Goosby Bridget J, Winkle-Wagner Rachelle, Zhang Amy
University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
J Health Soc Behav. 2025 Jun;66(2):212-227. doi: 10.1177/00221465241268434. Epub 2024 Sep 5.
Few studies examine how high-achieving Black women navigate chronic reproductive health morbidities. Black women are disproportionately more likely to experience uterine fibroids, with earlier onset and more severe symptoms. This study leverages a national mixed-methods data set of Black women academics to examine how they describe symptomatic fibroids impacting their careers and lives. We find that participants (1) actively coped by engaging in superwoman schema, (2) postponed treatment due to the demands of their tenure-track position, and (3) normalized pain. Our findings suggest a potentially high prevalence of uterine fibroids among Black women faculty, that symptomatic fibroids were an impediment to some women's careers, and that women with symptomatic fibroids often identified expectations of their careers as an impediment to seeking timely treatment. We provide insights for how highly educated, successful Black women cope and navigate career stress coupled with challenges resulting from chronic reproductive health morbidities.
很少有研究探讨成就卓越的黑人女性如何应对慢性生殖健康疾病。黑人女性患子宫肌瘤的比例格外高，发病更早且症状更严重。本研究利用了一个关于黑人女性学者的全国性混合方法数据集，以考察她们如何描述有症状的肌瘤对其职业和生活的影响。我们发现，参与者：（1）通过采用女超人模式积极应对；（2）由于终身教职岗位的要求而推迟治疗；（3）对疼痛习以为常。我们的研究结果表明，黑人女性教员中子宫肌瘤的患病率可能很高，有症状的肌瘤对一些女性的职业构成了障碍，而且有症状肌瘤的女性常常认为职业期望是寻求及时治疗的障碍。我们为受过高等教育、成功的黑人女性如何应对职业压力以及慢性生殖健康疾病带来的挑战提供了见解。
