Mothers of Academically Successful Daughters The Mothers’ Voices

For many of the mothers we interviewed for this book, it does not matter how talented their daughters are academically, because they believe their daughters’ success will never be certain. The mother whose quote begins this chapter describes a daughter who could read at three years of age, loved educational television, and attended college-based science camps during her summers in high school. Yet, at various points during her daughter’s education, the mother had to advocate on her behalf, seeking the kind of education she deserved. The second mother quoted shares the first mother’s concerns about the obstacles that lie ahead for her daughter, despite her talents. These mothers are representative, we believe, of what many African American mothers, regardless of education or marital status, struggle with in helping their children to achieve. These mothers have to be constantly vigilant, making sure that their daughters receive what they deserve. They also are constantly concerned that someone or something will impede their daughters’ progress because of race or gender. In spite of these obstacles, these mothers work to empower their daughters to succeed against the odds. In this chapter, we look at the stories the mothers tell us about their daughters’ upbringing. It is their voices we hear. We wanted to learn from the “experts” how their daughters came to achieve at such high levels, when so many Black youth do not. We look at the issues of race and gender, and how in both school and the broader society the two are interconnected. We first ask the mothers about their own upbringing. We then focus on how they raised their children. We inquire specifically about how much they helped with homework and how they disciplined their daughters. We delve into their status as African Americans, asking, for example, what they have taught their daughters about growing up Black and female. We also ask if they think their daughters will encounter racism and if they think it will be difficult to find a husband in the future (should they want to marry).

Parenting and Educating for Success in Math and Science Early Childhood through College

While the young women we focus on in this book have been successful in general in their schooling, they have achieved at the highest levels, in particular, in mathematics and science. Indeed, strong course work and high grades in mathematics and science courses in high school, along with high SAT scores in math, were among the primary criteria used to admit them to the Meyerhoff Scholars Program. As discussed in the first chapter, education and careers in math and science grow increasingly important in our technologically focused society, and African Americans, particularly African American women, are extremely underrepresented in these fields. To help increase the representation of Black women in math and science careers, it is useful to identify the factors which contribute strongly to academic success in these fields. In so doing, we hope to provide insights that will contribute to the success of future generations of African Americans in these disciplines. In Chapters 2 and 3, the mothers and fathers described a number of ways in which they helped support and encourage their daughters’ academic success, including approaches focused specifically on math and science. In Chapter 4, the daughters described the many ways in which their parents had been helpful and supportive in their academic endeavors overall. In this chapter, we listen as the daughters tell us, in their own voices, tell about those factors that helped them to be successful particularly in math and science. The first section, “The Pre-College Years,” focuses on the initial development and longer-term maintenance of the daughters’ interests in math and science, and the critical roles parents, teachers, and others played. In the second section, “Voices from the Community,” we hear directly from a number of people from the community who have had contact with some of the daughters during their pre-college years. The young women identified these educators, church members, and other community members as playing a significant mentoring role in their lives. These mentors share with us their experiences related to the pre-college math and science pursuits of the young women, as well as other Meyerhoff students, and African American youth more generally.

A Diversity of Family Contexts The Daughters’ Voices

In this first of three chapters focused on the daughters, we examine the challenges they faced and why they think they succeeded where so many other young African American women have struggled. Their messages, while similar in many ways to those we heard from the parents, have a different resonance and emphasis. The daughters provide new perspectives about the challenges they faced and the factors that have led to their success—factors that the parents either were not aware of or did not think were particularly important. This chapter highlights the varied nature of the family, the challenges facing each daughter in school and the neighborhood, and the factors that helped the daughters succeed. In the two preceding chapters, commonalities across the families were often emphasized. We are now ready to explore in more detail some of the differences across families. Previous research on adolescent female African Americans has tended to focus on their deficits, including their social, academic, and behavioral problems. A recent body of research, however, focuses on the strengths, resilience, and empowerment of Black youth. The literature regarding strengths emphasizes the positive resources young people bring to bear in coping with difficult fives and hazardous environments. For instance, involvement in activity that draws upon latent skills and talents (e.g., leadership skills or artistic talent) has been found to be related to positive development among urban youth. The literature on resilience focuses on high-risk youth who succeed in life despite unfavorable odds. One key factor that leads to their success is the support they receive from at least one primary adult— whether inside the family or in the larger community. Finally, empowerment-related research examines ways in which youth can develop an inner sense of competence and an enhanced sense of power in order to achieve significant personal goals in the face of environmental obstacles. One model suggests that it is especially important to provide young people with a positive, inspiring belief system that focuses beyond the self and emphasizes developing capabilities, contributing to others, and a strong support system.

