Svarta kvinnor, vita rum: En studie om svarta kvinnliga studenters upplevelser inom svenska universitet och erfarenheter på arbetsmarknaden efter utbildningen

Abstract

This qualitative interview study explores and analyzes how five black female students in Sweden experience their time at university and how the academic rooms are oriented towards whiteness. The study also depicts their following experiences in the labor market after graduating. The different strategies the women use, to handle the various situations in their everyday lives, are explored. I argue that, hidden norms show that Swedishness is seen as whiteness and vice versa. As a result, some interviewees adapt to whiteness in conforming ways while others use resistant strategies. The empirical data is analyzed from an overarching intersectional perception with critical whiteness studies as an indicating framework. I use various conceptualizations from Sara Ahmed. All of the interviewees recounted racist experiences, in which all of them expressed a feeling of loneliness in relation to questioning the racist situations. The study shows that the interviewees are held responsible for the uncomfortable atmospheres. They are seen as the ‘problem’. This, I claim, can be a sign of the lack of allyship in the academia and labor market among the non-racialized people.