Nailah A. Johnson is a doctoral student in developmental psychology, working with Dr. Misha Ailsworth in the Black Girl Visions Collaborative (BGVC). She is an alumna of Spelman College, where she earned degrees in Psychology (B.A.) and French (B.A.). As a Ph.D. student, she studies Black adolescent girls’ identity development, with her recent projects focusing on how supportive environments and people can help Black girls cultivate pride in their gendered racial identity.

  • Hope, M. O., Ailsworth, M. N., & Johnson, N. A. (2026). “Winter Will Not Be Forever”: Black Emerging Adult Women’s Definitions of Hope. Emerging Adulthood, 14(5), 1050-1064. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968261460938 
  • Hall, N. M., Dickens, D. D., Minor, K. A., Thomas, Z., Mitchell, C., & Johnson, N. (2025). The strong Black woman stereotype and identity shifting among Black women in academic and other professional spaces. Women's Health, 21, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057251335358
  • Johnson, N., Farmer, M., & Dickens, D. D. (2024). Is my anger justified? The influence of gendered racial identity centrality on the relationship between internalization of the Sapphire stereotype and disengagement coping among Black women. Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research, 29(4), 255–264. https://doi.org/10.24839/2325-7342.JN29.4.255 
  • Dickens, D. D., Cabirou, L., Womack, V., Farmer, M., & Johnson, N. (2024). The relationship between gendered racism and binge eating symptoms among young adult U.S. Black women: Identity shifting as a mediator. Eating Behaviors, 54, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2024.101906
  • Dickens, D. D., Hall-Byers, N., Farmer, M., & Johnson, N. (2023). Diary study on microaggressions, identity shifting, and mental health among Black women in STEM graduate programs during COVID-19: The mediating role of perceived supervisor support. Journal of African American Women and Girls in Education, 3(1), 10–30. https://doi.org/10.21423/jaawge-v3i1a148 
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G342 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall