in colleges and universities. This comprehensive study explored the experiences of undergraduate women and made recommendations for more protective policies and actions in national institutions. Missing from the pages, images, and graphs of the report were the intersectional experiences of historically minoritized women in college and university contexts. This inattentiveness to women of color has long been acknowledged (Benjamin, 1997; Patton et al., 2016) but little has been done to rectify it. Therefore, this invisibility became a major impetus for the study of the ethno-gendered experiences of college women of color (CWOC) in 2013 (Johnson, 2013), a conference symposium (Johnson & Yoon, 2019) followed, which then drew interest from Research in Human Development (RHD) journal leading to the execution of this special issue. The invisibility addressed earlier, of which Asian and Asian American women are a part, also fosters a distortion of CWOC experiences within historically White institutions (HWIs; Keels, 2019). This distortion makes adjustment a greater challenge for all of these CWOC and requires the development of new skills and schemas to address a racialized school environment and its markers. Presented in this volume are four studies that contextualize the lived experiences of intersectionality among ethnically diverse college women: Latinx, Asian (Chinese), and African American. Captured within this collection is the continued influence of racial socialization upon the unique positionality of CWOC and their transition to, and in the period of, emerging adulthood.

The experience of racialized marginalization is common for historically minoritized students at HWIs in the United States. Prior studies have documented that racial-ethnic minority students consistently experience racial stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination on their campuses and that these experiences are detrimental to their psychological and academic adjustment outcomes (Harper, 2015). For CWOC, these racialized experiences are often exacerbated because of multiple intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, access, social history, and other social position factors (Clancy et al., 2017; Duran & Núñez, 2021; King & Pringle, 2019; Patton et al., 2016).

In U.S. colleges, African American women enroll at greater rates than African American men at 60%–70% of African American student enrollment (The American Association of University Women [AAUW], 2022; The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education [JBHE], 2006), and graduate at higher rates (44%) than African American men (34%; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). African American women graduate at lower four-year rates than White women (21% vs. 39%) but at nearly the same rates as Latinas (20%; The American Association of University Women [AAUW], 2022; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). STEM fields are challenging for African American students, especially women, the challenges often not academic. African American students often leave STEM fields for lack of support (Riegle-Crumb et al., 2019) and African American women leave 11 times more, Latinx women 7 times more than White women. These educational casualties owed to lack of institutional support, the need to financially assist and provide other resources to their families or lack of funding to complete degrees (Guiffrida, 2005). However, in recent years, existing gaps have expanded between Latinx students and African American women students. While African American women have lower completion rates (50%) than Latinas (59%) and White (73%) in in 6 years of consecutive college attendance, some data suggest that many recoup their degree in the years to follow (J. Causey et al., 2020). Still, the struggle is notable, and there continues to be no parity between White students, White women students, and historically minoritized women’s completion rates.

While the college degree rates have substantially increased for Latinx students, the gaps are still huge when compared to White students: 24% of Latinx students graduate compared to 46% of their White American counterparts (Fain, 2020). Latina students have disproportionately lower educational attainments: even though they are the largest growing ethnic group in the United States, only 13% of Latinx in the United States have completed an undergraduate degree, as compared to 30.6% of non-Hispanic White Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). The number of Latinas with a 2-year and 4-year college or graduate degree has grown by 70% over the past two decades (Pew Research Center, 2022). This growth rate (from 17% Latina graduates in 2000 to 30% in 2017) is much higher than that of Latinx males (56%) and other non-Latina female students (35%; Aviles, 2019).

Asian international and Asian American female students’ experiences are rarely discussed due to the “model minority” stereotype which silences discussions of educational disparities despite significant risks of racism and sexism experiences (Gloria & Ho, 2003; Yeh, 2004; Yeh & Inose, 2003). This is especially important considering the crisis in racial disparities during the COVID-19, pandemic which curtailed matriculation for all students of color. However, the escalating hate crimes in past years targeting racial-ethnic groups was also a consequence of this historical period. For example, the Asian American and Pacific Islander Stop the Hate report catalogued, 10,905 incidences of bias/prejudice from March 2020 to December 2021 (Stop AAPI Hate, 2021).

