Race-Focused Research as a Space for Identity and Belonging: Black Graduate Students’ Experiences in an All-Black Research Team

Abstract

This paper reveals a culture of opportunity for graduate STEM education as it delves into the experiences of Black-identifying graduate students who are members of a multi-institutional, national research project. Specifically, this study explores how their engagement in race-focused research with an all-Black team impacts their perceptions of Black identity, sense of belonging, community, and agency to continue this research endeavor. In-depth one-on-one interviews were collected from four graduate students. Data analysis used Cross’s (1994) Nigrescence Theory, particularly the Stages of Black Identity Development. Results indicate that Black graduate students’ engagement in this space positively impacts their perceptions of racial identity, sense of community, and agency. This space proved beneficial in providing resources, especially language, to navigate discourse around their Black and other identities without feeling isolated or othered. Results also indicate a shared appreciation for being in the community with and receiving mentorship from Black women faculty, facilitating space for support and career advancement. Implications for transforming graduate STEM education to better support Black students are provided.

1. Introduction

Though characterized as spaces that promote ethical, inclusive, and moral learning opportunities for students from all backgrounds, higher education institutions often fail to adequately integrate, include, and support minoritized communities (Baba, 2025; Campbell et al., 2023; P. J. Gardner et al., 2025; E. O. McGee, 2016; National Science Foundation & National Science Board, 2018). This is especially true for Black students in graduate or advanced Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, as this space has traditionally been White and male-dominated (Burt et al., 2018; Naphan-Kingery et al., 2019).

In recent years, there have been various efforts toward programming to recruit and retain Black students in STEM more broadly (NASEM, 2018, 2023). This includes efforts to promote Black student success in STEM graduate programs (Burt et al., 2019; Holloman et al., 2021).

Despite programming efforts aimed to foster Black graduate students’ success in STEM, Black students remain discernibly underrepresented in these fields (E. O. McGee & Martin, 2011; Ransom & Winters, 2016; Upton & Tanenbaum, 2014). They also experience heightened stress in their graduate programs, given the social, historical, and contemporary racialization of STEM fields normalizing white, Eurocentric ideologies (Ford, 2025; E. O. McGee, 2020). Furthermore, the underrepresentation of Black faculty and scholars contributes to the epistemic dominance of Eurocentric perspectives in higher education, which often frames Black students through deficit-based narratives and reinforces racial hierarchies in knowledge production (Battey & Leyva, 2016; Charleston et al., 2014; Ladson-Billings, 2012). Overall, systematic exclusion, racial stereotypes, cultural isolation, academic gatekeeping, and lack of mentors with similar identities complicate their educational experiences (Harper, 2013; Monroe-White & McGee, 2024). As a result, Black students are frequently viewed as a monolithic group, their diverse identities and intellectual contributions rendered invisible or pathologized within mainstream academic discourse, and are expected to cope with stress associated with being Black in a STEM academic space without having access to Black mentors who could support them.

Given the existing challenges noted in supporting Black STEM graduate students, specifically regarding their access to Black mentors and spaces that aid in their professional development, the current study explores how engagement in race-focused research with an all-Black team shapes Black graduate students’ sense of identity, community, and belonging. While previous research has emphasized the importance of faculty relationships in supporting retention and success for Students of Color, less is known about how these relationships—particularly within culturally affirming research environments—influence identity development and connection to academic spaces. Reparative efforts must also consider how traditional research structures have historically excluded or misrepresented Black communities. Thus, this study aims to challenge dominant narratives in educational research by centering the lived experiences of Black graduate students conducting race-focused scholarship with an all-Black team.

2. Literature Review

There is a growing body of literature around students’ sense of belonging in postsecondary STEM with a special focus on underrepresented students. However, less attention has been paid to how project-based affinity spaces support both the identity development and sense of belonging of Black graduate students in STEM. Accordingly, this literature review explores three key threads: (1) students’ sense of belonging, (2) motivations driving students to pursue and persist in STEM education, and (3) institutional structures that support retention for Black graduate students in postsecondary education.

2.1. Sense of Belonging

Underrepresentation of minoritized populations in STEM remains a persistent national concern, with students from these communities facing substantial challenges that negatively affect their academic experiences and outcomes. A critical challenge is the underrepresented students’ sense of belonging within their academic programs and institutions. Sense of belonging refers to an individual’s feelings of contentment, mattering, importance, and “finding one’s place” within a social context—factors that can influence major choice and career trajectory (Ovink et al., 2024). Research consistently demonstrates that a sense of belonging profoundly impacts student performance (Brunsma et al., 2017; Fisher et al., 2019; E. O. McGee, 2020; Naphan-Kingery et al., 2019). Moreover, concerns about acceptance due to identities such as race, gender, social class, or sexuality can trigger psychological processes that undermine academic performance and persistence (El Halwany & Adams, 2026; Naphan-Kingery et al., 2019; Walton & Cohen, 2007; Wilkins-Yel et al., 2022). Over time, these experiences may lead to feelings of disengagement and avoidance of STEM programs as coping mechanisms in hostile environments (Fisher et al., 2019). Research also highlights the critical importance of social connectedness for historically underrepresented students in higher education (Edwards et al., 2021; Rodriguez & Blaney, 2021; Stachl & Baranger, 2020; Walton & Cohen, 2007, 2011).

Reminders of marginalization can provoke anxieties about acceptance and belonging within academic programs and institutions (Brunsma et al., 2017). These reminders arise not only from institutional policies but also from epistemological norms rooted in Eurocentric frameworks that shape academic spaces, research paradigms, and notions of merit. The scarcity of Black faculty and scholars perpetuates a representational void that reinforces deficit narratives and homogenizes Black student identities, often reducing their experiences to a singular narrative of struggle or failure (Battey & Leyva, 2016; Ladson-Billings, 2012; Settles et al., 2024). This epistemic exclusion limits the diversity of cultural perspectives in curriculum and mentorship, further alienating Black students from environments where their identities and intellectual contributions are seldom fully recognized or valued.

The Construction of Belonging in Academic Spaces

Moreover, the concept of the authentic self is frequently invoked in diversity literature but rarely unpacked in relation to the racialized norms of academic institutions. For Black students, authenticity often means navigating predominantly White spaces where expressions of Blackness may be policed or misunderstood. In these environments, students may engage in code-switching, masking, or self-censorship—behaviors that suppress cultural identity in favor of assimilation (E. O. McGee, 2016; Wilkins-Yel et al., 2022). These strategies can create internal conflict, emotional strain, and ultimately a disconnection from the academic community (Hussain & Jones, 2021; Porter & Byrd, 2023). A culturally affirming research environment disrupts this norm by creating a space where Black students do not feel compelled to filter themselves. In such spaces, authenticity is not just permitted but celebrated, fostering deeper engagement, creativity, and resilience in the face of systemic exclusion. This framing provides a critical lens to interpret how belonging operates not just structurally but effectively for Black graduate students.

