Abstract
Keywords
Introduction
The Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema—also referred to as the Superwoman Schema, Sojourner Syndrome, or SBW archetype—has historically symbolized resilience, independence, and fortitude, rooted in the sociopolitical struggles faced by Black American women during slavery and beyond (Abrams et al., 2014; Parks & Hayman, 2024; Woods-Giscombé, 2010). The SBW schema refers to a socially constructed identity that portrays Black women as inherently strong, emotionally stoic, self-reliant, and self-sacrificing—regardless of personal cost (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2007; Thomas et al., 2022). It expects them to endure hardship, care for others, and suppress vulnerability while maintaining composure and excellence under pressure (Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2025; Jefferies, 2022). Although often celebrated for its empowering qualities, this schema imposes significant emotional and psychological burdens by discouraging vulnerability and prioritizing self-sacrifice over self-care (Abrams et al., 2019; Watson-Singleton et al., 2024).
Vulnerability, in this context, refers not simply to personal openness but to the ability to express emotional needs, seek support, and disclose distress without fear of dismissal, judgment, or retribution. For Black women in academic spaces, however, vulnerability is often neither safe nor socially rewarded, making it a political and emotional risk rather than a neutral act of authenticity (Adebayo et al., 2021; Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2022; Showunmi, 2023). Within academic nursing, the SBW schema manifests in leadership and educational settings, where Black women contend with systemic inequities and heightened expectations, particularly within predominantly white institutions (PWIs), where these dynamics are intensified.
This culturally significant ideal portrays Black women as embodying strength, self-reliance, and resilience, often at the expense of their emotional well-being (Liao et al., 2020; Nelson et al., 2016; Watson-Singleton et al., 2024). The enduring image of the SBW archetype positions Black women as pillars of their communities, capable of shouldering immense burdens without faltering (Collins, 2000a; Woods-Giscombé, 2010). Rooted in the historical experiences of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, and ongoing racial discrimination, this archetype has functioned as both a shield against adversity and a source of pride. However, it also reinforces harmful narratives, particularly within the context of academic nursing, where Black women frequently navigate the intersecting challenges of race, gender, and professional identity (Amankwaa, 2003; Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2007).
In nursing academia, a field historically shaped by white, Eurocentric values, the SBW archetype has provided a framework for survival and success. However, its unrelenting demands often take a toll on the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of those who embody it (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2007). The internalized expectation to remain strong can inhibit help-seeking and reinforce patterns of isolation. Moreover, in PWIs, Black women are often expected to serve as mentors, diversity representatives, and cultural navigators without institutional support, further exacerbating this burden.
This paper unpacks the hidden dangers of the SBW archetype within academic nursing, revealing how traits often celebrated as strengths—such as self-reliance, emotional restraint, and unyielding resilience—can become liabilities when shaped by systemic racism and gendered expectations. It explores how the SBW schema intersects with professional identity formation, mental health, and leadership development, particularly within the context of PWIs. Special attention is given to vulnerability as a critical, yet underexamined, counterpoint to the prevailing ideal of strength.
By examining the historical foundations, perceived advantages, and overlooked costs of this cultural construct, the analysis highlights how adherence to the SBW ideal influences Black women's health, relationships, and professional trajectories in nursing education and leadership. It also addresses the added burden of mentoring and the persistent pressure to perform strength as a prerequisite for legitimacy. Recognizing these complexities, this paper sets out to challenge dominant narratives surrounding strength and resilience in academic nursing.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to challenge the assumption that strength must exclude vulnerability by advocating for a redefinition of resilience in academic nursing. It seeks to reframe the SBW schema through historical, cultural, and psychological lenses, drawing attention to its impact on Black women's mental health, career advancement, and leadership capacity. Finally, the paper offers actionable strategies for cultivating more inclusive, affirming, and equity-driven environments in nursing education and leadership.
The Key Characteristics of the SBW Archetype
The
The Historical Evolution of the Core Terms Describing the SBW Schema.
At its core, the SBW construct is defined by three interlocking characteristics: emotional restraint, independence, and self-sacrifice. These traits are not simply internalized but are socially reinforced, urging Black women to prioritize others’ well-being—often at the expense of their own physical and emotional health. This enduring pressure to maintain an image of unshakable strength and stoicism contributes to chronic emotional suppression and neglect of self-care (Geyton et al., 2022; Godbolt et al., 2022; Jefferies, 2022; West et al., 2016).
Moreover, the archetype frequently pushes Black women to adopt unrealistically high expectations for themselves, all while striving to fulfill the needs and expectations of others (Abrams et al., 2014; Geyton et al., 2022). There is a societal demand to be endlessly strong and resilient. While often rooted in cultural survival and community strength, the consequences of this schema include elevated stress levels, reduced emotional expression, and significant barriers to psychological well-being.
