"Oh you Graduated?" "No, I Decided I was Finished." Dropping out of High School and the Implications over the Life Course by Erica Nicole Griffin A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved April 2011 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee Jeanne Powers, Chair Gustavo Fischman Eric Margolis ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2011 ! i ABSTRACT The Civil Rights Project estimates that Black girls are among the least likely to graduate from high school. More specifically, only about half, or 56%, of freshman Black girls graduate with their class four years later. Beyond the statistics little is known about Black girls who drop out, why they leave school and what happens to them once they are gone. This study is a grounded theory analysis of the stories eight adult Black women told about dropping out of high school with a particular focus on how dropping out affected their lives as workers, mothers and returners to education. There is one conclusion about dropping out and another about Black female identity. First, the women in my study were adolescents during the 1980s, experienced life at the intersection of Blackness, womaness, and poverty and lived in the harsh conditions of a Black American hyperghetto. Using a synthesis between intersectionality and hyperghettoization I found that the women were so determined to improve their economic and personal conditions that they took on occupations that seemed to promise freedom, wealth and safety. Because they were so focused on their new lives, their school attendance suffered as a consequence. In the second conclusion I argued that Black women draw their insights about Black female identity from two competing sources. The two sources are their lived experience and popular controlling images of Black female identity. ! ii DEDICATION For my mother: the architect of my education. Who taught me to crochet, to travel alone and to make soy-milk French toast, Who still owns a box of crayons and her grandmother’s lace handkerchief, Who taught me the Lord’s Prayer and reminded me to remember the women of the Bible, Who believes every season in my life no matter how temporary or uncomfortable can be beautiful. She also believes that if you don’t have enough money to pay the light bill you should buy a pair of shoes. Who talks to the angels Who could (if she were that kind of lady) stitch an endless quilt from the scraps of her broken hearts and handwritten funeral pamphlets, and wrap herself invisible forever. Instead, she swept them into God’s palm and went to fly a kite. For Juanita’s Carla and Char’s Nikki I dedicate this modest product of her focused vision. ! iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the Bible the Book of Esther holds two remarkable distinctions. First, a woman, Queen Esther, is the central figure of the story. Using her wit and courage, she convinces the king to spare the Jews (only a few close aides know that she is Jewish) from a genocidal plot. Second, at no point in the book is there any mention of God. Lately, I think of Esther often. I admire her for being bold in the face of challenges. Beyond Esther’s virtue, I find the “absence of God” inspiring. There have been times in my journey through this process that I looked for God and could not find Him. My search seemed most fruitless when the rejection letters from jobs and publications were streaming in, my writing was blocked and my motivation to persevere slowed to nothing. Nonetheless, here I am - finished and none the worse for the wear. The notion that I have been without God at any moment in this research process is just as absurd as the suggestion that Esther accomplished her feat without God. God is all around and supremely attentive. But sometimes the facts of this life build up so high that while He can always see you, you may not be able to see Him. True to His promise, it is in those moments that God deploys a hero to lift you up. That’s what He did when he sent Queen Esther to save the Jews and that’s what He did for me. My heroes are: The women, Edith, Jessie, Myra, Pauline, Ethel, Eliza, Nikki and Zephyr. Thank you for sharing your stories with me. Because you chose to open your hearts to this experience I have a chance to flourish. It is my sincerest hope that together ! iv we provided our readers with a better understanding of the lives of so many Black women in America. My advisor, Jeanne Powers. Thank you for guiding me through this process with expertise, diligence and integrity. Your open door policy, long-distance editing sessions, quiet moments as I cried my frustrations, and fearless demands for excellence left me free to be my best self – without excuse or escape. As I move closer to completing this journey, my heart is warmed by the fact that I can now call you friend. P.S. Do you remember when we celebrated Jamie’s birthday in Boston? Good times! My teacher, Dr. Margolis. The administrators were wise to enroll us in your class in our very first semester in the program. As the master of methods, you taught us that the humans who generously provide the substance for our studies deserve the utmost respect. In addition to your expertise on qualitative methods, you prove through your own commitment to scholarship that there is love in learning. My teacher, Dr. Fischman. Thank you for challenging me to resist the temptations of the elementary for the thrill of the unusual. As a professor you taught me to think beyond the limits of the academy. As a dear friend, you opened your home and your heart to me. I will never forget your kindness. My teachers Olga Davis, Doris Warriner, Kimberly Scott, Elizabeth Kozlesky, and Lasana Hotep. Thank you for being dynamic examples of excellence and perseverance. My spiritual guides, Drs. Charles Johnson and Renea Johnson. Thank you for educating me about faith, love and family. ! v My colleagues Margaret Bartlett, Corey Woods, Leyla de Silva Riley, Delis Cuellar Klitzke, Nicholas Walker, Jonathon Mathis, Dana Brown and Carol Sumner. I can’t wait to see what is next for us all! My friends, Jillian Bennett, Jana Williams, The Silver Lining, Keesha Coleman, Kathy Russell, Cynthia Adesioye, Gerald “Sweet Port” Blankson, Muhsinah Nurridin, Carol Sumner, Mercedes Payne, Ayesha Boyce, Krystal Oglesby, Stephanie Allen, Katrice Walton, Tamara Senior, Lenny Sebastian, Shalimar Stark, Stuart Fisher Bursey, John Rothleutner, Neron Ferguson, Shontielle Denise Marsh, Natasha Carr and Jamie Patrice Joanou-Geeck. You comprise a sanctuary where I can be myself, cry my tears and refresh my spirit. I will never forget the Godfather, the Hoover Dam, the Barrio, Dave and Busters, Christmas at Grandmommy’s house, my down comforter, the Secret Garden, the day Yinka died, the Professor’s House, Penny Lane, Brisas del Titicaca, the Amtrak voucher, Cozumel, and the night I ate a sea horse – yikes! My dear family, My parents Carla and Tony Griffin, my brother John Anthony Griffin; Eric Woods; My grandmothers Char Yates, Delores Griffin and Doris Hester; My grandfathers Thomas Woods, Lilton Griffin and Randy “Papa” Yates; My aunts Michyl McCreary, Gwenita “Peaches” Brown, June Montgomery, Agnes McLinton, Myrtice Griffin, and Sheila Griffin; my uncles, Keith Aikens, Sylvester Lawson, Sylvester Lawson II, and Warren Griffin; my cousins Jeffrey Ruffin, Brandon Ruffin, Wendy Bedwell Ruffin, Chris Montgomery, Jasmine McCreary, Autumn McCreary, Jarrett Griffin, and Shiedah Griffin, etc. Thank ! vi you for your support, your energy and your smiling faces each time I came home. The best is yet to come! Lastly, a special thank you to the Myra D. Sadker Foundation, the Arizona State University Graduate College and the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College for their generous financial support of my research. ! vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................ x! CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................... 1! When and where I enter ...................................................................................... 2! Problem............................................................................................................... 4! Organization of the Dissertation ......................................................................... 6! Important considerations................................................................................... 10! CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE AND CONCEPTS ............................................... 13! Measuring the Drop out Rate............................................................................ 13! Which students drop out in the greatest numbers? ........................................... 15! Why do (Black) students drop out? .................................................................. 16! CHAPTER 3: METHODS.................................................................................... 33! Fieldwork .......................................................................................................... 44! Lessons from the field....................................................................................... 62! CHAPTER 4: DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL AND INTO THE GHETTO..... 68! Engagement and critical qualitative theories of dropping out .......................... 69! Funky, funky ghetto.......................................................................................... 71! "#$!%#&'(!)#$!*+,)-./011111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111