2.2. STEM Motivation and Persistence

STEM fields have historically been sites of opportunity hoarding, where dominant groups maintain access to academic resources while restricting minoritized populations (Tilly, 1998). Consequently, access to STEM pathways is shaped by unequal exposure to quality preparation, mentorship, and networks, compelling Students of Color to navigate these fields with limited institutional support (E. O. McGee, 2016). Despite these barriers, many Black students are drawn to STEM because degrees in these fields are socially regarded as valuable commodities that afford upward mobility, including higher earnings and enhanced social status.

Students pursue STEM degrees for various reasons: aspirations for financial success (E. McGee & Bentley, 2017); the desire to join prestigious academic communities (Riegle-Crumb et al., 2019; Vincent-Ruz & Schunn, 2018); and commitments to equity and social justice through careers that serve their communities (Garibay, 2015; Gibbs & Griffin, 2013). For Black students, STEM represents not only a path to individual advancement but also a platform for community transformation. Their motivations often extend beyond personal ambition to include efforts to access spaces traditionally hoarded by dominant groups and leverage that access for systemic change (Garibay, 2015; Gibbs & Griffin, 2013; E. McGee & Bentley, 2017). Compared to their non-underrepresented peers, Black students more often value helping others through their STEM pursuits and view their degrees as tools for equity-oriented work in service to their communities (E. R. Brown et al., 2015; Thoman et al., 2015).

While navigating their STEM programs, Black graduate students may endure learning spaces that are overtly hostile and toxic, leading them to feel like they are impostors in STEM spaces (E. O. McGee et al., 2022a). Scholars note that even in these spaces, Black students’ desires for obtaining a STEM degree, an equity ethic, function as a source of motivation for them (Naphan-Kingery et al., 2019). Additionally, external influences such as their family or access to a faith-based community also inform Black graduate students’ persistence in STEM (Burt et al., 2019).

2.3. Institutional Structures That Support Retention

A constellation of institutional factors is reported to support graduate student retention. This includes but is not limited to supportive social and academic campus environments, positive faculty relationships, positive peer interaction, assistance with graduate school adjustment and social integration, and low perceived individual and institutional racism (M. C. Brown et al., 1999; Lewis et al., 2004; Millett & Nettles, 2006). Among Black graduate students, the most powerful predictor of retention and degree completion is access to Faculty of Color with whom students can identify (Hutson et al., 2022; Walker et al., 2001). This finding aligns with broader research underscoring that positive student–faculty relationships foster retention among Students of Color (Davidson & Foster-Johnson, 2001; Ellis, 1997; Gildersleeve et al., 2011; Strayhorn, 2012). Mentorship structures enable faculty to support students’ persistence and success, and students often credit their academic progress, identity development, and engagement in meaningful research to these relationships (Cheatham & Phelps, 1995), a pattern also observed among Black students in STEM graduate programs (Bryson & Grunert Kowalske, 2022).

Access to and participation in counterspaces are an additional factor that informs Black graduate students’ persistence and retention in STEM (Lane, 2016; Ong et al., 2018). Counterspaces are environments that offer social, cultural, and emotional support for Black students by intentionally centering their racial and cultural identities through a strengths-based approach (McCoy et al., 2024; Phelps-Ward, 2020). These spaces are known for “countering” the hegemonic, traditional cultural norms and practices that reinforce racist ideologies and hostile experiences for Black learners. Counterspaces at the graduate level include cultural affinity groups, identity-affirming research environments, identity-based national societies, and conferences (White et al., 2023). These spaces function as counterspaces when equity-minded mentoring is provided for Black STEM graduate students (Settles et al., 2021). Equity-minded mentoring often comes from Black faculty who are invested in advancing Black students’ success (E. O. McGee et al., 2022b). This mentoring usually occurs through self-directed services such as one-on-one mentoring outside of the traditional advising structures. The absence of Black faculty in higher education thus exacerbates the marginalization experienced by Black students (BrckaLorenz et al., 2017; Main et al., 2023; C. S. V. Turner et al., 2008). This is particularly true for Black graduate students in STEM who may not have access to counterspaces or identity-affirming research groups.

While research emphasizes the importance of student–faculty relationships, there is limited scholarship on how mentorship within culturally affirming research teams (e.g., counterspaces)—particularly all-Black research teams—affects students’ engagement with race-related scholarship. Addressing this gap, the current study explores how participation in race-focused research with an all-Black team influences Black graduate students’ perceptions of their Black identity, as well as their sense of belonging and community.

3. Materials and Methods

This qualitative case study (Priya, 2021) employs a secondary analysis on an existing dataset that includes in-depth one-on-one interview data focused on insights into the lived experiences of Black graduate students engaged in a race-focused project with an all-Black research team, The Black Collective (pseudonym). As a case study, we attended to the culture, practices, and learning that emerged during the research interactions on an all-Black team. Specifically, for the graduate students, we aimed to identify how this research experience impacts notions of Black identity in their professional development, sense of belonging, and sense of community. Participants include four Black graduate students attending four-year urban institutions situated along the Southeast and Southwest of the US. The overarching question guiding the study presented in this paper is as follows: In what ways do Black graduate students’ engagement in race-focused research with an all-Black team impact their perceptions of their Black identity development as well as their sense of belonging and community?

3.1. Positionality

Dr. Lul M. Baba is a Black Muslim Somali woman, first-generation graduate, and refugee from Sub-Saharan Afrika. Her Blackness is shaped by intersecting social identities and lived experiences across her country of origin, refugee camps and transit spaces, and resettlement in the United States. These experiences reflect the concept of borderlands (Anzaldúa, 1987) as liminal spaces of in-betweenness, where belonging is continually negotiated, and continue to inform her scholarly commitments and navigation of the academy. Her scholarship is grounded in resilience, hope, and a commitment to challenging oppressive structures that marginalize historically excluded communities within STEMM and postsecondary education. Her research agenda centers equity, inclusion, belonging, and social justice, with particular attention to access, retention, and success among individuals from the Black African diaspora—particularly first-generation students, refugees, and ethnic minorities. Drawing on this positionality, she examines how intersecting marginalized identities shape educational trajectories, experiences, and outcomes within and beyond postsecondary contexts. Her work foregrounds Blackness to expand understandings of its multiplicativity and multidimensionality from a global perspective, bringing a diasporic lens that centers Black experiences in STEMM education. Her positionality informs how she interprets belonging, resilience, and agency among Black graduate students, particularly as they navigate intersecting racial, gendered, religious, and diasporic identities within predominantly White academic spaces.