Woods-Giscombé (2010) identified five core dimensions of the Superwoman Schema: obligation to appear strong, suppress emotions, avoid vulnerability, succeed despite limited resources, and help others. These were later operationalized in the Superwoman Schema Scale (Woods-Giscombe et al., 2019). Together, they reinforce how emotional suppression and self-sacrifice are internalized and socially reinforced pressures reflected in the themes outlined in Table 2. Table 2 presents the common themes across terms and illustrates how scholars have consistently identified these patterns across various conceptualizations of the SBW schema, including the Superwoman Schema, Sapphire stereotype, and others. These themes also align closely with the five dimensions outlined by Woods-Giscombé (2010, 2019).
Common Themes Across Terms.
Methods
The SBW archetype has profound implications for nursing education and leadership, though its specific effects in these contexts remain underexplored. This narrative review synthesizes research on the SBW construct, focusing on its historical origins, cultural significance, and psychological impacts. The analysis also integrates findings from adjacent disciplines—such as psychology, sociology, public health, and Black feminist theory—to contextualize its relevance to nursing.
Targeted searches were conducted using CINAHL, PubMed, ERIC, EBSCO, and Google Scholar to identify peer-reviewed publications in English between 2000 and 2024. Search strategies combined terms related to the SBW schema (e.g., “Strong Black Woman,” “SBW stereotype,” “Strong Black woman archetype,” “Superwoman ideology”) with terms related to nursing contexts (e.g., “nursing,” “nursing education,” “nursing leadership,” “leadership”).
Articles were included if they addressed the SBW schema or related constructs (e.g., Superwoman ideology, Sojourner Syndrome) and examined their influence on mental health, identity formation, or the professional experiences of Black women in academic or healthcare leadership settings. Foundational studies from adjacent disciplines were included when they offered conceptual relevance and enhanced understanding of how the SBW schema operates in professional spaces, particularly in nursing. Studies were excluded if they were not published in English, fell outside the 2000–2024 date range (unless historically significant), or were not peer-reviewed. Additionally, literature that focused solely on clinical practice or patient outcomes, without addressing identity, leadership, or the broader structural dynamics relevant to the SBW schema, was excluded.
The search yielded a limited number of nursing-specific publications directly addressing the SBW archetype. However, two recent articles—Jefferies (2022) and Parks and Hayman (2024)—specifically explored the SBW schema within nursing practice and leadership and were incorporated into this review. Related literature from adjacent disciplines (e.g., Godbolt et al., 2022; Nelson et al., 2016; West et al., 2016; Woods-Giscombé, 2010) provided critical insights for understanding how the SBW schema impacts health professions more broadly, and these perspectives were used to inform the nursing discussion.
Given the narrative review methodology, a PRISMA flow diagram was not employed.
Results
The search process yielded a limited number of nursing-specific publications addressing the Strong Black Woman (SBW) schema. Notably, two recent studies—Jefferies (2022) and Parks and Hayman (2024)—have begun to explore the SBW archetype within the context of nursing practice and leadership, offering important insights into its cultural and health-related impacts. In addition to these nursing-focused articles, literature from adjacent disciplines, including psychology, sociology, public health, and Black feminist theory, provided broader conceptual frameworks that inform the application of the SBW schema to nursing education and leadership. The relative scarcity of nursing-specific scholarship highlights a critical gap that this paper seeks to address.
Jefferies (2022) defines the SBW construct as comprising five obligations centered on strength, emotional suppression, self-reliance, relentless success, and prioritizing others’ needs. While some Black women use the schema as a source of survival or empowerment, Jefferies emphasizes that it often results in serious harms to physical, mental, and spiritual well-being—harms that extend beyond individuals to impact families and communities. Parks and Hayman (2024) similarly find that while many Black women identify with the SBW persona, growing numbers recognize its detrimental effects, particularly its role in exacerbating long-term health and sociopolitical disparities. They argue that healthcare practitioners must move beyond acknowledgment to intentionally addressing the SBW schema as a critical social determinant of health. These findings reinforce the need for nursing education and leadership to critically engage with the systemic impacts of the SBW schema and to prioritize culturally responsive, antiracist interventions.
Historical Origins and Evolution of the SBW Schema
The SBW schema emerged from the convergence of historical, racial, and gendered ideologies during slavery, where resilience, self-reliance, and emotional suppression were essential survival mechanisms (Woods-Giscombé, 2010). Enslaved Black women were forced to perform unpaid labor under brutal conditions while simultaneously acting as caregivers for both White families and their own. This dual burden laid the foundation for the SBW ideal—one that equates worthiness with endurance and self-sacrifice.