Furthermore, research shows that minority-related stressors negatively affect mental health among Asian American students (Wei et al., 2011) and increase psychological distress among African American (Pieterse & Carter, 2007) and Latinx college students (Pichardo et al., 2021). Moreover, racial stress is an immense factor leading to poor mental health and amplifying other stressors in school (Jones et al., 2020; Swanson et al., 2003). Anxiety, depression issues, language barriers, low school engagement, lower confidence level, not feeling safe discussing their challenges and problems, and facing sexism within their families (e.g., Latina, Asian American CWOC) are additional reasons for experiencing psychological distress. Gendered expectations, in addition to race, produce conflicted messages around their identity. Many CWOC also navigate the cultural expectations of becoming self-reliant to relieve their families of financial burdens and also feel obligated to contribute financially to their families (Sy & Romero, 2008). These experiences of multiple layers of gendered and racialized marginalization shape a unique context for adjustment among CWOC. How do CWOC negotiate these conflicting expectations? How do they resist the layers of marginalization and challenges in adjusting to college life? To date, very few studies have focused on this population to understand their distinctive experiences and responses.

It is important to note that the experiences of CWOC extend beyond the challenges and risks that may impede them from healthy and successful adaptation in college. Indeed, resilience and resistance are key components of our special issue. We consider how CWOC navigate the racism in college environments to succeed.Little has been published about these resiliencies (Harper, 2013). In this special issue, we aim to address this gap by focusing on the resilience processes found among diverse groups of CWOC. In assembling this special issue, we emphasize four key concepts: developmental perspective (emerging adulthood), intersectionality, resilience, and resistance.

Developmental Perspective

In this special issue, we have centered on lifespan perspectives in each of four studies. The lifespan perspective is compatible with our focus on intersectionality, the multidimensional nature of development, and the importance of elevating the experiences of minoritized women. The traditional approach to development emphasizes that the period of childhood through adolescence is a time for tremendous growth followed by a steady decline, whereas the lifespan approach emphasizes change and the continuation of development throughout life across social, physical, and biological spheres (e.g., language, social, cognitive), and accentuates growth, decline, and steadiness (Santrock, 2016). In the papers presented, we narrow our focus to late adolescence and emerging adulthood for these purposes.

As a team of researchers at various stages of our careers, each with human development backgrounds, we acknowledge and conscientiously practice the dynamic nature of development in our work—while some aspects are stable (homeostasis), most of them are continually changing and reshaping (morphogenesis) over the course of life (Lynch & Smith, 2005; Speer, 2004). Some aspects of development are universal; however, many are unique because of the constant interactions of biology and environments as well as diverse intersections of identities and experiences. The diversity of contexts exerts multiple influences on development such as normative age-graded influences—the experiences that are similar for individuals in a life stage, such as puberty. However, depending on the unique circumstances of the individuals, puberty might differ. The social expectations, unique to varying societies and cultures, at any stage of development could determine whether individuals at these stages are considered “off task” or “on task” (Neugarten & Neugarten, 1986; Settersten & Hagestad, 1996). “Age norms and expectations, prevalent in a society, operate as prods and brakes upon behavior, in some instances hastening an event, in others delaying it” (Neugarten et al., 1965, p. 711).

Other contextual influences include normative history-graded influences, which are common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances. Examples include African American college students during the Civil Rights Movement, the recent antiracist movement, and safety concerns arising from racial backlash against communities of color. The rise in racialized crimes against individuals from targeted racial groups in various historical eras include current examples (e.g., recent increased wrongful killings of African American and Indigenous boys, men and women, by the police; Cobbina, 2019). Other influences include non-normative life events and the unique circumstances of individuals due to unusual occurrences in their lives that might have a major impact. The pandemic left a gap in educational attainment, delaying the start of college for Black- and Latinx American students and the tremendous disproportionate loss of lives exerting psychological impacts on these populations (J. Causey et al., 2020). Emerging adulthood, as described by Arnett (2000), the life stage of exploration may differ owing to opportunity gaps and individuals’ unique circumstances. For instance, those living in poverty, children who have grown up with unemployed or underemployed parents, and young adults taking care of their children, may not have the same opportunities or range of options. In this special issue, we examine the societal, cultural, and familial contexts prominent in shaping the emerging adulthood of African American, Latina, and Asian women in higher institutions.

