TPC-Journal-V3-Issue3

191 The Professional Counselor \Volume 3, Issue 3 intimate relationships and help them develop a positive sense of self. For example, interactive workshops, case studies, and conversations centered on the contributions and values of Black women may aid in positive identity development among young Black women in college. Based upon Helms’ (1990) womanist identity development model, the ability of these women to form positive identities may strengthen their self-concept and thus enhance the probability of them engaging in healthy intimate relationships. In addition, student affairs programming should be structured to challenge (and support) Black college women to confront the wide array of “microaggressive” indignities (i.e., racist and sexist attitudes and behaviors) they encounter in their daily campus experiences (Howard-Hamilton, 2003, p. 23). These types of programs may help Black college women who are in Helms’ (1990) encounter stage explore and reformulate the dimensions of their self-concept, which are externally based. Furthermore, student affairs professionals that are charged with facilitating leadership courses and co- curricular workshops who work to illuminate the strengths and values of Black women might be able to assist Black college women in establishing a healthy identity as they contend with a wide variety of difficult dating decisions. “Sistah to Sistah” programs facilitated by Black female faculty in conjunction with student affairs personnel may provide a forum in which Black college women can come to value the experiences of women like themselves and connect with these women to form a variety of deep interpersonal relationships. Helms (1990) cited the establishment and maintenance of relationships with other women as central in the process of constructing a positive, internally based definition of womanhood. By providing a combination of culturally relevant programs and activities, the process of Black women’s identity development may be improved and the quality of their college dating experiences enhanced. References Alexander-Floyd, N. G., & Simien, E. M. (2006). Revisiting “what’s in a name?”: Exploring the contours of Africana womanist thought. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 27 , 67–89. Ballard, S. (2002, September 16). Why Black women more than Black men are getting an education. Jet, 102 (13), 12–16. Banks, R. R., & Gatlin, S. J. (2005). African-American intimacy: The racial gap in marriage. Michigan Journal of Race & Law, 11 , 1–131. Blackhurst, A. B. (1995). The relationship between gender and student outcomes in a freshman orientation course. Journal of the Freshman Year Experience, 7, 63–80. Black women students far outnumber black men at the nation’s highest-ranked universities. (2006). The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education , 51 , 26–28. Retrieved from http://www.jbhe.com/news_views/51_gendergap_universities. html Blake, W., & Darling, C. (1994). The dilemmas of the African American male. Journal of Black Studies, 24 , 402–415. doi:10.1177/002193479402400403 Bradley, C., & Sanders Lipford, J. -A. (2003). Contextual counseling with clients of color: A “sista” intervention for African American female college students. Journal of College Counseling, 6 , 187–191. doi: 10.1002/j.2161- 1882.2003.tb00239.x Bronstein, A. (2000). Are male students in short supply, or is this ‘crisis’ exaggerated? The Chronicle of Higher Education, 47 (10), A4. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/free/v47/i10/10a04701.htm Broussard, D. A. (2006). The effects of race, gender, and self-esteem on college students’ interracial dating. Retrieved from Missouri Western State University Web site: http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/314.asp Bullock, L. (2003, December). The explosive health crisis that no one talks about. Ebony, 59 (2), 136–140. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA110962916&v=2.1&u=gree35277&it=r&p=ITOF&sw=w&asid= d225f5ed67b4bada6c3c6e890d399b6d