As Beauboeuf-Lafontant (2007) and Collins (2000b) note, this archetype evolved alongside controlling images such as the Mammy, Jezebel, and Sapphire—stereotypes designed to distort Black womanhood and justify systemic oppression. During Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era, Black women increasingly assumed roles as family and community matriarchs amid economic and political exclusion. These circumstances reinforced the expectation to hold families together, navigate racism, and remain emotionally strong without complaint.
The Civil Rights Movement further entrenched this image. Unlike mainstream feminist movements, which often sought liberation from domesticity, Black women were celebrated for their perseverance in activism, caregiving, and leadership. Yet, their emotional and physical labor remained overlooked and undervalued (Watson & Hunter, 2016; Nelson et al., 2024). The expectation to “push through” became both a symbol of pride and a mechanism of erasure. This historical trajectory illustrates how the SBW schema, initially a cultural survival strategy, became an institutionalized and romanticized ideal that persists today.
Cultural Transmission of the SBW Schema: Family, Media, and Identity Formation
The SBW schema has been transmitted intergenerationally through both familial socialization and cultural media, reinforcing its endurance across generations. Historically, maternal figures have played a critical role in modeling resilience, self-reliance, and emotional suppression as survival tools in response to racialized and gendered oppression (Leath et al., 2023; Nelson et al., 2016). Mothers and grandmothers often taught daughters to “be strong” in preparation for navigating a world rife with systemic inequities—an approach that, while protective, sometimes left little room for vulnerability or self-care.
This schema is further reinforced in adolescence through social media and popular culture, which often celebrate idealized versions of strength. Hashtags like #BlackGirlMagic promote empowerment but can also intensify pressure to maintain perfection and suppress struggle (Stanton et al., 2017). Anyiwo et al. (2018) found that Black-oriented media exposure significantly shaped adolescents’ endorsement of SBW values, suggesting that cultural reinforcement begins early and persists throughout developmental stages.
Together, these familial and media-driven messages solidify the SBW schema as both a source of cultural pride and psychological burden. Wallace et al. (2023) observed that this intergenerational transmission often results in emotional silencing and hyper-responsibility, especially among younger Black women. The schema thus becomes both a shield and a weight—functioning as a tool for survival while reinforcing systemic invisibility.
Psychological and Healthcare Impacts of the SBW Schema
The SBW schema contributes significantly to both psychological distress and healthcare disparities among Black women. Its core traits—emotional suppression, self-reliance, and self-sacrifice—have been consistently linked to chronic stress, anxiety, hypertension, and delays in seeking care (Henry & Song, 2024; Godbolt et al., 2022). Internalized expectations to endure adversity without showing weakness, discourage help-seeking and perpetuate a cycle of silent suffering.
Amankwaa (2003) found that norms of emotional self-reliance hinder Black women's willingness to seek mental health care, even when facing challenges such as postpartum depression. Similarly, Nelson et al. (2020) observed that these culturally reinforced norms contribute to persistent disparities in mental health outcomes and affect relationship dynamics, coping behaviors, and workplace engagement.
These psychological burdens are compounded by systemic failures in healthcare. The SBW stereotype often leads providers to underestimate or dismiss Black women's symptoms, particularly in maternal care and pain management settings (Abrams et al., 2014; Nelson et al., 2016). This perception of invulnerability fuels underdiagnosis and mistreatment, reinforcing the false belief that Black women have a higher tolerance for pain and contributing to inequitable outcomes.
In addition to these systemic disparities, the SBW schema also produces significant internal mental health consequences. Volpe et al. (2024) further demonstrate how intersectional stressors—such as gendered racialized assaults—intensify psychological strain and coping responses like emotional eating. These findings highlight the deep interplay between cultural expectations of strength and the erosion of mental well-being. The internalization of the SBW schema not only inhibits emotional expression but also reinforces isolation and psychological distress.
To challenge these dynamics, Nelson et al. (2016) and Godbolt et al. (2022) call for culturally responsive care grounded in emotional validation and the dismantling of racialized assumptions. Benight and Bandura (2004) emphasize that affirming emotional needs and improving perceived self-efficacy are essential components of psychological recovery and resilience. Addressing these issues requires more than individual insight—it demands structural reform in education, clinical practice, and healthcare policy.
By integrating the psychological and systemic consequences of the SBW schema, this section underscores the urgent need for care models that honor Black women's full emotional range and humanity. Promoting vulnerability, empathy, and emotional validation in clinical encounters is not only therapeutic—it is foundational to health equity.
