Success at a Price: Women of Color Students at A White University

by Lisa Huebner, Samatha Jeune, Odette Kolenky

What invisible barriers do Black and other self-identifying women of color students face while thriving on a college campus that excludes them? How do these experiences challenge and transform meanings of diversity, equity, and inclusion, especially as they relate to student success?

In this three-year ethnographic study of women of color undergraduate students, Lisa C. Huebner, Samantha Jeune, and Odette Kolenky found that while thriving, women of color students suffered what they describe as “a daily normal” of harassment and erasure. At the same time, however, they excelled, often graduating with many academic and cocurricular achievements.

Celebrated by the university as successful students but also ignored by it, they felt alone, deceived, and exploited by the very university system that was dedicated to helping them. This book offers a rare glimpse into the successes we take for granted. Centering the voices of women of color students, this book offers a new story of how successful women of color overcome barriers no one else seems to see and, through their experiences and insights, offers recommendations to all of us who care about diversity, equity, and inclusion.

178 pages, Hardcover

Published July 1, 2025