{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132504"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132504","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Realities of the Black school girl: The implication of adultification bias in K-12 schools","abstract":"Adultification bias, a racial prejudice, views Black girls as older and more mature than their biological age. Compared to their peers, Black girls are criminalized, sexualized, and dehumanized in an environment expected to provide emotional, physical, and social support- the K-12 school system. Adultified Black girls become Black women still plagued with the lasting effects of their inequitable K-12 educational experiences. Yet, existing literature has not fully explored how the effects of adultification bias alters a Black girl’s life course. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to determine how and in what ways Black girl adultification influences Black women’s personal and professional experiences and the identifying factors that alter their life course. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 professional Black women. The interview data was analyzed using the hermeneutic circle and the constant comparative method. During analysis, three major themes emerged: Black girls experience adultification bias which leads to unfair punishments and sexual assumptions; Lack of diversity and equity in K-12 education contributes to differing support for Black girls; Black women, who were adultified as children, suffer long-term consequences of adultification bias. These results can inform child-serving systems, like K-12 schools, of the consequences of this bias. Understanding and addressing adultification bias helps to tackle racial disparities to create a more equitable educational system for Black girls and a positive influence on life course trajectories for Black women.","abstract_html":"Adultification bias, a racial prejudice, views Black girls as older and more mature than their biological age. Compared to their peers, Black girls are criminalized, sexualized, and dehumanized in an environment expected to provide emotional, physical, and social support- the K-12 school system. Adultified Black girls become Black women still plagued with the lasting effects of their inequitable K-12 educational experiences. Yet, existing literature has not fully explored how the effects of adultification bias alters a Black girl’s life course. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to determine how and in what ways Black girl adultification influences Black women’s personal and professional experiences and the identifying factors that alter their life course. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 professional Black women. The interview data was analyzed using the hermeneutic circle and the constant comparative method. During analysis, three major themes emerged: Black girls experience adultification bias which leads to unfair punishments and sexual assumptions; Lack of diversity and equity in K-12 education contributes to differing support for Black girls; Black women, who were adultified as children, suffer long-term consequences of adultification bias. These results can inform child-serving systems, like K-12 schools, of the consequences of this bias. Understanding and addressing adultification bias helps to tackle racial disparities to create a more equitable educational system for Black girls and a positive influence on life course trajectories for Black women.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Reedy, Paquita Elese"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ed.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Adeyemo, Adeoye","Pak, Yoon","Barnett, Bernice","Hood, Denice"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12","date_published":"2025-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z","subjects":["adultification","Black girls","bias","harsher punishments","sexual assumptions","lack of SEL","Black women","life course","intersectionality"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Paquita Reedy"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132504","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Adeyemo, Adeoye","Pak, Yoon","Barnett, Bernice","Hood, Denice"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Reedy, Paquita Elese"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-12","2025-11-19"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["adultification","Black girls","bias","harsher punishments","sexual assumptions","lack of SEL","Black women","life course","intersectionality"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Paquita Reedy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132504"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Adultification bias, a racial prejudice, views Black girls as older and more mature than their biological age. Compared to their peers, Black girls are criminalized, sexualized, and dehumanized in an environment expected to provide emotional, physical, and social support- the K-12 school system. Adultified Black girls become Black women still plagued with the lasting effects of their inequitable K-12 educational experiences. Yet, existing literature has not fully explored how the effects of adultification bias alters a Black girl’s life course. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to determine how and in what ways Black girl adultification influences Black women’s personal and professional experiences and the identifying factors that alter their life course. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 professional Black women. The interview data was analyzed using the hermeneutic circle and the constant comparative method. During analysis, three major themes emerged: Black girls experience adultification bias which leads to unfair punishments and sexual assumptions; Lack of diversity and equity in K-12 education contributes to differing support for Black girls; Black women, who were adultified as children, suffer long-term consequences of adultification bias. These results can inform child-serving systems, like K-12 schools, of the consequences of this bias. Understanding and addressing adultification bias helps to tackle racial disparities to create a more equitable educational system for Black girls and a positive influence on life course trajectories for Black women.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms","The student, Paquita Reedy, accepted the attached license on 2025-11-18 at 15:32.","The student, Paquita Reedy, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-11-18 at 15:33.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-11-19 at 11:22.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22886 on 2026-02-19 at 18:24:57"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Realities of the Black school girl: The implication of adultification bias in K-12 schools"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Adeyemo, Adeoye","Pak, Yoon","Barnett, Bernice","Hood, Denice"],"dc:creator":["Reedy, Paquita Elese"],"dc:date":["2025-12","2025-11-19"],"dc:description":["Adultification bias, a racial prejudice, views Black girls as older and more mature than their biological age. Compared to their peers, Black girls are criminalized, sexualized, and dehumanized in an environment expected to provide emotional, physical, and social support- the K-12 school system. Adultified Black girls become Black women still plagued with the lasting effects of their inequitable K-12 educational experiences. Yet, existing literature has not fully explored how the effects of adultification bias alters a Black girl’s life course. The purpose of this phenomenological study is to determine how and in what ways Black girl adultification influences Black women’s personal and professional experiences and the identifying factors that alter their life course. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 professional Black women. The interview data was analyzed using the hermeneutic circle and the constant comparative method. During analysis, three major themes emerged: Black girls experience adultification bias which leads to unfair punishments and sexual assumptions; Lack of diversity and equity in K-12 education contributes to differing support for Black girls; Black women, who were adultified as children, suffer long-term consequences of adultification bias. These results can inform child-serving systems, like K-12 schools, of the consequences of this bias. Understanding and addressing adultification bias helps to tackle racial disparities to create a more equitable educational system for Black girls and a positive influence on life course trajectories for Black women.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms","The student, Paquita Reedy, accepted the attached license on 2025-11-18 at 15:32.","The student, Paquita Reedy, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-11-18 at 15:33.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-11-19 at 11:22.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22886 on 2026-02-19 at 18:24:57"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132504"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Paquita Reedy"],"dc:subject":["adultification","Black girls","bias","harsher punishments","sexual assumptions","lack of SEL","Black women","life course","intersectionality"],"dc:title":["Realities of the Black school girl: The implication of adultification bias in K-12 schools"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z"}