The Duality of the Strong Black Woman Archetype
The SBW schema serves as a counterimage to negative stereotypes and is deeply embedded in cultural and historical narratives (Denyse et al., 2023; Hall, 2017). The SBW schema, rooted in historical survival narratives, fosters resilience amidst adversity. Leath et al. (2023) describe how Black mothers pass the schema to their daughters as a tool for navigating racial and gender inequities, reinforcing traits like perseverance, self-reliance, and community caretaking. These qualities enhance resilience and self-efficacy. Similarly, Nelson et al. (2024) link the schema to identity and belonging through constructs like gendered racial centrality.
However, the SBW schema imposes significant emotional burdens. Emotional suppression, a core aspect of the schema, is tied to poor mental health outcomes. Liao et al. (2020) find that maladaptive perfectionism and low self-compassion mediate its effects on depression and anxiety. Denyse et al. (2023) highlight its impact on healthcare, where Black women with breast cancer often feel pressured to suppress emotions and endure silently. Jefferies (2022) warns against normalizing the SBW stereotype, as it exacerbates isolation and neglect.
The SBW archetype embodies a complex interplay of positive and negative attributes. Table 3 summarizes these aspects, providing a foundation for understanding its impact on Black women in nursing education and leadership.
Summary of the Positive and Negative Attributes of the SBW Archetype.
Discussion
The SBW schema continues to shape the lived experiences of Black women in nursing academia, where expectations of overperformance, emotional stoicism, and cultural labor are deeply embedded. This discussion section critically examines how the schema manifests in academic settings, highlights gaps in nursing literature, and interrogates its evolving yet persistent presence in professional culture and media. Together, these insights demonstrate the urgent need to rethink how strength is constructed and valued in nursing leadership and education.
Manifestations in Academic Settings
While the SBW archetype provides a framework for overcoming challenges, it also imposes disproportionate demands on Black women in professional spaces. In PWIs, this construct intersects with systemic racism and implicit bias, requiring Black women to constantly demonstrate excellence while suppressing vulnerabilities (Apugo, 2019; Godbolt et al., 2022; Jefferies et al., 2018). This phenomenon is particularly salient in nursing academia, where Black women must navigate leadership roles in environments shaped by racialized and gendered expectations (Nelson et al., 2016).
Underrepresentation in Nursing Literature
Despite its pervasive influence, the SBW archetype remains understudied in nursing research. Much of the existing research comes from broader cultural and psychological studies, which highlight the schema's dual role as empowering and harmful. Insights from disciplines such as sociology and psychology offer valuable perspectives for understanding how this construct shapes the experiences of Black women in nursing academia and leadership (Geyton et al., 2022; Godbolt et al., 2022).
The literature underscores the complex interplay between cultural pride, systemic oppression, and personal resilience embodied in the SBW schema. While it equips Black women with tools to navigate adversity, it also perpetuates significant psychological and health burdens. Addressing these dualities is crucial for creating supportive academic and professional environments that recognize Black women's diverse experiences and needs.
Contemporary Evolution of the SBW Stereotype
In contemporary culture, the SBW schema has been reinterpreted and reinforced through media, workplaces, and healthcare systems to portray Black women as inherently invulnerable—an image that has justified their exploitation, erased their need for care, and denied them access to vulnerability routinely afforded to others (Godbolt et al., 2022; Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2007). This archetype now functions as both a badge of honor and a tool of oppression, maintaining expectations of unrelenting strength and emotional stoicism (Godbolt et al., 2022; Woods-Giscombé, 2010).
Popular television characters such as Olivia Pope in
Beyond media, the SBW schema remains pervasive in healthcare and workplace settings. Black women are frequently perceived as unbreakable and self-sacrificing, which often leads to their emotional and physical needs being dismissed or underestimated by healthcare providers (Abrams et al., 2014; Volpe et al., 2024). This contributes to disparities in care and reinforces harmful narratives of invincibility.
Intergenerational transmission of the SBW schema through familial and community socialization further amplifies these pressures. Younger generations, influenced by family expectations and cultural movements such as #BlackGirlMagic, continue to grapple with balancing resilience and vulnerability (Anyiwo et al., 2018; Stanton et al., 2017). While such movements celebrate Black women's achievements, they can inadvertently intensify pressures to perform strength and suppress emotional needs.
These contemporary manifestations underscore the urgent need to interrogate and redefine what constitutes strength—shifting away from ideals of stoicism toward models that embrace balance, emotional authenticity, and holistic well-being.
