Quenette L. Walton is an assistant professor at the University of Houston in the Graduate College of Social Work. Her research investigates how social class, gender, culture, and race affect the mental health and well-being of Black middle-class women. Because depression and well-being do not occur in isolation, she focuses on intersectional social determinants of health and mental health disparities. The aims of her research program are to build knowledge and develop theory that informs policies, practices, and culturally relevant and evidence-based interventions in order to reduce depression and increase well-being among middle-class Black women. Because of Dr. Walton’s area of expertise, she was invited by Routledge to write Black Women and Depression: Culturally Responsive Interventions and Treatment, due out in 2025. Dr. Walton is also a licensed clinical social worker. She earned a PhD in social work from the University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social Work; an MSW from the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice; and a BA in psychology from the University of Michigan. 

Research Proposal Summary

Researchers advocate for the creation of intersectional analyses and frameworks that detail strategies for Black women to shape interventions that embody their perspectives and that could contextualize key areas that policymakers, funders, and practitioners could consider when addressing the mental health needs of middle-class Black women at the intersection of their identities and earnings. Guided by intersectionality, the goal of Dr. Walton’s study—a secondary qualitative data analysis—is to develop a conceptual framework that addresses the mental health needs of middle-class Black women at the intersection of their identities and earnings.