Dajanae Palmer, Ph.D.

Dr. Dajanae Palmer is a Research Affiliate for the Wei LAB and a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Qualitative Inquiry at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Her role at the lab supports the work of Dr. Brian Burt’s NSF grant on Black male graduate students in engineering programs. She earned her PhD in Higher Education at Indiana University Bloomington. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from San Diego State University and her Master of Education in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from the University of Southern California.

Her research interests are in examining and uplifting the experiences of graduate students, exploring feminist ​methodologies, and using critical race theory to analyze the systems of domination in higher education. Her dissertation focused on the use of sista circles as a counterspace for Black women doctoral students as they navigate gendered racial microaggressions in the academy. In her dissertation she used Black feminist thought, critical race feminism, and critical qualitative inquiry to craft a study that centered and uplifted the voices and experiences of Black women doctoral students.