The Hidden Costs of the Strong Black Woman Archetype in Nursing Academia
The SBW schema, though often celebrated as a symbol of cultural pride and resilience, imposes significant professional burdens on Black women in academic nursing. It perpetuates expectations of emotional fortitude, hypervigilance, and self-sacrifice—qualities that, while once critical for survival, now contribute to emotional exhaustion and isolation within predominantly White institutions (PWIs) (Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2025; Jefferies, 2022).
In these academic spaces, Black women are often compelled to suppress their needs and vulnerabilities in order to meet heightened demands for excellence. This pressure manifests as self-silencing during departmental meetings, relentless perfectionism in teaching and scholarship, and an outsized mentoring load—all frequently unrecognized and uncompensated by institutions (Apugo, 2019; Iheduru-Anderson, 2024b). Such dynamics create what has been described as a “cultural tax,” where Black women shoulder the labor of diversity representation, mentorship, and emotional support without adequate structural backing.
Although strength and resilience are deeply valued traits, within academic nursing they are often weaponized into unrealistic expectations of hyper-responsibility (Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2024a). These demands are further compounded by systemic inequities, racial discrimination, and the dual challenges of invisibility and hypervisibility—where Black women's contributions are either overlooked or excessively scrutinized (Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2024a). The SBW schema can also restrict career advancement as Black nurses contend with exclusion from leadership roles, lack of mentorship, and the constant need to prove their competence in environments that often fail to value their unique experiences (Iheduru-Anderson, 2020; Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2022). This dual burden of overperformance and under-recognition reinforces emotional strain, limits authentic self-expression, and contributes to career stagnation and burnout (Iheduru-Anderson & Shingles, 2023).
Recognizing and addressing these hidden costs is essential to cultivating emotionally safe and equitable environments where Black women faculty can lead and thrive without sacrificing their well-being. Recent scholarship calls for a redefinition of strength in nursing that embraces vulnerability and self-care as essential leadership qualities, advocating for systemic changes in nursing education and practice to support the well-being and advancement of Black women (De Sousa & Varcoe, 2021; Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2025; Jefferies, 2022).
Future Directions
As nursing education and leadership grapple with the structural and cultural burdens imposed by the SBW schema, envisioning a more equitable future requires deliberate shifts in how resilience, strength, and leadership are defined and nurtured. The following sections outline pathways for transforming academic nursing environments—challenging harmful paradigms, redefining resilience to include vulnerability and community care, and empowering future generations to lead with authenticity and well-being. Together, these strategies call for systemic change that centers the full humanity of Black women in nursing academia.
Challenging the Paradigm: Strength and Vulnerability
While the SBW schema has offered cultural protection and pride, its long-term impacts on well-being and leadership capacity reveal the limits of strength as currently defined. To foster environments where Black women can thrive, not merely survive, it is necessary to challenge the notion that strength must be synonymous with self-denial, emotional suppression, and silent endurance. This section introduces
Redefining Resilience: Toward Inclusive Academic Environments
Resilience need not be synonymous with self-sacrifice. Nelson et al. (2024) emphasize how gendered racial centrality—a strong sense of cultural identity and community—can foster resilience through connection and affirmation, rather than isolation. Integrating this perspective into nursing education can help Black women leaders navigate systemic barriers without internalizing harmful expectations. Woods-Giscombé (2010) further highlights that emotional suppression and perfectionism—core to the SBW schema—lead to relationship strain and stress embodiment, reinforcing the need for a redefinition of resilience that includes emotional expression, community care, and self-compassion.
This redefinition also involves a shift in leadership frameworks. Nelson et al. (2016) argue that leadership models which embrace vulnerability challenge the false narrative that strength must exclude emotional transparency. Watson and Hunter (2015) similarly advocate for reducing stigma around professional help seeking in academic spaces. For nursing leadership, this reframing can promote more inclusive and authentic environments—ones that honor emotional honesty and diverse lived experiences as integral to effective leadership.
By creating environments where resilience and vulnerability coexist, nursing academia can support Black women not only to succeed but also to thrive. Embracing a holistic understanding of strength—one that includes rest, emotional expression, and community support—offers a sustainable path forward grounded in justice, care, and well-being. Leadership models that value vulnerability over performance can foster more authentic and inclusive spaces, where diverse experiences and emotional honesty are recognized as strengths, not liabilities. Such a paradigm shift is critical to building cultures that honor the full humanity of Black women and empower them to lead without erasure.
Empowering Future Generations
Disrupting the intergenerational transmission of the SBW schema is critical to fostering holistic well-being. While the archetype symbolizes resilience, it imposes significant emotional burdens. Traits like emotional suppression and relentless caregiving perpetuate mental health challenges such as stress and depression in young Black women (Etowa et al., 2017; Wallace et al., 2023).