Dr. Jennifer D. Adams is a transnational subject with generational roots in the Caribbean and connections within and across Turtle Island and now resides in Mokintsis (Calgary, Canada). Dr. Adams identifies as a cisgender, Black, Caribbean American woman, as shaped by her experiences of growing up in the Caribbean Diaspora of Brooklyn, N.Y. Her Blackness has been shaped by her cultural and geographical identities and informs how she approaches research on race, identity, and belonging in STEMM. Her pathway through STEMM meandered from pre-med via teaching high school Biology and Earth Sciences in New York City, to informal science education, and now as a researcher and educator in STEMM teaching and learning. As a transdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Adams’ work has a critical underpinning while borrowing from a range of theorists, like Sylvia Wynter, organic intellectuals like Robert Nesta Marley, and artists like Rosamond King to provide a rich theorization of the many facets of Blackness. To this collective, she brings her desire to centre Black livingness in the research process, specifically interrogating how the relationships and interactions within and across an all-Black team shape the ways that the research unfolds.

Dr. Terrell R. Morton identifies as a Black, African American, Cisgender man. Black signifies his racial identity, and African American signifies his ethnic and cultural identities. Being born and raised in North Carolina by Civil Rights Activists and educators, Dr. Morton was taught to have pride in his identity and be of service to those in need by using his power and platform to advocate for justice. Having an undergraduate and graduate degree in the sciences, Dr. Morton has experience that relates to the overall population of interests for the research group, Black STEM students. As well, in identifying as a Critical Race Theorist and Human Development scholar, engaging deeply with Black studies literature and research, as well as Phenomenology and Decision-Making, Dr. Morton maintains a working knowledge of the lived experiences of Black early career professionals and how their racial identities and Black consciousnesses shape their onto-epistemologies. He brings these perspectives to help situate the study, supporting the current study by thinking deeply about race, race consciousness, and racial onto-epistemologies for Black people.

Together, these authors bring the lenses of their diverse Black identities and perspectives to the overarching case study and specifically to the theorization of the data presented in this manuscript. This is aligned with the goal of the overarching case study, which is to nuance Black identity within and across culture, ethnicity, geography, and other dimensions that shape identity within STEM. Notably, these positionalities informed not only how we interpreted the data but also how we engaged with participants and recognized meaning within their narratives. Shared experiences navigating STEMM environments as Black scholars facilitated rapport and, in some cases, deeper disclosure during interviews, as participants spoke openly about racialized experiences that may be difficult to articulate in less affirming contexts. These shared understandings also shaped our analytic attention, allowing us to more readily identify and interpret moments of racialized dissonance, affirmation, and identity negotiation that may be less visible through a more distanced analytic lens. Additionally, we acknowledge the potential for selection bias, as participants who chose to engage in a race-focused research collective may already possess a heightened level of racial consciousness or interest in identity-centered work. This may influence both the nature of the experiences shared and how identity development is expressed within this context.

3.2. Research Setting

This research is nested within a large, North American continental-wide research group, The Black Collective (pseudonym), that came together to explore Black identity in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The Black Collective is a multi-institutional, collaborative research initiative with 5 sites located in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest regions of the United States and one site in Western Canada. The Black Collective aims to explore the experiences of Black undergraduate students in STEM postsecondary education, with particular attention to the diversity within Blackness across ethnic, cultural, and geographical identities. The initiative seeks to develop research tools and knowledge products that inform equity-focused STEM policies and practices, responding to the nuanced and varied needs of Black students both within and beyond higher education. The research team of the Black Collective comprises Black scholars, practitioners, and activists with diverse lived and disciplinary backgrounds. This includes senior scholars, junior faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students. The four graduate students described in this manuscript were employed to support the study at the different sites. The individual research sites varied by number of key personnel and team dynamics; thus, the graduate students’ responsibilities varied by institutional context, that is, what graduate student researchers did to support the Black Collective is site-specific. However, their work was integral to the project’s development, implementation, analysis, and dissemination. For example, graduate research assistants at the site located in the Mid-Atlantic were responsible for implementing data collection and analysis for their research site, whereas graduate research assistants in the Southeast had administrative duties along with the research-specific tasks. However, across sites, graduate students contributed to the study via supporting public engagement through digital communications and co-producing creative, non-traditional forms of scholarship aimed at expanding public understanding of racialized experiences in STEM.

3.3. Data Collection

The data collection described in this manuscript was part of an evaluation process for the project, with an initial goal of gathering recommendations to understand how the graduate students were experiencing their roles and mentoring within the initiative as a way of enhancing their professional learning experiences, as well as ensuring that senior leadership understood trainee needs and could support their professional goals beyond the project. This manuscript draws on secondary analysis of these evaluation interviews, with a specific analytic focus on Black identity development, belonging, and community through the application of Nigrescence Theory as an interpretive framework.

The project evaluator first reached out to the project’s Senior Leaders at each respective site to obtain the names and contact information of graduate student participants. Graduate students were recruited via email and informed that they would be interviewed about their experiences working within an all-Black research team. Senior leaders were asked to follow up with their graduate mentees to encourage participation. A total of four graduate students, positioned across four distinct institutional sites, were scheduled for and completed 1-h interviews conducted via Zoom. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. Each participant was at a different stage in their graduate studies and had different disciplinary foci, highlighting variation in their lived experiences within a shared social and professional context.

The sample size (n = 4) is appropriate for the qualitative case study design employed here. The analysis draws on in-depth, hour-long interviews with information-rich participants across four distinct institutional sites within a multi-institutional North American research collaboration and across varying stages of graduate training. Participants also held site-specific roles within the broader project structure, contributing to variation in their experiences. This cross-context and role-based variation, combined with the depth of the interview data, supports the development of nuanced thematic insights rather than statistical generalization. Given the multi-site nature of the project and the small number of graduate students in comparable roles, identifying disciplinary or institutional specifics could increase the risk of deductive disclosure; therefore, contextual details are reported only in broad terms. Consistent with qualitative inquiry, the emphasis is placed on depth of understanding and analytic richness.

