Project Description: This mixed-methods study (funded by the Spencer Foundation) examines whether and how African American and Black women’s experiences in tenure-track positions in higher education affect their health. I (along with a team) am conducting and analyzing qualitative semi-structured interviews (N=54) with Black women faculty to explore the health and racial stress they experience as academics in higher education. Qualitative data will be integrated with survey and biomarker data to show how higher education shapes the health and well-being of Black women faculty, as well as how they cope, resist, and reclaim these spaces. I will also analyze social network data as part of a forthcoming mixed-methods paper on the social networks of Black women academics

Project role: Collaborator/Researcher

Featured news article: Spencer Foundation grant allows UW–Madison researchers to build on study of health outcomes for Black women in academia (University of Wisconsin Madison- School of Education) https://education.wisc.edu/news/spencer-foundation-grant-allows-uw-madison-researchers-to-build-on-study-of-health-outcomes-for-black-women-in-academia/

 

Wicker, P. D., Winkle-Wagner, R., & Goosby, B. (2025). “I Just Really Like Us”: A mixed methods social network analysis of the longstanding support networks of Black women faculty. The Journal of Higher Education, 1–28.https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2025.2576948

Winkle-Wagner, R., Goosby, B., Kelly, B.T., Pemberton, B. (2025). Relationships Between Discrimination, Stress, and Health Among Black Women Faculty in Higher Education. In: Perna, L.W. (eds) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, vol 41. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-86738-5_8-1 

Pemberton, B., Winkle-Wagner, R., Magasano, D., & Goosby, B. (2025). “Don’t Let it Get in the Way of Work”: Black Women Academics’ Navigation of Romantic Relationships. The Journal of Higher Education, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2025.2461989 

Goosby, B. J., Winkle-Wagner, R., & Zhang, A. (2024). The Uterus Keeps the Score: Black Women Academics’ Insights and Coping with Uterine Fibroids. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465241268434 https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465241268434