“Living in the Bubble with Black Minds and Eyes”: Experiences of Black/African American Journalism Students at Predominantly White Institutional Journalism Programs

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the experiences of Black/African American undergraduate journalism students within predominantly White institutional (PWIs) journalism classrooms and student newsrooms. By fusing Critical Race Theory (CRT) and phenomenology, this study examined the essence of Black/African American undergraduate journalism students lived experiences while attending a PWI journalism program in the southeastern region of the United States. I conducted qualitative phenomenological interviews and observations twice with 10 Black/African American undergraduate students enrolled in four PWI journalism programs in the Southeastern Conference and engaged in reflective memoing/journaling while conducting a thematic analysis. Moreover, this study considered how the dominant (not superior) White race may affect students’ experiences and how Black/African American students experience Whiteness and covert and overt racism in the journalism classroom and student newsroom. Through an exhaustive qualitative thematic analysis, I interpreted one theme, five subthemes and 16 categories. The overarching theme of the data corpus is called “Living in the Bubble.” This holistic theme provides a framework and a deeper insight into the collective experience of how Black/African American undergraduate journalism students construct their reality based on experiences within these PWI journalism schools, classrooms, and student newsrooms. There were many overlapping factors affecting their experiences such as the need for better financial support and work/life balance; increased promotion of Black student-run publications; provide safe spaces for Black students to be themselves, to belong, and to embrace creative freedom; hiring more Black faculty members, who could be eventual mentors; and for White faculty members to understand their experiences and be allies. Overall, their experience is a performance to survived this predominantly White environment. The students are simply adapting to their situated environments; thus, it is not their fault for wanting to survive, thrive, and be successful post-graduation. The findings of this study provide a deeper perspective about the experiences of Black/African American undergraduate journalism students and offering long-term solutions to better the experiences for future generations.