Leaders of Color and Perceptions of Organizational Culture: Measuring Racial Stress

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 1:15 pm
  In Roundtable Session: District Administration, Capacity, and Culture (Table 4)

Abstract

Examining the underrepresentation of loC in K-12 institutions, I draw on Theory of Racialized Organizations to connect organizational culture as part of a larger racialized system perpetuating racial inequities. An online survey was conducted to investigate how racial conflicts in school settings are initiated, engaged with, and responded to by 1,385 school and district leaders. Preliminary findings reveal leaders often feel supported, but also experience high stress in ignoring issues of racism in their workplace and when building diversity goals are not met. By employing empirically sound metrics to assess the racialized stress of loC, future scholarly investigations can pose critical inquiries concerning the extent to which diversity initiatives, including leader recruitment and retention, are influenced by racialized mechanisms.

Authors

• Kait Ogden, University of Texas at Austin

• April L. Peters-Hawkins, University of Houston