The lifespan approach also offers a variety of ways to define age while examining the developmental tasks of each life stage. For example, chronological age is the number of years that have elapsed since birth, whereas biological age is the person’s age in terms of biological health (i.e., movement and mobility). In the biological aspect, for example, we know that racial stress, stresses around sexism most certainly undermine physical and mental well-being (Nadal et al., 2014). Psychological age constitutes an individual’s adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age. When we look at intersectionality and identity, psychological age for a woman of color can be impacted by her response to microaggressions encountered requiring the development of new coping mechanisms or advances in maturity to surmount (Nadal et al., 2014). The societal and familial expectations of what an individual should be doing at a certain age determine the social age of the person. These conceptions change over time and across various contexts are intertwined with the lived experiences of women of color (WOC).

Intersectionality

Intersectionality (or intersectional theory) is a term first coined in Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw’s (1989) publication. It is the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities and related systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination. Within the concept of intersectionality antiracism, systems of white male supremacy, and other systems of inequality address the patterns of discrimination and unequal treatment of women of color (WOC) based upon identities associated with gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, class and other forms of discrimination that “intersect” to create new and unique transactions and effects. These are among the challenges that are unique for them (race, ethnicity, economic class, immigrant status, first generation students in college, motherhood, intergenerational values; Patton et al., 2016).

Against the range of risk factors described above there are two classes of coping strategies of interest—personal resources or strength of selfhood and strength of the peer support community (particularly other WOC) and when those fail or are inadequate, additional or simultaneous use of structural or university supports. Several studies have demonstrated the protective effects of self-esteem, racial-ethnic identity and racial-cultural coping skills for achievement in school, lowering stress from discrimination, and managing community violence (Caldwell et al., 2004; Chavous et al., 2003; Hughes et al., 2006; Johnson, 2005). Other research demonstrates parental socialization messages intended to manage racial status and culture, help children and youth navigate the exigencies of these and other challenges in their lives. Maternal messages among mothers in some cultural contexts are most likely to be imbued with ethno-gendered content for their daughters, though not to the exclusion of the fathers who tend to offer this content to their sons and to a lesser extent to their daughters (Johnson et al., 2003). Maternal messages geared toward these issues convey more than situational instructions; they convey messages about competence, confronting challenges, and the meaning of womanhood at the intersection of race, class, and culture. These are infinitely valuable for navigating novel environments like school or work. We know from previous work and the papers in this volume that the applications continue. So intergenerational sharing of wisdom from parents, especially from mothers, buffers and extends women’s use of what has been learned in the past about their intersectional ethno-gendered experience.

Resilience and Resistance

Limited research on historically minoritized women in college has focused predominantly on challenges that they face in adapting to college life, challenges that arise from complex identity negotiations involving the intersection of their identities, and the lack of recognition of the work and educational contexts they inhabit (Settles et al., 2020). Therefore, much less focus has been spent on research providing a balanced perspective addressing both the challenges and strengths of these young women. Research on minority youth and emerging adults has shown their tremendous resilience in the face of racial adversity. For example, Andrews (2012) found that “Despite a history of racial oppression and degradation in U.S. schools, African Americans have responded to racism and discrimination in ways that promote educational attainment and school success … This empowerment to succeed in the face of racism is also seen as resiliency (pp. 1).”

The prominent theoretical frameworks derived from an ecological perspective and appearing across studies include Spencer’s phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST; Spencer, 1995; Spencer et al., 1997), which emphasizes racial stress and adaptive/maladaptive pathways for growing into healthy resilience patterns among African American youth, leading to positive outcomes. And the other, Garcia Coll et al.’s (1996) integrative model of minority child development emphasizing parenting and racial-ethnic child development, in which ecological factors and institutions could be both debilitating and promotive of positive youth development. Masten (2014) theorized that resilience can be developed and strengthened in the face of adversity and is promotive of coping skills. The purpose of this special issue is to provide a deeper understanding of how the academic success of CWOC can reside in strengths emitting from their cultures and historically situated development.

