Date of Conferral
2023
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Psychology
Advisor
Melanie Shores
Abstract
The problem addressed in this study was the racism that African Americans experienced when operating a small business. African Americans are more likely to start a business than members of other minority groups. However, African Americans are also less likely to succeed. Low success rates relate to the racial inequities that contribute to systemic racism. The racism that African Americans experience is deeply rooted in societal constructs that have been ingrained for many years. General racism and systemic racism are societal constructs that work against the socioeconomic status of African Americans and their communities. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and understand the racism that African Americans experienced when operating a business. Phenomenological design allowed for obtaining experiences through interviews and written descriptions. Transcendental phenomenology was applied to understand the human experience. The data analysis plan included Moustakas’s eight-step process of horizontalizing, reduction of experiences to the invariant constituents, thematic clustering to create core themes, comparison of multiple data sources to validate the invariant constituents, crafting of individual textural descriptions of participants, construction of individual structural descriptions, construction of composite structural descriptions, synthesis of the texture and structure into an expression. Findings indicated themes of microaggression, systemic racism through funding, overcoming challenges, and support from their community. This study may foster positive social change in rejecting systemic racism and creating positive experiences for future African American business owners.
Recommended Citation
Thompson, Sheliza, "African American Experiences of Racism When Operating a Small Business" (2023). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 14921.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/14921
