Black Women in Higher Education: School of Social Work
AUTHOR: Chelsea Hood
This report includes a historical overview of female faculty's groundbreaking work at the Howard University School of Social Work. It discusses notable female faculty, such as Lindsay, Dorothy M. Pearson, Eva Stewart, Harriette P. McAdoo, Mary Day, and Mary Ella Robertson. HUSSW embodies the significance of inclusion concerning women in academic roles. To highlight women’s contributions, data analysis relied on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), a database of surveys collected on faculty members’ classification of ranks and titles by sex and race/ethnicity. This report summarizes additional data collection completed through Howard yearbooks (1940–1989), commencement programs, materials from Washington Informer, the HUSSW faculty and staff website, and Howard digital catalogs. An analysis of women’s role in academia and their leadership at HUSSW revealed that although women’s representation in social work surpassed that of men, it should not invalidate the experiences of sexism and discrimination that female scholars endured. Women succeeded despite male academics who discouraged them from climbing the ladder. These women dismantled barriers by refusing to allow obstacles to deter them in the field.