Methodological Approach

Lifespan human development studies call for interdisciplinary teams to engage in a rich multiplicity of perspectives on development. Young women—whether African American young women attending HWIs, Latina students who are mothers or women from farmworker families, or female Chinese international students—experience elevated challenges and risks in their adaptation resulting from the intersectionality of multiple social position factors (e.g., low income, immigrant, second language speakers, minoritized, farmworker families, first generation college attendees, single parenting, ethno-gendered racial discrimination, imposter syndrome, gender, race and international experiences) that may put them at a disadvantage (Garcia Coll et al., 1996). Yet, their stories are not just stories of despair and struggle. Their stories are also stories of strength, growth, and triumph. In this collection of studies, we adopt primarily a qualitative approach to allow for the voices of these young women, at once challenged and strong, to come through. In gathering this collection, we want to hear and then, as much as possible, tell their stories in their own voices. Their rich, nuanced, and multifaceted stories teach us about resilience and development, and allow us to use participants’ voices to demonstrate aspects of lived experiences that traditional theories and quantitative methods may miss. In-depth qualitative approaches also allow us to further develop theory in ways that include stories of those who have not been at the center of developmental sciences. We draw on critical psychology/decolonizing psychology perspectives (Bhatia, 2017) to lift CWOC voices often silenced by the intersectionality of multiple identities such as gender, race, ethnicity, and social class. Traditional theories and methodologies that press their stories into preconceived notions and categories, do not reflect the strength they demonstrate, nor the complexities of their stories.

Positionality: Telling a Collective Story

Positionality is critically important to this volume, particularly given strong emphasis on qualitative analysis and mixed methods. It is worth noting who we are as a group of writers and how important our lived experiences of intersectionality and as CWOC globally are to the analyses and interpretations of meaning we apply to the work. Our collective voice labors under our training as developmentalists and family studies scholars; we are African American, Latinx, Desi-American (Indian), Korean American, Euro American, Chinese American, and First people Indigenous. We are immigrants, first-and-second generation immigrants, and non-immigrants. We have all experienced historically White universities and the microaggressions that erupt there daily, especially at the intersection of race and gender. For instance, intersectional statuses among us such as being a professor of color, being of immigrant origin, and women, afford the privilege to support our students in new ways. Finally, our perspectives emerge from differing vantage points along the academic career trajectory, some of us postdoctoral researchers, undergraduate students, early career faculty, mid-and-late career faculty. We are enriched professionally and personally by the abundance and depth of experiences represented, reflected in the work and the voices elevated within this special issue.

Researchers’ Reflexivity

As scholars of color and almost all women authors our lived experiences reflect much of the data. The perspectives that we take in our work may highlight the core contribution of our special issue. Of course, few among us were college students during the writing process, and the diversity within was a good check on bias in interpretation.

Introducing the Four Papers in the Special Issue

In this special issue, research centering African American and Latina young adult women, Latina mothers, and Chinese sojourner women are included. Two of the papers focus on parents and parenting. Papers in the special issue appear as follows: Rana et al.’s paper on Latinx mothers attending college, then Causey et al. on African American women navigating white college spaces with typologies of success, followed by Johnson et al.’s paper, amplifying African American and Latinx women intersectional strivings using maternal messages as rudders, and finally, Qin et al.’s paper on international Chinese women managing their immigrant experiences as sojourners in the U.S. These will be discussed briefly.

Rana et al.’s paper focuses on emerging adult Latinx mothers with young children who confront the challenges of parenting under strenuous economic circumstances while also managing the stresses of student life. Utilizing the lifespan perspectives and the Integrative Model of Development, the study examines the risk and promotive factors in the lives of eight Latina student mothers, between the ages of 22 and 29 years, in navigating college success while raising children through the lens of intersectionality of identity (i.e., ethnicity, motherhood, and social class), which may position them at various levels of segregation, racism, and other forces of oppression. Despite the financial and time constraints, pressure to play the role of a “perfect parent” and experiencing guilt for not being able to spend time with children as they were finishing college, the Latina mothers in the study reported many individual strengths that highlight their resiliency after becoming parents themselves. The findings contribute to the theory of resilience by assessing individual risk and protective factors in the lives of Latina mothers. The individual strengths of this particular group of Latinas, may in fact, be the reason the mothers are succeeding and achieving within their college context.

Johnson et al., and Causey et al., address resistance, racial coping, and identity from the same data set on college women but from quantitative and qualitative approaches. Causey et al., provides the only quantitative paper in the collection. Both papers discuss the relation between racial-ethnic socialization messages and the coping, resilience, and resistance strategies CWOC (African American and Latinx) use to navigate those environments and achieve success. Identity, racial coping, and resistance are centered in the two papers, however, Causey et al. identifies resilience coping orientations leading to success in college outcomes focusing on African Americans women solely.