4. Interpretative Framework

This study leverages Cross’s (1994) Nigrescence theory to examine Black graduate students’ perceptions of racial identity development, sense of belonging, and community while engaged in a collaborative, race-focused research project with an all-Black team. Nigrescence, often described as a metaphoric process, captures how individuals come to understand and redefine their racial identity over time. Although formally articulated in Shades of Black: Diversity in African American Identity (1994), the conceptual roots of Nigrescence can be traced to W. E. B. Du Bois, whose reflections on “becoming a Negro” during his time at Fisk University represent an early articulation of racial self-consciousness and identity transformation. This framing is particularly relevant in STEMM contexts, where Black students often navigate tensions between their racial identity and predominantly White institutional environments. Building on this intellectual lineage, Nigrescence theory outlines a series of stages through which individuals may move as they develop a more complex and self-defined racial identity (Cross, 1994). These stages provide a useful analytic lens for interpreting how Black graduate students make meaning of their experiences within STEMM environments:

• Pre-Encounter—Characterized by a low salience of race, where individuals may internalize dominant norms or prioritize identities unrelated to race.
• Encounter—Marked by a critical incident or series of experiences that disrupt prior understandings of race, often prompting heightened racial awareness.
• Immersion–Emersion—A transitional phase in which individuals actively reject previous frameworks and immerse themselves in Black identity, often developing a new interpretive lens.
• Internalization—The development of a secure, self-defined racial identity that allows for more complex engagement with both Black and non-Black communities.
• Internalization–Commitment—The translation of this identity into sustained action, including commitments to social change, community engagement, or advocacy.

While Nigrescence Theory serves as a foundational framework for understanding racial identity development among African Americans, it is important to note that it does not assume a linear or uniform progression. Rather, identity development is dynamic and iterative; individuals may revisit stages, experience periods of stagnation, or shift in response to new social, academic, and personal contexts. This flexibility is particularly relevant in STEMM ecosystems, where Black graduate students encounter evolving forms of inclusion, exclusion, and racialized expectations that shape their identity trajectories over time.

Although this framework has been widely used to examine Black identity development across educational and professional contexts, its application to Black graduate students in STEMM remains limited. Recent work (e.g., Ford et al., 2024) demonstrates its emerging use in graduate education, illustrating how Black doctoral students actively negotiate their identities within racially structured academic spaces. This work highlights how identity development is both context-dependent and shaped through ongoing interactions with institutional environments. Building on this work, our study applies Nigrescence theory to examine how participation in a race-focused, all-Black research team shapes participants’ evolving understandings of identity, belonging, and community.

Within this framework, we conceptualize agency as more than individual motivation; rather, agency refers to the capacity to interpret, navigate, and respond to exclusionary structures within STEMM environments. As participants engage in collaborative research and develop shared language to describe their experiences (e.g., naming systemic exclusion or microaggressions), they not only make sense of their positionality but also enact forms of resistance and collective meaning-making. In this way, identity development and agency are mutually reinforcing processes shaped through both individual reflection and community engagement. Guided by this framework, thematic analysis was conducted to capture how participants described their experiences, and these narratives were interpreted in relation to stages of identity development, as well as expressions of agency and belonging.

Table 1. Thematic Analysis informed by Nigrescence Theory.

Component	Description
Analytic Approach	Data were coded inductively using participants’ own language and organized into emergent themes reflecting shared experiences across narratives
Theoretical Framework	Themes were interpreted through the lens of Nigrescence Theory (Cross, 1994), which outlines stages of Black identity development: pre-encounter, encounter, immersion–emersion, and internalization.
Theory Application	Interpreted in relation to Nigrescence stages (e.g., encounter moments, immersion processes, internalization), as well as participants’ development of agentic responses. The framework guided interpretation by helping trace participants’ identity trajectories—from early confusion or marginalization to empowered expressions of Black identity, often facilitated by community, mentorship, and cultural affirmation.
Purpose	To deepen understanding of how participants’ participation in an all-Black research team shaped their racial identity, sense of belonging, and perception of community.

summarizes the analytic approach and illustrates how Nigrescence Theory informed the interpretation of participants’ evolving racial identities and experiences of community within the context of an all-Black research team.

4.1. Data Analysis

For the purpose of this paper, we used the Nigrescence Theory (Cross, 1994) to analyze the data gathered from this existing dataset. For this paper, two questions around their perceptions of their Black identity or alterations thereof were added to understand how engagement in race-focused research with an all-Black team impacts their perceptions of their Black identity development, sense of belonging, and community. Below are the three central questions that guided participants’ narratives around identity, belonging, and community within this project:

• What has it been like for you working on an all-Black team?
• Do you feel that you are a part of a community within this project? Explain.
• How do you think this project has influenced how you think about your Black identity?

  ○

  Follow-up: Do you feel that your understanding of your Black identity has changed as a result of being in this space?

The data were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach, in which coding and theme development were conducted iteratively and grounded in participants’ language. Initial codes were generated line-by-line from interview transcripts, and these codes were then systematically compared, grouped, and refined into broader conceptual themes. For example, the first question—“What has it been like for you working on an all-Black team?”—elicited responses that were categorized under codes such as “show up as fully ourselves” and “not conceal different parts of ourselves,” which aligned with the broader theme of Community & Belonging. These initial codes were continuously compared across transcripts and clustered into higher-order categories, which were then refined into final themes through iterative discussion among the research team.

Table 2. Step-by-step Data Analysis Process. (The analytic process was conducted iteratively, with ongoing peer debriefing and participant validation (see Section Trustworthiness of the Analytic Process).

Step	Description	Purpose	Example from Data & Notes
Data Familiarization	Read all four interview transcripts and documented initial reflection (took initial notes on tone, language, and key moments related to Black identity and community).	To immerse in the data and gain a holistic sense of participant experiences and note initial impressions aligned with identity development and community.	This is the first time I’ve worked with a team where I didn’t have to explain myself. I’ve never worked on a team where I didn’t feel like the only one carrying the weight of representing Black people. Authenticity; safety and acceptance; shared understanding and affirmation Notes: Memos captured emotional tone, narrative flow, and contextual insights.
Open Coding	Conducted line-by-line inductive coding, identifying emergent concepts, emotions, and repeated ideas (focus on participants’ language around identity, community, and belonging).	To generate initial codes grounded in participants’ own language. To capture emergent concepts without imposing the theoretical framework prematurely.	Codes included: show up as fully ourselves, not conceal different parts,” “tools to talk about my identity,” “comforting,” “not feel isolated. … joy, feeling safe, shared identity, confusion about race. Notes: Coding was done manually using margin notes and digital highlights (Excel spreadsheets and Google Docs using color-coding and in-line comments).
Theme Construction	Grouped similar codes and clustered them into broader conceptual themes.	Identify meaningful patterns that addressed the research questions.	Theme example: Community & Belonging. Notes: Three themes were finalized through iterative comparison across transcripts.
Theoretical Mapping	Applied interpretative framework to interpret themes in relation to racial identity development	Analyze how participant experiences aligned with stages such as immersion–emersion and internalization	it’s been really good that a big part of the project is that Blackness shows up in different ways. Notes: Theoretical memos helped align narratives with Nigrescence stages
Synthesis and Interpretation	Selected illustrative quotes and synthesized the findings with theoretical framing	Construct a cohesive narrative that reflects both emergent themes and critical theory.	It’s refreshing and comforting… We don’t have Black women faculty in my program. Notes: Emphasis placed on preserving participant voice and contextual nuance.