Emerging research shows that younger generations are rejecting traditional notions of unyielding strength by prioritizing self-care and seeking help. Practices like therapy, mindfulness, and boundary setting reflect a cultural shift toward balancing resilience with wellness (Jones et al., 2021). This evolution honors heritage while embracing new paradigms of wellness, dismantling stereotypes, and reshaping societal expectations.
Mentorship plays a pivotal role in this shift. Jones et al. (2021) emphasize mentorship programs that model vulnerability and collaboration while teaching self-compassion and sustainable coping mechanisms (Nelson et al., 2016). Community reforms, such as safe spaces, peer networks, and culturally informed wellness programs, further support this transition by promoting emotional expression and collective resilience (Corbin et al., 2018; Denyse et al., 2023). These strategies empower future generations to transcend restrictive aspects of the SBW archetype by embracing balance, self-care, and authenticity.
Implications for Nursing Education and Leadership
Systemic racism and underrepresentation in nursing academia create significant barriers for Black women faculty and leaders. Bias-laden encounters, institutional neglect, and limited structural support contribute to professional isolation, burnout, and career stagnation (Iheduru-Anderson, 2021; White, 2021). The SBW schema exacerbates these challenges by reinforcing expectations of perfectionism, hyper-resilience, and emotional self-suppression—often at the expense of well-being. Emerging nursing scholarship reinforces this need. Jefferies (2022) and Parks and Hayman (2024) both highlight how uncritical acceptance of the SBW schema contributes to health inequities, underscoring the urgency of culturally responsive and antiracist reforms in nursing education, leadership, and care practices.
Institutional and Professional Challenges in Nursing Academia
In PWIs, systemic racism and gender bias intersect with the SBW schema, producing structural and interpersonal challenges. Black women are expected to overperform while their contributions are often marginalized or tokenized. These dynamics reinforce feelings of invisibility and exclusion, compounding emotional strain (K. Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2024a; Apugo, 2019). In leadership roles, the SBW schema creates paradoxical pressures: women are praised for their strength while being denied the space for emotional honesty or vulnerability, leading to isolation and depression in high-stakes environments (Nelson et al., 2024).
These challenges are intensified by dual biases related to both race and gender. Black women often engage in code-switching, emotional suppression, and excessive self-monitoring to manage perceptions and guard against discrimination (Apugo, 2019). While these coping strategies may be protective in the short term, they often lead to emotional exhaustion and disconnection from authenticity (Burton et al., 2020).
Emotional labor remains an unacknowledged yet central part of many Black women's academic experience. The expectation of invulnerability discourages help-seeking and emotional openness (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2007). Limited access to role models who share their experiences creates “double isolation,” worsened by the disproportionate burden of mentoring students of color without formal recognition or compensation (Costa & Smith, 2023; Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2024b).
Redefining Strength: Toward Inclusive Academic Environments
Redefining the SBW archetype in nursing education and leadership requires both cultural and institutional shifts. Strength must be reimagined to include vulnerability, relational support, and self-compassion—not as signs of weakness, but as essential elements of resilience and leadership (Costa & Smith, 2023; S. M. Davis, 2018; Shardé M. Davis, 2015).
Institutions must go beyond representation to address systemic exclusion. While the recruitment and retention of Black faculty are essential steps, they alone will not dismantle the SBW schema or its effects. Institutions must undergo cultural transformation. Recruitment must be paired with critical engagement and education. Nurse faculty and leaders must engage deeply with foundational scholarship—particularly Black feminist and womanist literature—that exposes the historical, cultural, and structural roots of the SBW schema. This includes work by scholars such as Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, and recent contributors to health disparities literature who connect systemic racism to clinical outcomes and professional dynamics in nursing. This knowledge helps nursing departments critically examine how their own cultures may be complicit in upholding and reinforcing these harmful narratives, even unintentionally.
Culturally responsive policies must go beyond surface-level inclusion efforts. Since most nursing leadership remains white, leaders must interrogate their own preparation for inclusive leadership. This includes evaluating what structures are in place for this learning? Is there institutional support for sustained, self-directed education on race and gender equity that does not rely on the unpaid labor of minoritized faculty, students, or staff? Engagement with colleagues of minoritized background should be reciprocal, compensated, and not extractive; otherwise, it risks reinforcing the “minority tax” and displacing the burden of transformation onto those already marginalized (Costa & Smith, 2023).
For example, rather than asking Black nurses to “teach” cultural competence, a department might invest in a curriculum grounded in Black feminist and critical race scholarship, paired with racial literacy coaching for leadership. This model places the responsibility for institutional change where it belongs: with those in power. Another example, a nursing department could initiate a review of its policies—such as tenure and promotion guidelines—through a racial equity lens, followed by facilitated workshops that incorporate external equity consultants. This model encourages meaningful policy reform while reducing the cultural tax often placed on underrepresented faculty.