In the Causey et al. paper, the authors explore the influence of racial socialization and ethnic identity on the coping profiles of almost about 300 African American college women, who attended a HWI. Latent profile analysis identified three coping profiles characterized by support-seeking behaviors within social networks: avoidant, intragroup, and intergroup. There were also significant associations between racial socialization, ethnic identity development, and the coping profiles engaged. African American women with higher scores in cultural pride and ethnic identity searching were more likely to be in the intra-group profile. African American women in the avoidant coping profile had higher scores on avoiding involvement in campus activities and deliberate isolation. Most women were represented by intergroup profile with average scores seeking campus support from within and across cultural/ethnic groups. Of importance is that all profiles were well represented including those invoking isolation. The findings suggest that on-campus support for African American women is needed as they navigate the challenges associated with their intersectional statuses. The study emphasized that the types of racial socialization messages received influences how African American women choose to navigate the environment of a HWI. Causey et al. also provided evidence that racial socialization moderates the relationship between ethnic identity and coping.

The Johnson et al. paper amplifies maternal racial socialization and resistance in the voices of African American and Latinx women. This paper suggests that African American and Latinx college women expressed resilience through resistance to external stereotyped narratives of their racial, cultural, place and gendered identities. The study explores how high-achieving African American and Latinx women college students in a HWI experience and respond to ethno-gendered racism based on the perspectives of resilience and intersectionality gleaned from the observed and articulated messages of their mothers. Focus groups were conducted with 21 CWOC, employing a modified grounded theory approach. Findings in the study emphasized that the transitions of CWOC as emerging adults taking on greater responsibilities and independence were made more complex by ethno-gendered encounters. The study expands the ecological framework of resilience, grounded in the voices of the women, to accommodate their intersectional experiences with race and gender bias. The model highlights CWOC resistance as an important psychosocial mechanism that facilitates their adjustment in an HWI. The CWOC countered and reframed negative stereotypical narratives. Maternal ethno-gendered racial socialization was a crucial resilience resource supporting and promoting coping and the growth of a robust self-system characterized by independence, self-efficacy, self-respect, high self-esteem, determination, and hard work. The mechanism of resistance was linked to their successful adjustment and achievement in college.

Qin et al.’s paper is the final paper in this special issue. Qin et al. examine the experiences of one group of college women of color not often discussed in the literature –female Chinese international students who are constructing and negotiating their identities in a transnational context. The majority of research on female Chinese international students has focused on their challenges adapting to U.S. college life and constraints and negotiating among intersecting identities such as women, racial/ethnic minorities, and foreigners. In this paper, Qin and coauthors focus on the adaption and gender identity construction of Chinese first-year female undergraduate students. Drawing on in-depth interview data collected from 27 Chinese first-year female students, their findings show that contrary to existing research, participants reported tremendous resilience and clearly articulated constructing an identity of a strong and independent woman. .Examining the “in-between” status of Chinese college women, Qin et al. find their participants locked between generations of women, in a transnational struggle of cultural traditions, identity, and decision making. In this paper, as is present in several others, resilience as independence is part of emerging adulthood development: however, with the agency of the women shirking the confines of culturally centered gender ideals and embracing new ideals and a sense of independence and freedom.

Together, studies in this special issue indicate that among CWOC, the experience of intersectionality creates competencies against the inevitable challenges faced rather than vulnerability, in a strength-based approach. Explorations coverqualitative, narrative, ethnographic, and quantitative methodologies. The mix of methods highlights nuances of development seldom addressed in the literature. Moreover, from the standpoint of diverse representations of race, ethnicity, place, and gender, our findings across the studies provide insight into the complex intersectional experiences of CWOC from a unique perspective on resilience and resistance in emerging adulthood.

Implications for Developmental Perspectives: These works demonstrate the deep developmental progress undertaken by those transitioning from adolescence and striving toward their adult years through the emergent process. Diversity science cannot be left unattended in this, as the resistance processes are central to their identities as CWOC. Their growth must extend beyond surviving challenging HWI environments to conquering these environments in the honing of their coping mechanisms. More importantly, each of the papers demonstrates that managing their challenges born of their intersectional experiences means paving the way for positive adult development. Rarely has this been accounted for in our theorizing about emergent adulthood. Spencer et al. (1997) suggest this as the essence of our humanity; they assert that each of us has the capacity to thrive beyond the limitations that might otherwise smother our dynamic and positive growth and the ability to recuperate from racialized encounters in school.

