Hair is so culturally significant within the lives of Black women that the transition from high school to college forces Black female college students to make arduous decisions about how to care for and wear their hair in this untried and dislocated space. This chapter investigates the “turning point” or transition of Black female college students as it relates to their choices to wear their hair in this new professional setting. Through a phenomenological approach, the hair narratives of 31 Black female participants were collected through an online survey entitled the Hair, Health, and Heritage Study. Researchers engaged in a thematic content analysis in which Black women voiced their experiences of shifting from a Eurocentric beauty standard to embracing their natural features. This study asserts a connection between Black hair and identity through five themes. These insights direct anti-bias trainings on college campuses and student engagement through policy.
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Hair is so culturally significant within the lives of Black women, that the transition from high school to college forces Black female college students to make arduous decisions about how to care for, and wear their hair, in this untried and dislocated space (Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016; Mbilishaka & Apugo, 2020; Murrey & Taylor, 2020). Described by Greene (2011, p. 406), Black women must actively make decisions about their hair through their lifetime to relax or press it; to wear it straightened or natural; to cut it or grow it long; to braid or wear it out; to wrap it, roll it, or plait it; to put a weave in it or put a wig over it; to twist, braid, or lock it; to color, highlight, or not color at all.
Unfortunately, Black women are faced with making these decisions in the face of anti-Blackness and the potential consequence of being seen as unprofessional (Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016; Mbilishaka et al., 2020). Repeated studies suggest that Black women spend more time, money, and emotion on manipulating the texture, length, and style of their hair within a context of Eurocentric biased beauty ideals than any other group of women (Johnson & Bankhead, 2014; Lewis, 1999; Mbilishaka, 2018a; Neil & Mbilishaka, 2019). Still, little is known about Black women’s thought processes concerning grooming practices related to their hair during the college years.
Not only does Black hair and hair texture visibly communicate race, ethnicity, and beauty (DeLongoria, 2018), it impacts personal and professional development opportunities. In predominantly white institutions, Black women are at risk for shifting (Shorter-Gooden, 2003), a process in which Black women navigating racial and gender expectations alter their true selves through excessive compromising—or because of fighting against these expectations which can be a draining process. Black women’s stories about their hair experiences in higher education are often excluded from research on increasing institutional engagement among students, faculty, and university administrators. An emerging literature has begun to centralize the role of Black hair in navigating K-12 educational spaces (Essien & Wood, 2021; Rogers, Versey & Cielto, 2021; O’Brien-Richardson, 2019; Davis Tribble et al., 2019; Muhammed & McArthur, 2015; Mbilishaka & Apugo, 2020; Apugo, Mawhinney & Mbilishaka, 2020), but to date there is no published psychological study on Black female students’ hair stories and higher education. Unpacking the meaning and impact of Black hair is critical for Black women in higher education because it may be the seed for establishing a professional and career identity.