By Katherine Wang and Riya Abiram
Black women continue to persevere and find success despite persistently being overlooked and facing barriers.
For many Black American women, racialized stereotypes pose persistent social threats, reinforced by the media, institutions and daily interactions. Caroline Streeter, an associate professor of English and African American studies, said Black women continue to demonstrate resilience against the dismissal of their struggles.
“Black women … produce work that many, many more people can identify with because they’re exposing an aspect of the human experience that gets silenced because it’s painful and because it’s shameful – because people don’t want to talk about it,” Streeter said.
A National Library of Medicine study found that identity-based stresses play a significant role in shaping Black women’s nuanced experiences. Courtney Thomas Tobin, an associate professor of community health sciences and the associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion at the Fielding School of Public Health, said gendered racism – a concept that explains how different genders experience racism – can manifest as workplace discrimination and harmful stereotypes.
“It’s dealing with the double burden of gender-based stereotypes and racism-based stereotypes,” Thomas Tobin said. “For a lot of Black women, it’s that the experience of racism shows up in a very different way than it would, let’s say, for their Black male counterpart.”
These compound stressors pervasive in Black women’s experiences should be discussed and addressed more broadly, said Christiana Kallon Kelly, an African American studies professor. She also said programs that facilitate diverse representation can help Black women build connections, gain recognition and progress their pursuits.
A study by the National Employment Law Project found that Black women are disproportionately overrepresented within underpaid occupations such as child care and housekeeping while being systemically excluded from higher-paying jobs that offer more benefits and greater autonomy. In higher education, disparities in available opportunities and pay between Black women and white men are even more prominent, according to the same source.
The lack of income stability results in restricted access to basic needs such as housing, child care, health care and even clean air and water for Black women, according to the nonprofit Oxfam America.
Thomas Tobin said harmful stereotypes can also contribute to limited access to resources and opportunities. Harvard Business Review found that the harmful portrayal of Black women as ill-tempered and hostile has dominated pop culture for decades. When a Black woman expresses her anger in the workplace, it is more likely to be attributed to her personality rather than the situation, leading to lower performance ratings and limiting career opportunities, according to Harvard Business Review.
Another stereotype attributed to Black women is the expectation of them to constantly exhibit emotional strength and conceal their vulnerabilities – which can affect Black women’s use of mental health resources, according to a National Library of Medicine study. The study sampled 48 African American women and found five perceptions that polarize their relationship with mental health – obligation to present strength, obligation to suppress emotions, resistance of vulnerability and dependence, determination to succeed despite barriers, and prioritization of caregiving over self-care – that suggest why Black women may be reluctant to seek mental health resources. These findings are consistent with a Johns Hopkins Medicine article that stated women are twice as likely to suffer from major depressive disorder as men, and African American women are 50% less likely than white women to seek help.
Similar stereotypes are also prevalent in higher education, said Jonli Tunstall, an assistant adjunct professor of African American studies and with the School of Education and Information Studies.
“I think there are still a lot of notions that Black students aren’t smart enough, aren’t good enough, or that they got a handout,” Tunstall said. “There are all kinds of lies and misconceptions that I think also stand in the way, both from providing access to the students but also how students may see themselves or how they perceive others.”
Thomas Tobin said Black women can find confidence and strength in adversity by connecting with other Black women, while Kallon Kelly added that giving more recognition to the invisible labor of Black women in academia, which includes their leadership and mentorship of marginalized students, is important to combat longstanding stereotypes.
Despite challenges in higher education and the workforce, Black women continue to make accomplishments across education, politics, medicine and beyond.
One of the earliest trailblazers was Bessie Burke, who graduated from Los Angeles State Normal School, which later became a part of UCLA. In 1911 and 1918, she made history as LA’s first African American teacher and principal, respectively.
Earning her UCLA bachelor’s degree in 1953, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke was the first Black woman to represent the West Coast in Congress, as well as the first woman to become a mother while serving in Congress. Her work has led to the passage of laws helping marginalized groups such as children living in poverty, elderly individuals and orphans.
Gail Wyatt became the first Black woman to be a licensed psychologist in California in 1975 and to become a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine. She was also the first person of color to receive training as a sexologist, or sexual education specialist. Her research focuses on the psychosexual experiences of Black and white women that affect mental health.
Thomas Tobin said it is important to look at structural inequities in addition to people’s individual experiences. She added that Black women who achieve upward mobility face obstacles that also need to be acknowledged.
A number of UCLA programs work to recognize the ongoing achievements of Black women. The UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program provides research opportunities and career development for around 20 underrepresented women and minority scholars at UCLA per year based on an evaluation of a research proposal. UCLA’s annual Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, which Kallon Kelly was awarded for 2023-2025, also recognizes and grants research opportunities and mentorship resources to scholars who have made contributions to diversity and equal opportunity at the UC.
Tunstall said in addition to celebrating the vast and growing network of Black women alumni, it is essential to recognize how their contributions continue to shape UCLA.
“It’s not just important for Black students, but I think across our community groups,” Tunstall said. “It’s important to invest in each other’s stories and history.”