Resilience and Resistance: This is a context that can underscore vulnerability; however, we see resilience, thus answering the questions of why this specialized identity group’s vulnerability is transformed into resilience and more radically resistant (resisting the stereotypes, pushing the barriers, intellectual prowess, exploration of identity, resistance, and persistence). What can these populations teach us about development?—Young women overcome significant adversity to succeed. Adversity breeds the development of new skills and development of new relationships that provide support in college. The papers shared in this volume will demonstrate that expectations for them to fail are not indicated by the findings among the studies herein; these CWOC are figuring things out and, therefore, have a lot to teach us about resilience and development.

Contributions

Policy Practice

The collection of studies presented many important contributions. CWOC are successful and also challenged by ethno-gendered racism. Such racism leads to mental health challenges, additional stressors in their lives, and more isolation than we would imagine on bustling, vibrant campuses. Shielding themselves from the exigencies of daily microaggressions and racism can be self-imposed isolation. Therefore, our practice in HWI has to change to make visible the invisible challenges of women’s intersectional experiences and recognize that doing well does not always mean that students are well (Qin, 2008). Facilitating cross-cultural and campus experiences but not to the exclusion of intra-group support, is another difficult but necessary practice that must be honed within universities from programs to practice, for all students particularly for minoritized women, international and immigrant groups. Of course, recognizing the complex identities of CWOC means we can address their unique contributions and challenges within HWI institutions (Warner et al., 2016). Finally, emerging adults and the transitions that take place as these young adults are adjusting to the environment clearly intersect with contextual issues that have not been well considered, another challenge for institutions.

Diversity Science, Ecological Theory and Lifespan Perspective

Diversity science aims to advance theoretical and research perspectives on historically minoritized peoples, as well as the construction and interpretation of human differences in the behavioral sciences (Plaut, 2010) Scholars study topics spanning differences and disparities in experiences and opportunities, mechanisms explaining differences and disparities, intergroup relations and conflict, social identity and social cognition, and diversity in development across the lifespan and across social contexts (Johnson & Yoon, 2019). Diversity science extends behavioral science to understudied populations, including racial-ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities, individuals with minority sexual orientations, immigrants, and diverse socio-economic classes. This research can test the boundaries of current theory and support new discoveries in identifying unique relational processes relevant to the experiences of minoritized groups. One of the challenges to life span scholars is to integrate diversity science wholly into life course scholarship, and all that this inherently means. In these four studies, the authors demonstrated how this might be accomplished for one life stage and in key transitions to emerging adulthood.

Future Research

This special issue, College Women of Color: Intersectionality, Resilience, Resistance, and Emerging Adulthood, centered on intersectionality and resilience among diverse groups of CWOC during emerging adulthood. Despite an extensive literature on resilience in children and families, we highlighted the particular paucity around the experiences of WOC, as demonstrated by a number of critical failings: 1) deficit-based approaches have caused the literature to elevate vulnerability and failure in stress-laden contexts rather than resilience or to ignore more educated populations as unrepresentative; 2) recent studies of emerging adulthood tend to reinforce the invisibility of those existing at the intersection of race, class, and gender; 3) resistance is a unique aspect of resilience intertwined with identity and critical to our understandings of WOC outcomes; 4) methodologically, researchers often lump gender or race in large studies (Winkle-Wagner, 2015) when examining historically minoritized populations. In the study of resilience and adversity among racial-ethnic minority women, both gender and race are often overlooked. The papers in this collection have broken through the limitations of glass ceilings and sticky floors constraining the literature on these issues. There is still room to build the cannon. Patton et al. (2016) noted that less than 50 articles have addressed intersectionality among WOC with implications for all the points above over a 10-year period. Priorities should center on better addressing identity, ongoing influence of racial socialization, and the unique experiences of WOC in all their complexity, as well as recognizing the value of addressing this time period of young adulthood by integrating qualitative inquiry.

Acknowledgements

We thank our co-authors for their work on these important contributions, some of whom were student authors helping us decipher their own experiences. We want to especially acknowledge our deep gratitude to the Journal Editor of RHD, Michael Cunningham, who was encouraging, supportive, firm, and recognized the importance of our work. We acknowledge the sources of support on our campuses and from a range of research related sources for the studies presented here, as well as key support from Deja Young in final drafts. We want to extend our heartiest thanks to all the reviewers who contributed time at inopportune moments with incredibly fast turnarounds to ensure quality in the offerings. Finally, and most importantly, we acknowledge the innumerable hours of time given by the women this special issue represents, to share their stories, their truths and circumstances, so as to be seen, so that we might learn and act.

Disclosure Statement

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