provides a detailed step-by-step representation of the analytic process, illustrating how initial codes were generated, iteratively refined, and organized into themes, and how theoretical interpretation was subsequently applied. Procedures used to ensure the trustworthiness of this analytic process are described in

Table 3. Alignment of Interview Questions, Emergent Themes, Codes, and Illustrative Quotes.

Interview Question	Representative Codes	Emergent Theme	Illustrative Quote	Theoretical Interpretation
What has it been like for you working on an all-Black team?	“show up as fully ourselves,” “not conceal different parts,” “acceptance,” “didn’t have to explain myself,” “comforting”	Community & Belonging (Acceptance of Authentic Self)	I think there’s also the component that we can just all show up to this space and to our meetings and to our work as fully ourselves without feeling like we have to conceal different parts. And there’s a lot of acceptance around that.	Internalization—Reflects comfort and affirmation in Black identity, signaling a stable, affirmed racial identity within a shared Black space.
Do you feel that you are a part of a community in this project? Explain.	“feeling seen,” “solidarity,” “connected,” “mentorship that looks like me,” “comforting”	Community & Belonging + Access to Mentorship from Black Faculty	It’s really been amazing. I have come from my master’s programs [where] most of my faculty and mentorship were White faculty … so it’s been very refreshing and comforting.	Immersion–Emersion to internalization—engagement with Black community and mentorship promotes deeper reflection and affirmation of racial identity.
How do you think this project has influenced how you think about your Black identity?	“more tools to talk about identity,” “Blackness shows up in different ways,” “racial categories are different,” “not pigeonholed,” “identity growth”	Black Identity Development—Resources to Navigate Identity Discourse	… it’s been really good that a big part of the project is that Blackness shows up in different ways and looks differently. I think that has been really impactful in terms of my own identity development and growth …	Immersion–Emersion—Exposure to multifaceted Black experiences prompts exploration and reconstruction of racial identity.
Do you feel that your understanding of your Black identity has changed as a result of being in the program?	“better language,” “not feel so isolated,” “racial identity confusion,” “new frameworks for self-understanding”	Black Identity Development—Resources to Navigate Identity Discourse	… I can think about my identity in more ways … not feel so isolated in the experience.	Transition from pre-encounter to internalization—indicates movement from confusion or marginalization toward affirmed identity and community connection.

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Throughout this analytic process, trustworthiness was supported through iterative peer debriefing and member checking; these procedures are described in detail in the trustworthiness section.

In the following, table three presents an integrated view of the data analysis process. It connects the central interview questions with the emergent themes, representative inductive codes, illustrative participant quotes, and corresponding stages of Nigrescence Theory (Cross, 1994). This framework highlights how participants’ reflections on identity, community, and mentorship were interpreted through a Black identity development lens.

Trustworthiness of the Analytic Process

To strengthen the credibility of the analytic process described above, we engaged in multiple strategies to ensure trustworthiness. First, the research team participated in peer debriefing sessions via Zoom, during which we collectively reviewed transcripts, codes, and emergent themes, and critically examined interpretations of the data to enhance analytic rigor and consistency. Second, we conducted member checking by following up with participants and sharing summaries of our interpretations to ensure accurate representation of their experiences. Participants were given the opportunity to clarify, confirm, or elaborate on our interpretations, and their feedback was incorporated into the final analysis. These strategies were used iteratively throughout the analytic process rather than at a single endpoint, ensuring ongoing validation of emerging interpretations.

5. Results

The findings of this study are organized around three themes that emerged from the project’s design as an all-Black research team examining the experiences of Black undergraduate students in STEM: (1) community and acceptance of the authentic self, (2) resources for navigating identity development, and (3) access to mentorship from Black faculty. Collectively, these themes illustrate how the curated space fostered belonging and supported participants in engaging fully with their academic and racial identities. Participants described the experience as “meaningful,” “affirming,” and “refreshing,” emphasizing the value of being able to engage authentically without masking aspects of their identity. The following sections explore each theme in detail.

5.1. Community & Belonging (Acceptance of Authentic Self)

The first theme captures how participants found comfort, connection, and affirmation through their involvement in a team where Blackness was the norm, not the exception. In contrast to predominantly White academic environments, this project offered a space where participants didn’t have to perform or edit their identities to be seen as professional or ‘appropriate.’ Instead, they felt empowered to show up fully—emotionally, intellectually, and culturally—without the burden of suppressing aspects of their identity to fit the dominant norms of predominantly White academic spaces, especially within STEM, where Black students often engage in behaviors like code-switching, masking emotional expression, or downplaying racial consciousness to avoid being perceived as unprofessional, too political, or not conforming to White institutional expectations. To “be one’s authentic self” in this context means not having to negotiate those parts of oneself. This shift reflects movement toward the internalization stage of Nigrescence, where Black identity becomes an integrated and self-defined part of one’s worldview.

The first theme from the data is how this space facilitates a sense of comfort and acceptance for participants to be part of a community with an all-Black team. Being in a space with other Black individuals engaged in a race-focused project has created a sense of community in which participants felt able to show up as their authentic selves—unfiltered, emotionally present, and intellectually engaged. Participants expressed that, in this all-Black team, they didn’t have to second-guess their tone, appearance, or scholarly interests. They could speak freely about race, trauma, joy, and justice without fear of being misread or marginalized—an experience they rarely encountered in other academic environments.

One participant reflected on the emotional significance of this rare experience of collective affirmation, expressing both gratitude and sadness about its scarcity in higher education spaces:

I wish that people could have experiences like this sooner. And I feel that I’m happy to have this experience. Obviously, I feel like I’ve almost cried like twice, just talking about how excited I am to be here. But it just makes me sad as well, because I have friends with marginalized identities who still haven’t had opportunities to have safe spaces the way I do in this group. Yeah. And so I just wish it was more normal for people to feel this sense of community. That’s why I feel so grateful. And I don’t take this opportunity for granted.