In addition to structural changes, institutions must actively confront and disrupt harmful SBW stereotypes while preserving the cultural pride and community strength embedded in the schema. Narrative shifts are needed to reframe Black womanhood in ways that acknowledge emotional authenticity, complexity, and the full humanity of Black women in academic spaces. These are not issues with easy solutions, but rather tensions to navigate with intentionality. By holding these complexities at the center of institutional reflection and reform, nursing education and leadership can move toward more just and sustaining models of inclusion—grounded in justice, care, and collective well-being.
Strategies for Institutional and Cultural Change
Breaking free from the SBW schema's systemic constraints requires multilevel interventions:
Mentorship and Representation: Establish identity-affirming mentorship networks connecting Black women faculty and students with culturally informed guidance. Nelson et al. (2020) highlight the importance of protected spaces for experience-sharing and relationship-building. Peer Support Networks: Create and sustain affinity groups and online communities that offer solidarity, shared strategies, and space for emotional expression (Stanton et al., 2017). Psychological Safe Spaces: Foster peer spaces where Black women can speak freely about challenges and resilience without fear of judgment. Corbin et al. (2018) and Denyse et al. (2023) emphasize the empowering role of such environments. Diversity in Leadership: Increase the number of Black women in leadership roles to ensure institutional decisions reflect diverse needs and perspectives. Leadership Development Initiatives: Support professional development that explicitly addresses systemic barriers and promotes inclusive leadership models. Cultural Knowledge and Humility Training: Integrate cultural humility and self-compassion into nursing curricula and faculty development to reduce bias and support mental wellness (Volpe et al., 2024). Policy Reforms for Equity: Enact transparent, equity-focused policies around hiring, promotion, workload, and recognition. Such reforms can mitigate overwork and undervaluation (Corbin et al., 2018; Platt & Fanning, 2023). Reframing Strength and Vulnerability: Center emotional authenticity, care, and community as valid expressions of leadership and resilience. Programs promoting boundary-setting and collective support can help reframe strength as shared, not solitary.
Cultural Relevance and the Redefinition of Strength and Vulnerability Within the SBW Schema
This section explores how cultural relevance, grounded in Black feminist thought, reshapes our understanding of both strength and vulnerability for Black women navigating the SBW schema. It offers a liberatory redefinition that resists dehumanizing ideals and centers rest, emotional truth, and community care.
Vulnerability, as commonly understood in mainstream wellness discourse, is often framed as an individual path toward growth and healing. However, for Black women, such framings risk oversimplifying the profound structural barriers that shape their lived experiences (Adebayo et al., 2021; Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2025). Within the SBW schema, vulnerability transcends emotional openness; it becomes a radical act of resistance in a world that has dehumanized, silenced, and demanded unyielding strength from Black women (Harris-Perry, 2011; Woods-Giscombe, 2010). Reclaiming vulnerability, then, becomes both an act of resistance and liberation — one that disrupts dominant narratives of invincibility and reclaims emotional honesty, rest, and care as birthrights (Hooks, 1991; Lorde, 1984).
Dominant narratives often universalize vulnerability, presenting it as a neutral, individualized virtue. Yet this framing can obscure how racialized, gendered, and classed systems mediate access to emotional safety and support. For Black women, expressing vulnerability frequently carries risks — including dismissal, punishment, or pathologization (Beauboeuf-Lafontant, 2009; Collins, 2000b). Thus, vulnerability must be contextualized not as a generic ideal but as a practice shaped by structural violence and sociohistorical exclusion (Parks & Hayman, 2024; Phillips, 2006).
In this context, vulnerability for Black women involves:
Creating safe space for emotional truth — where expression is met with care, not retraumatization or judgment. Recognizing systemic harm — naming institutions and cultural narratives, rather than individuals, as the sources of emotional exhaustion and burnout. Resisting the SBW performance — choosing softness and self-preservation over self-sacrifice, without guilt. Reframing care as a collective act — where rest and emotional expression are not luxuries, but strategies for survival and community continuity.
Toward a Just Redefinition of Strength and Vulnerability
To redefine strength for Black women within the SBW schema requires a shift from individualistic interpretations of resilience to a justice-centered understanding of healing. Grounded in Black feminist thought, this redefinition positions vulnerability as a communal, intentional, and strategic act–not merely a personal journey, but a refusal to uphold oppressive ideals of stoicism and silence (Crenshaw, 1991; Lorde, 1984). Figure 1 visually depicts the transformation from internalized resilience and stoicism toward a liberatory model of strength that embraces emotional expressiveness and support-seeking behaviors. This redefinition, informed by Black feminist theory, situates vulnerability not as weakness but as a pathway to healing and community preservation.
