Date of Conferral
3-20-2025
Date of Award
March 2025
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Felicia Blacher-Wilson
Abstract
Despite significant educational achievements, African American women remain underrepresented in academic leadership at predominantly White institutions. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore the experiences, challenges, and barriers of African American women when navigating leadership pathways. The conceptual framework guiding this study was Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory. For this basic qualitative study, purposive and snowball sampling led to semistructured interviews with 8 African American women who had at least 2 years of experience in academic leadership roles at predominantly White institutions. Participants were African American women in leadership positions at 2 predominantly White institutions in California and 3 predominantly White institutions in Alabama who were recruited through LinkedIn and invitation emails. Data analysis involved thematic coding identifying patterns and insights, which revealed the following nine themes: the interplay of social identities in leadership, balancing visibility and tokenism, navigating institutional culture, navigating systemic inequities in leadership, the burden of stereotypes and microaggressions, isolation and exclusion in leadership, building and relying on support networks, leveraging faith and inner motivation, and resilience through professional development and goal setting. The results indicate that while some institutional leaders acknowledge the importance of diversity, their leadership development and inclusion approaches vary, highlighting the need for targeted mentorship programs, policy adjustments, and institutional reforms to ensure equitable opportunities for African American women in academic leadership, ultimately driving social change by urging institutions to empower these women and foster inclusion.
Recommended Citation
Hall Carrington, Angela Renee, "Experiences of African American Women Working in Higher Education Leadership Positions in Predominantly White Institutions" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17514.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17514