Rethinking race and attrition in nursing programs: a hermeneutic inquiry

This hermeneutic study examined the lived experience of four self-identified African-American students enrolled in predominantly white baccalaureate nursing programs. An understanding of the following concerns was sought: (1) Does being black matter in an educational program that is predominantly white? (2) Does being black in a predominantly white nursing program hinder a student's ability or desire to continue toward his or her educational goal? These concerns were guided by the major research question: What is the meaning of being black in a predominantly white nursing program? Critical hermeneutic inquiry, as explicated by Jurgen Habermas, was used as the philosophical framework. Audiotaped interviews were transcribed and subsequently analyzed by a team of researchers. Three constitutive patterns emerged from the analysis of the texts: Being Different/Being the Same, Student As Teacher: Toward a Surrogate Pedagogy, and Resoluteness: I'll See You at Graduation. Findings suggest that empirical research concerning the attrition of blacks from predominantly white nursing programs must include a description of what it means to be black or different in these settings.