Becoming a Black Woman A Closer Look at Personal, Cultural, and Emotional Challenges

In the previous two chapters, we listened to the daughters, in their own voices, describe the myriad experiences that helped to promote their academic success, in general, and in math and science, in particular. As the daughters told their stories, and described their respective journeys to Black womanhood, they touched on several critical areas in their lives, beyond academics. In this chapter, we narrow our focus and take a closer look at their personal, cultural, and emotional challenges. (For the purposes of this discussion, “cultural” challenges refer to those pertaining to race, ethnicity, and gender.) As we listen to the daughters’ voices, we learn that these young women share many experiences—some because they are women, some because they are Black, some because they are Black women, and some because they are human. Specifically, we focus on the daughters’ experiences in the following areas: (1) dating and sexual intimacy, (2) depression and substance abuse, (3) self-esteem and body-image, (4) racial and ethnic identity, and (5) race, gender, and their intersection. The challenges we discuss occurred both within and outside of school contexts, and from preschool through post-college years. We often hear that every challenge presents an opportunity for growth. As we listen to the daughters describe their personal battles, we gain a better understanding of the nature of such challenges. In some instances, we also see how these obstacles became motivating forces in the young women’s lives, and how they overcame the challenges. In addition, we learn about the many resources the daughters used to respond to personal, cultural, and emotional difficulties. For instance, parents often served as an important resource either by preparing their daughters for future challenges, having taught them values and given them advice, or by playing an active role at the time of the challenge. We also learn that religion and spirituality proved important to the majority of the daughters in terms of preparing them for and overcoming obstacles. We discuss the critical role of religion and spirituality at the end of this chapter.

Fathers of Academically Successful Daughters The Fathers’ Voices

These two fathers’ quotes encapsulate three central themes for African American fathers. The first reflects an experience common to many fathers, regardless of race—that a father’s participation in child-rearing is not as important as a mother’s. Fathers are often made to feel uncomfortable when they do express an interest. A second theme relates to the dangers in the community of associating with the “wrong crowd” and the pressure on these young women to become sexually active and have babies at a very young age. The second father speaks to the third theme, the challenges he sees his daughter facing as she grows up and tries to compete in an unjust world. This is a refrain that we heard throughout the interviews with the fathers. This chapter presents the stories of the fathers. They are an important part of the tapestry that has produced their academically successful daughters. They have often been a counterweight to the mothers by offering education about the male world and by providing a male perspective. It is they who assume a protective stance (often along with mothers) as they warn about relations with men. And it is they, along with the mothers, who set the achievement bar high. How did they learn the values they impart, and how do they help their daughters prepare for the future? We asked them what messages they received about education and about being Black when they grew up, and how these messages influenced their parenting style. We asked specifically about their daughters’ abilities and interests in math and science. We were interested in who the fathers believed had been helpful to their daughters along the way. We particularly focused on adolescence and the thorny issues that arise regarding emotional and physical development, dating, and growing up Black. Finally, we asked for their wisdom—what do they recommend to other parents who want to engender academic excellence in their children? Many have a certain picture of the African American father, particularly those fathers who are poor.

Successful African American Young Women and Their Families

When we read or hear about young African American women in our society, we usually find that the emphasis is on problems—from welfare and teenage pregnancy to violence and drugs. Rarely do the media focus on the success of young Black girls in school or of African American women in professional careers. For example, despite the fact that the nation’s teenage pregnancy rates have steadily declined since 1991, and that the majority of the nation’s pregnant teenagers are not Black, it is common nevertheless for the American public immediately to associate the expression, "babies having babies," with young Black girls. This association is largely created and reinforced by images presented in the media of young African American women in trouble, either as unwed mothers or, in more recent years, as gang members. Less well known are the significant accomplishments and value of African American women and the enormous role they can, and do, play in our nation. Consider the prose of Nobel Prize-winning writer Toni Morrison, and the courageous voice of one of America’s most eloquent child-advocates, Marian Wright Edelman. African American women are achieving at the highest of professional levels, from college presidencies to cabinet posts. Consider, for example, the appointments of Dr. Shirley Jackson, a physicist and the first African American female to earn a Ph.D. in any field at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one of America’s major technological universities, or of Dr. Condoleezza Rice as the President’s National Security Advisor. Notwithstanding these positive accomplishments, most Americans— Black and White—still know very little about these high achievers. Increasingly, entertainers—both women and men—send mixed signals to young Black girls about who they should aspire to become as they move toward womanhood. Often, these images, which tend to be unflattering and even at times degrading, focus on a culture that is excessively influenced by glamour, sex, and violence. In Reviving Ophelia, Mary Pipher discusses the powerful influence of the media in shaping girls’ definitions of themselves through teen magazines, advertisements, music, television, and movies.

Raising Successful African American Young Women What We Have Learned

It is important to remember that the young women in our study are successful not simply in general, but they have excelled in high school and college math and science courses and performed well on standardized tests. Their success is especially significant in the light of recent legal decisions regarding affirmative action. These decisions make it more difficult for minority children to gain admission to some of the nation’s colleges and universities. The critical challenge minority children face is that if their grades and test scores—the traditional measures of success—are not as competitive as those of their White or Asian counterparts, these underrepresented minority groups may not be able to take advantage of all the educational and career opportunities available in our society. Therefore, we must do all we can to strengthen and elevate the academic performance of these students well before they enter college. We know that schools and teachers are critical in the educational process, and understandably they receive a great deal of attention when we look at student-achievement levels. However, we need to focus much more attention on the role of families in this process, particularly in preparing daughters for success in school. Both parents and daughters agreed that parental or family support, in addition to natural ability, was a major reason for the daughters’ success. We have learned that raising African American girls to become high-achieving women in science is a complex and exciting challenge. The past six chapters have focused on what we have learned from slightly more than one hundred families of successful African American college women in science. The book uses and analyzes the voices of the parents and daughters to illuminate the journeys of these families over three generations. What emerges from their diverse perspectives and backgrounds is a rich and colorful tapestry that helps us understand the values, practices, and strategies that have led to the daughters’ success. The daughters in our study come from a variety of familial, geographic, educational, and economic backgrounds.