Discovering my passion for research

I originally continued on to doctoral programs because a PhD was/is required to teach in higher education. No part of me was concerned with or interested in research; it wasn't what I ultimately wanted to do.

Now, being years into my doctoral programs and having conducted a number of independent research projects and working on my dissertations, I am singing a different tune. I now LOVE doing research!

Before doing my own research, I had a particular image in my mind of what being a researcher meant. It was an image of lab coats, statistics, lots of data, and no fun. I blame mainstream media for that image, because the research I do as a social scientist is far from that. Sure, at times it can look like that image (heck, I'm writing this blog to procrastinate analyzing some data), but it's so much more.

As a social scientist who leans more toward qualitative research, I discovered my love for research when I stopped viewing it through the hegemonic lens of white male researchers in academia and began following the footsteps and guidance of Black women researchers. By leaning into my identity and lived experience as a Black woman, my understanding, appreciation, and research praxis drastically changed.

I have to give a shout-out to Dr. Jennifer C. Nash, Dr. Mireille Miller-Young, Dr. Ariane Cruz, Dr. Lexx Brown-James, Dr. Tracie Gilbert, Dr. Shemeka Thorpe, Dr. Candice Nicole Hargons, soon-to-be Dr. Emalydia Flenory, soon-to-be Dr. Maya Revell, soon-to-be Dr. Tamaya Levy, soon-to-be Dr. Stephanie Ritcherson, and soon-to-be Dr. MoAndra Johnson. These women have directly and indirectly guided me to becoming the Black woman scholar and researcher that I am, and have continually changed my perceptions and ideas of what it means and looks like to be a Black woman scholar.

With a new idea of what it means to be a researcher and how to do it, I am enthusiastically working on my communication & media studies PhD dissertation while preparing to kick things off with my human sexuality dissertation in the fall (2026). I say all this to say that if you are someone who doesn't think research is interesting or that you will be good at it--never say never. I have a completely different understanding and approach to research now than I did in 2019 when I first started grad school. Anything is possible, and the type of research you can and will do is important and vital, and I look forward to reading and learning from it as much as I hope you do for my research.

That's all! Thanks for reading, and know that your research matters!