In this reflection, the participant situates the project as both deeply affirming and emotionally complex, highlighting joy in belonging alongside grief that such spaces remain uncommon. This duality reflects the tension often associated with earlier stages of racial identity exploration, where affirmation of Black identity emerges alongside awareness of structural absence in other institutional contexts. This underscores the importance of racial affinity spaces in catalyzing identity exploration.

Similarly, another participant described the process of identity acceptance and reduced need for self-modification within the team environment:

So I think through this project, I’ve kind of had to wrestle with who I am, as a person as a Black identifying person is enough. I don’t feel like I have to core toward myself in different ways than I used to when I was younger, just to fit in. Just being here is enough. As quirky as I am, or some people don’t understand that is fine. It’s been really affirming.

This statement reflects a shift toward greater identity integration of a multifaceted Black self, where the participant no longer feels compelled to modify or “filter” aspects of themselves in order to belong. Within the context of this study, such moments reflect movement toward the Nigrescence internalization phase, where Black identity becomes both stable and self-affirming within relational contexts.

Echoing other participants’ sentiments of acceptance within this space, another participant emphasized the importance of being able to show up fully without concealment or performance:

I think there’s also the component that we can just all show up to this space and to our meetings and to our work as fully ourselves without feeling like we have to conceal different parts. And there’s a lot of acceptance around that.

This sentiment underscores the role of the research team as an affirming racialized space in which participants experienced reduced self-surveillance and increased psychological safety. Rather than positioning Black identity as something to be managed, the space enabled it to be expressed openly and without penalty. Here, the freedom from self-surveillance reflects a disruption of pre-encounter norms, where whiteness often serves as the benchmark for belonging. Instead, participants found liberation in this communal space, where their Black identity was not only sufficient but was also celebrated.

Participants also described the project as emotionally sustaining, energizing, and deeply supportive compared to prior academic experiences. Unlike other spaces, participants did not feel drained but rather uplifted, describing the sense of being ‘seen,’ ‘included,’ ‘important,’ and ‘genuinely cared for’ beyond the project’s immediate scope. One participant explained:

Now, we are so diverse and unique in our own ways, but there’s just something there that keeps us connected. I feel that when I’m working with the [project], I’m not left depleted. I feel like my energy is always being fed into. And I’m being uplifted in this space. And when I went to a conference, being able to meet the other graduate research assistants, postdocs, and other PIs, [in the project] even that experience was lovely.

Note: this reflection came in comparison to other academic environments, including conference spaces and departmental settings, where participants often experienced fatigue or exclusion.

Here, the participant describes the project as a restorative environment that contrasts with the exclusion and emotional depletion often experienced in predominantly White academic settings. This sense of relational support not only fostered belonging but also supported the development of confidence and scholarly agency within the group. This experience aligns with the immersion–emersion phase of Nigrescence, in which individuals increasingly seek out and engage affirming Black spaces that support identity exploration, collective meaning-making, and the co-construction of knowledge alongside other Black scholars.

Across these narratives, participants consistently positioned the all-Black research team as a space that enabled authenticity, relational affirmation, and identity integration. Rather than requiring negotiation or minimization of racial identity, the environment supported participants in fully inhabiting their academic and racial selves. The next theme will discuss how participants’ involvement in this space helped them navigate conversations surrounding their racial identity more effectively.

5.2. Black Identity Development—Resources to Navigate Identity Discourse

The second theme explores how the project provided participants with language, frameworks, and community support to reflect on and discuss their racial identities. These tools helped them navigate complex identity shifts, particularly for those whose cultural or national backgrounds informed their earlier, non-U.S.-centered understandings of race. For some, this experience reflected the encounter stage, where previously held assumptions about race are disrupted. For others, the space enabled deeper engagement with identity work characteristic of immersion–emersion and eventual internalization processes.

One participant, for example, described how the project provided both conceptual tools and communal validation that helped them make sense of a previously disorienting transition in racial identity across national contexts:

… it’s given me more tools to be able to talk about my identity. And there are a lot more ways that I can think about my identity. Our racial categories are different in [nation]. When I came to the US, it felt like a transition. And a little bit confusing about how to racially identify myself.

In this context, the participant is reflecting on the disorientation of moving between racial classification systems and the lack of clarity that accompanied this transition. The project served as a space where this ambiguity could be named and explored rather than suppressed.

They continued:

It’s been really good that a big part of the project is that Blackness shows up in different ways and looks differently. I think that has been really impactful in terms of my own identity development and growth, and being able to have better language to describe my identity and think about it and not feel like I have to be pigeonholed. And also, just not to feel so isolated in the experience.

Here, the participant highlights two connected outcomes of the project: (1) the development of more flexible language for understanding Black identity, and (2) a reduction in isolation through collective affirmation. This reflects movement from initial encounter-related confusion toward a more expansive and integrated understanding of racial identity. Within Nigrescence, this aligns with immersion–emersion processes, in which individuals actively reconstruct their understanding of Blackness through engagement with affirming cultural and intellectual spaces.

Notably, this participant’s experience illustrates how the project functioned as a meaning-making environment where identity categories were not fixed but relational and context-dependent. Through participation in an all-Black research team, they developed both the vocabulary and confidence to articulate their identity beyond rigid or externally imposed classifications, reducing feelings of isolation and enhancing identity coherence.

Similarly, another participant emphasized the value of having a dedicated space to engage openly in identity work without needing to suppress or filter aspects of themselves:

And so it’s been very refreshing. And it feels comforting, just to have that one space, where you can just be as you are. And also the opportunities that we have through the project to be able to talk about our own identities as well. And just like, how we navigate those identities. It’s been amazing. It’s been a really good space.

Note: before this reflection, the participant contrasted this experience with other academic environments where discussions of race often required greater self-monitoring or restraint.

This statement reflects the importance of relational safety in enabling identity exploration. The ability to engage openly in discussions of race and identity without self-censorship signals a shift toward internalization, where racial identity is experienced as stable, affirming, and integrated into one’s broader sense of self. In this way, the project not only facilitated discussion of identity but also supported participants in developing confidence in how they understand and express their Blackness within academic spaces.

Overall, this theme demonstrates that the project functioned as an intellectual and relational resource, providing participants with both conceptual language and communal affirmation to navigate complex identity development processes. The third theme explores how access to mentorship from Black faculty further shaped participants’ academic trajectories and identity formation.

