Black Girls: Experiencing Invisibility in School

Background

Invisibility is a microaggression rooted in gendered racial oppression. Black adolescent girls, unfortunately, encounter multiple discriminatory injustices such as racism and sexism in schools, which may hinder academic performance and well-being. Little is known about the myriad ways Black girls experience gendered racism in schools, more specifically, invisibility. This study aimed to define and explore Black girls' experiences with invisibility, and understand academic and wellness implications from gendered racial oppression.

Methods

This qualitative study employed a grounded theory approach with two rounds of one-on-one virtual semi-structured interviews with a socioeconomic diverse sample of 13 U.S. Black adolescent girls ages 14-18. Interview topics included personal definitions and experiences of invisibility, unfair treatment including racism/sexism, academic performance, mental health, and school-based solutions. Data were analyzed inductively via initial and post-coding memos, line-by-line coding, focus coding, analytic memos, and team discussions.

Results

For Black girls, a prominent way of experiencing invisibility in schools was when positive behavior, accomplishments, feelings, and presence were ignored by school officials and peers. Jamyahh (age 18) said, “At times I did feel invisible. If you're not outstanding or don't play a specific role, the school, your friends, and your peers isolate you and tune you out.”

Black girls were often forced to struggle with the duality of invisibility and hypervisibility. Kameka (age 15) shared, “I think it’s really weird because I don't think they're taking us as literal human teenagers with feelings. They're just paying more attention to what we're doing...They're more focused on what we're doing instead of how we may be feeling.”

Black girls desire to be students valued by teachers, staff, and peers, yet they constantly find themselves being made to feel small or “stick[ing] out in the wrong ways.” Jayla (age 17) shared, “Sometimes I feel like on eggshells a little because I don't want my teachers to racially profile me for doing something bad or anything like that. So sometimes it does make me feel a little nervous.”

Navigating invisibility and hypervisibility can take a toll on Black girls’ mental health. Kiana (age 17) explained, “I try to keep the happy, bubbly personality of mine like outside, but when once I get home, I just like completely break down, lock my door, turn off the lights, and just cry until I fall asleep.”

Black girls use their own strategies to resist invisibility and other oppressions in schools. Amira (age 14) explained, “I feel like a lot of that just helps us to push forward. It definitely lights a fire in us as Black girls. I feel like it definitely empowers us to keep pushing, even if we don't want to because we want to disprove those things.”

Conclusion

The practice of invisibility in schools harms the development and well-being of Black girls. Invisibility is a multi-layered experience driven by gendered racial stereotypes where Black girls battle being both hypervisible and invisible. Furthermore, this study indicates that social workers are needed to support the call for ending these harmful practices in school environments.