Redefining Strength and Vulnerability for Black Women Within the SBW Schema Grounded in Black Feminist Thought.
As Godbolt et al. (2022) emphasize, creating spaces where Black women feel emotionally safe is essential to countering the psychological harms of navigating systems that demand stoicism and silence. Their work illustrates how healthcare and educational institutions must be intentional in supporting emotional truth-telling as part of holistic well-being. Likewise, Nelson et al. (2016) advocate for culturally grounded approaches that retain the affirming dimensions of the SBW identity—such as resilience and leadership—while explicitly addressing its mental and emotional costs. Together, these scholars reinforce the need for environments that not only permit but also actively nurture vulnerability and care. The reframing of key emotional and social constructs–resilience, support, and emotion–challenges the normative expectations embedded in the SBW schema and offers an alternative paradigm centered on wellness, rest, and relational care.
While this paper calls for a redefinition of strength that embraces vulnerability, it is crucial to acknowledge that not everyone can access vulnerability safely. For Black women, expressing emotional needs often leads to further marginalization. Thus, the responsibility for fostering vulnerability cannot rest solely on those most at risk. Institutions and colleagues—particularly those not impacted by the SBW schema—must commit to creating emotionally safe environments where vulnerability is protected, not punished (Iheduru-Anderson et al., 2025). For example, white faculty or department leaders can model emotional transparency, establish equitable mentorship and workload structures, and intervene in moments of racialized harm that often go unchecked but leave lasting psychological and professional scars. Vulnerability, in this reframed context, is not only a personal act of resistance, it is a shared institutional responsibility.
To further operationalize this conceptual shift, Table 4 provides a side-by-side comparison of dominant SBW narratives and their redefinition through a justice- and wellness-centered lens. This table underscores how reclaiming vulnerability and self-care is not only a personal act but also a political stance rooted in resistance to systemic oppression.
SBW Schema for Black Women: A More Just Redefinition of Strength.
In sum, vulnerability is not about shedding armor in unsafe environments; it is about discerning when, where, and with whom it is safe to exhale. For Black women navigating the SBW schema, this intentional vulnerability is both a survival tactic and a strategy for liberation—one rooted in cultural relevance, communal care, and resistance. Within a womanist framework, this resonates with the concept of
Conclusion
Toward a Just Redefinition of Strength and Care
The SBW schema, deeply entrenched in systemic racism and sexism, symbolizes resilience—but often at the cost of mental health and self-preservation. For Black women in nursing education and leadership, the schema exerts pressure to overperform while suppressing vulnerability, leaving little room for rest, emotional honesty, or collective care. This paper, drawing on Abrams et al. (2019), Castelin and White (2022), Jones et al. (2021), and Nelson et al. (2020), has illuminated how this schema both sustains and undermines Black women's well-being and professional trajectories.
Redefining strength requires dismantling individualistic interpretations of resilience and reimagining vulnerability as a radical, culturally grounded act of resistance and liberation. Grounded in Black feminist thought, this reconceptualization affirms vulnerability not as a weakness, but as a strategic, communal pathway to healing, connection, and wellness (Lorde, 1984; Crenshaw, 1991; hooks, 2000). As emphasized by Nelson et al. (2020) and Woods-Giscombé (2010), institutional transformation must involve creating affirming spaces that recognize the sociohistorical burden of stoicism imposed on Black women and instead uplift emotional expressiveness and rest as essential components of leadership and survival.
It is essential to emphasize that the SBW schema is a culturally situated coping strategy, not a pathological behavior. While internalizing the schema can contribute to emotional strain, the root causes lie in systemic inequities, not in Black women themselves. As Strings (2015) argues in her work on the pathologization of Black women's bodies, narratives that frame Black women as responsible for their own poor outcomes often obscure the structural violence that produces them. By positioning the SBW schema as both adaptive and constrained—both a source of strength and a sign of institutional neglect, this paper resists such framing.
Recent nursing-focused studies (Jefferies, 2022; Parks & Hayman, 2024) represent important and promising contributions to this emerging area of scholarship. Nonetheless, the overall limited depth and breadth of research on the Strong Black Woman schema in nursing education and leadership underscores the urgent need for further empirical and theoretical work. Building on these insights, this paper calls for nursing institutions to move beyond resilience rhetoric toward creating wellness-centered environments rooted in justice and care. Redefining strength in this way invites a future where Black women in academic nursing not only survive but thrive—freed from the burdens of performance and empowered to lead with authenticity and holistic well-being.
Footnotes
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