5.3. Access to Mentorship from Black Faculty

The third significant theme, central to participants’ experience on the project, was the rare access to mentorship from Black faculty—a critical element in shaping participants’ academic journeys and identity development. This mentorship was not only intellectually rigorous but also culturally affirming and emotionally supportive. For many, it filled a gap that had long existed in their academic trajectories, contributing to their movement through the later stages of Nigrescence, particularly internalization, where Black identity and achievement coexist without contradiction.

One participant reflected on the significance of encountering Black faculty mentorship for the first time in their doctoral training:

I’ve attended PWIs all my life. My first Black professor didn’t happen until I hit my doctoral program at [institution], which was really unique. It is my first time working on a black team.

Before this reflection, the participant situates their experience within a long trajectory of attending predominantly White institutions, highlighting the novelty of encountering Black faculty mentorship at the graduate level. In this context, mentorship is positioned as both structurally significant and personally transformative, marking a shift in what academic belonging has looked like across their educational journey.

The participant continued:

It’s been really amazing because I haven’t been in a space like this in higher ed and doing research with all Black people.

This statement underscores the scarcity of racially affirming academic environments within their broader educational experiences. Within this project, mentorship from Black faculty is not only experienced as academic guidance but also as participation in a space where Black intellectual presence is normalized, visible, and collectively affirmed.

Another participant similarly emphasized the emotional and developmental significance of Black faculty mentorship, particularly in contrast to prior experiences in predominantly White academic environments:

It’s really been amazing. I have come from my master’s programs [where] most of my faculty and mentorship were White faculty. And so my program that I’m currently in, we don’t have any Black female faculty. And so it’s been very refreshing and comforting.

Before this reflection, the participant contrasts prior experiences of limited representation with the affirming nature of the current project environment. This highlights how the absence of Black faculty in earlier academic settings shaped their sense of isolation and how the current mentorship context offered a restorative counter-experience.

Across participants, mentorship was consistently described as extending beyond academic advising to include holistic care and relational investment, which has been a deeply affirming experience. One participant explained:

I feel like I can talk to them [PIs] about much more than just the project or my experience. As a graduate student, I think there’s genuine care for me as a whole person. And I think for everybody on our team, they care.

This form of mentorship reflects a relational model in which faculty support extends beyond task-oriented guidance to encompass personal well-being and long-term development. Such experiences contributed to participants’ sense of being valued as whole individuals within academic spaces. Collectively, these narratives illustrate how mentorship from Black faculty functioned as both an academic and identity-supporting resource. Within this context, participants described increased confidence, belonging, and affirmation in their scholarly identities. These experiences align most closely with Nigrescence’s internalization phase, where racial identity is experienced as stable and positively integrated within professional and academic life.

Overall, participation in the all-Black research team supported participants’ evolving racial identity development by providing access to affirmation, mentorship, and community. Across experiences of initial disconnection, identity exploration, and eventual integration, participants described a trajectory in which Blackness became increasingly affirmed within academic spaces. The project’s intentional design—centering Black scholars, fostering relational support, and providing access to Black mentorship—created conditions for both individual development and collective affirmation. These findings highlight the critical importance of intentionally constructed academic spaces that support identity development and racial consciousness in ways that resist hegemonic norms and foster belonging.

6. Discussion

As scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and funders look for strategies to transform graduate STEM education, we emphasize the importance of considering identity at multiple intersections and how it shapes students’ experiences and outcomes. Prior research has similarly demonstrated that research group environments play a critical role in shaping professional identity development and career intentions in STEM (Burt et al., 2019). Given the findings of this study, we attend to Black graduate learners’ racial identity development in relation to the curated, affirming research environment of the Black Collective Initiative. Findings illustrate how participation in this all-Black research team catalyzed shifts in identity awareness and belonging, a process interpreted through Nigrescence Theory (Cross, 1994), which describes how Black identity is renegotiated and internalized through experiences of dissonance, immersion, and affirmation. This study reinforces the critical role that culturally affirming academic environments—particularly those providing mentorship from Black faculty—play in supporting identity development, belonging, and persistence for Black graduate students (Foltz et al., 2014; S. K. Gardner, 2010; Lewis et al., 2004; Millett & Nettles, 2006). It also offers implications for higher education policy and practice in promoting equitable structures for Black learners, as scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and funders aim to foster a culture of opportunity in STEM for Black learners.

6.1. Resources to Support Navigating Identity Development

This study illustrates that racial and scholarly identity development is shaped not only by self-perception but also by lived experiences navigating intersecting identities within academic institutions. Rather than entering the project with fixed understandings of racial identity, participants’ narratives illustrate how Black identity development is often initiated through moments of epistemic disruption within STEM environments. This suggests that graduate STEM contexts can function as sites where racial identity is not merely expressed, but actively reconfigured through exposure to alternative racial epistemologies and relational validation. This reflects a moment of racial disorientation that precedes identity reorganization within Nigrescence theory.

Through mentorship, dialogue, and engagement with Black peers and faculty, participants described a process of actively reorienting toward Black cultural and intellectual frameworks as they developed more coherent racial identity narratives. As they engaged with a space that validated a multiplicity of Black identities, they began developing stronger racial consciousness and a more integrated understanding of identity. This aligns with research showing that identity development is not linear but shaped by meaningful social interaction, mentorship, and cultural affirmation (Charleston et al., 2014; Nicole & DeBoer, 2020). These findings suggest that identity development is not solely an internal psychological process but is actively scaffolded through structured relational environments.

For Black women whose racial and gendered identities are often under constant scrutiny (Corneille et al., 2019; Ferguson et al., 2021), the opportunity to engage in race-affirming dialogue was particularly powerful. Participants shared that the project helped them unlearn deficit-based narratives and move toward internalization, where they could see their identities not as barriers but as assets. This progress reflects the value of creating academic spaces that enable participants to not only “talk about” identity, but to claim it confidently and multifacetedly.

While Nigrescence theory provides a useful framework for understanding racial identity development, the findings of this study suggest that it may not fully account for the role of structured institutional environments in shaping identity trajectories. Traditional applications of Nigrescence emphasize individual psychological processes triggered by racialized encounters; however, participants’ experiences indicate that identity development was also actively facilitated through collective, designed, and sustained engagement within a racially affirming research collective. This suggests a need to reconceptualize identity development as not only responsive to racial experiences but also co-constructed within institutional and relational ecologies that either constrain or accelerate identity formation.

