symposium, SEHS, Black History Month, Tiffany Steele
February 3, 2022
This year’s 8th annual Black History School of Education and Human Services research symposium will be held virtually on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 4:30 p.m.
The keynote speaker for the event will be Tiffany Steele, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership at OU.
Dr. Steele’s presentation, “Handle with Care: Researching the Lived Experiences of Black Girls and Women” draws on her current research interest that broadly includes access and retention of minoritized people at predominantly white institutions - with a specific focus on the lived experiences of Black girls and women in education.
“I am eager to share what I have learned through my own research journey with this year’s symposium audience,” Steele said. “As we celebrate Black History Month in the School of Education, it is really important to think about how life experiences mold and shape our country’s Black women and what we can do to impact that in a positive way.”
Born and raised in Detroit, Professor Steele attended the University of Michigan as a first-generation college student where she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology.
After discovering her passion for connecting college students to resources and supporting their development, she attended Grand Valley State University, where she received her master’s degree in College Student Affairs Leadership. Her master’s thesis on “Retaining Staff Members of Color at a Midwestern Predominantly White Institution,” in which she passed with distinction, also earned the College of Education Dean’s Award for Outstanding Thesis, Graduate Dean’s Citation for Academic Excellence, and Graduate Dean’s Citation for Outstanding Thesis.
Steele completed her Ph.D. in Higher Education & Student Affairs at The Ohio State University. Her dissertation research, entitled “Disciplinary Disruption: Exploring the Connection between High School Sanctioning and Black Collegiate Women’s Experiences,” focused on understanding how Black women’s experiences of disciplinary action during their K-12 educational experiences influenced their collegiate journeys.
This year’s symposium event is presented by the School of Education and Human Services Black Faculty Network, The Oakland University Black Faculty Association, and The Diverse Voices Initiative.
For more information about this event, and to get the Zoom link details, please contact Dr. Chaunda L. Scott, Professor and President of the Oakland University Black Faculty Association at [email protected].