A Narrative of Black Women Experiences as Chief Diversity Officers

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Fourteen
  In Roundtable Session: Centering the Experiences of Historically Marginalized Leaders (Table 13)

Abstract

This paper explored the lived experiences of Black women serving in CDO positions in higher education. Utilizing critical phenomenology, this study sought to explore how Black women arrived in their positions, their experiences serving in those roles, and their future career aspirations. The findings suggest Black women in CDO positions are change agents for their university and for future Black women aspiring to these roles through a more authentic understanding of strategies utilized to develop career paths into and after CDO roles. Recommendations for educational leaders on how best to support and retain Black women doing this work were included. This study provides counternarratives and positions Black women as truth tellers in the pursuit of dismantling dominate narratives of success.

Authors

• Brandi Wells-Stone, University of New Mexico
  Presenting Author

• Dèsa Karye Daniel, University of Colorado - Denver
  Presenting Author