6.2. Mentorship as a Pathway to Community, Belonging, and Internalized Identity

Mentorship from Black faculty emerged as a key driver of racial identity development and sense of belonging. This supports a wealth of literature noting that social and academic integration are strong predictors of persistence for graduate students of color (Foltz et al., 2014; S. K. Gardner, 2010; Hutson et al., 2022; Millett & Nettles, 2006; Walker et al., 2001). However, this study’s findings add nuance: mentorship in this project was not simply about academic success. It was deeply tied to identity validation and communal care. Participants described this mentorship as ‘refreshing,’ ‘grounding,’ and ‘genuinely caring.’ These interactions moved them beyond individual survival toward community connection—a shift that is reflective of internalization, where a secure Black identity supports collaborative, purpose-driven engagement (Cross, 1994). Mentorship relationships helped participants situate themselves within a legacy of Black scholarship and activism, further solidifying a racial identity that is both personal and collective. This suggests that mentorship in graduate STEM contexts functions not only as academic guidance but as a mechanism of racial identity reinforcement and stabilization.

A central contribution of this study is the reconceptualization of research groups as developmental ecologies of racial identity formation. Rather than serving solely as sites of knowledge production or professional training, research collectives can actively shape how graduate students come to understand, articulate, and integrate their racial identities. In this study, the Black Collective Initiative functioned as such an ecology—providing mentorship, peer validation, and intellectual affirmation that collectively scaffolded participants’ movement toward more integrated and self-defined racial identities. This extends Nigrescence theory by positioning identity development as a relational and structurally embedded process within graduate STEM education, consistent with prior research highlighting the role of supportive academic environments and mentorship structures in fostering belonging, identity development, and persistence among Black graduate students (Ferguson et al., 2021; Foltz et al., 2014; Millett & Nettles, 2006; Naphan-Kingery et al., 2019).

7. Implications for Policy and Practice

Racial equity research in higher education is essential for identifying and addressing structural barriers that inform Black students’ participation and persistence in STEM fields. Centering Black graduate students’ experiences in race-focused research highlights how research environments themselves can function as either exclusionary or identity-affirming spaces, with direct implications for how graduate STEM programs are structured. This study extends scholarship on racial equity in STEM education (e.g., Fisher et al., 2019; E. O. McGee et al., 2023; Miles et al., 2025; Roby et al., 2022; K. L. Turner et al., 2025; Vincent-Ruz & Schunn, 2018) by demonstrating that research group structure and mentorship composition are not neutral features, but active mechanisms that shape racial identity development and belonging. Despite ongoing diversification efforts, STEM fields continue to operate as spaces of opportunity hoarding, where access to mentorship, research experiences, and professional socialization remains unevenly distributed along racial lines. These inequities extend into higher education environments, where Black students are often positioned as peripheral participants in STEM training structures rather than central contributors to knowledge production (Martin et al., 2010; E. O. McGee, 2016; Miles et al., 2020). To address these challenges, STEM departments and graduate schools should implement targeted faculty hiring initiatives and retention strategies aimed at increasing Black faculty representation, particularly in doctoral-granting institutions.

Research demonstrates that access to mentorship from Black faculty is a significant predictor of Black graduate student retention and academic persistence. Institutions should establish and fund structured affinity-based research clusters and formalized mentorship programs that intentionally pair Black graduate students with Black faculty mentors (Brunsma et al., 2017; Fisher et al., 2019; E. O. McGee, 2020; Naphan-Kingery et al., 2019). Beyond providing research opportunities, graduate programs should embed structured mentoring, peer community formation, and culturally responsive advising within research training environments. This study’s findings suggest that research experiences should be intentionally designed as developmental environments that integrate academic training with identity affirmation, mentorship, and community formation.

As scholars and practitioners committed to educational equity, we recognize that graduate education is often characterized by high levels of stress, insecurity, and uncertainty (Martin et al., 2010). For Black STEM students, these challenges are intensified by racialized academic climates that require continuous navigation of identity, belonging, and legitimacy within predominantly White institutional spaces. Such conditions can produce sustained feelings of marginalization and reduce access to informal networks of support critical for academic success (E. O. McGee, 2016; Nicole & DeBoer, 2020). Across STEM education research, effective mentoring consistently emerges as a key factor supporting graduate student success (E. O. McGee, 2020; Naphan-Kingery et al., 2019; Ortiz et al., 2019).

Practitioner-facing implications from this study point to several concrete programmatic priorities within STEM graduate education. A critical need is the intentional integration of Black faculty mentorship within graduate training structures, particularly through formal advising assignments, research group leadership roles, and funded mentoring appointments. Practitioners should design research and professional development programs that embed identity-affirming mentorship within daily research practice, including structured cohort models, regular faculty–student mentorship meetings, and collaborative research dissemination opportunities. Given the socio-cultural and historical forces shaping STEM participation, graduate programs should implement longitudinal support structures that track and respond to shifts in students’ identity development and belonging over time. Programs should systematically incorporate assessments of racial climate, belonging, and mentorship access as part of program evaluation and improvement processes. Recognizing and centering the distinct experiences of Black students—shaped by a history of marginalization—can enhance their racial and STEM identity development and improve their overall educational experience.

8. Limitations

While this study offers important insights into the experiences of Black graduate students engaged in race-focused research, several limitations must be acknowledged. The project spanned six universities nationwide, each with differing institutional characteristics (e.g., public/private status, geographic location, institutional type), which adds diversity to the data but also limits the ability to disaggregate outcomes tied to specific institutional contexts. As a result, variations in participants’ experiences that may be shaped by their unique campus environments could not be fully explored. Future research should further investigate how institutional settings influence Black graduate student experiences, particularly within research team dynamics, to better understand how multiple environmental layers shape identity development, belonging, community, and persistence.

9. Conclusions

This study contributes to growing scholarship on equity in higher education by centering the voices of Black graduate students engaged in race-focused research within an all-Black research team. The findings reveal that culturally affirming research environments—particularly those led by Black faculty and grounded in shared identity—can foster a sense of belonging, support racial identity development, and enhance academic persistence. The Black Collective Initiative’s design—centering Blackness, fostering critical race dialogue, and providing access to culturally relevant mentorship—supported participants’ progression toward secure, confident racial identity.

These findings point to the need for higher education institutions to reimagine mentorship and research opportunities in ways that affirm rather than marginalize Black students by centering Blackness as a source of knowledge, resistance, and joy. By highlighting the transformative potential of identity-conscious academic spaces, this study offers an evidence-based model for advancing equity and inclusion. Future research can expand on these findings by examining how institutional contexts shape research team dynamics and the development of Black graduate students.