Re-Narrating the Experiences of Black Women Leaders in the Academy

• In Event: Liberation and Education: Historical Perspectives on Black Educational Thought

Abstract

Purpose: This paper analyzes the experiences of five Black women administrators who have overcome persistent obstacles within institutions of higher education. The analysis of their experience helps to tell a bigger story about how Black women administrators have historically and intentionally employed their positions to accomplish institutional change in the areas of social injustice, discrimination, and inequality.
Perspective: The paper pairs a social constructivist perspective with an intersectional one to understand the leadership contributions of Black women administrators.
Modes of inquiry and data sources: The paper uses interviews of five female administrators of African descent and codes the interviews to derive themes. The paper also connects the interview data to the broader history of Black women’s experiences in the academy.
Conclusions: Two themes surfaced in their stories: intersubjective and interpersonal oppression, and strategies for disrupting systems of power. These Black women’s stories suggest that while Black women administrators remain mindful of the structural constraints around their leadership positions, they actively work towards employing more positive or creative aspects of their leadership and authority.
Significance: Although the scholarship on Black women’s leadership has increased in the past several years, not enough is known about the nature of this group’s leadership. This paper moves from a focus on how race and gender as axes of power have been used to emphasize difference (which can be divisive), to a focus on how Black women in positions of leadership use power and authority to mentor, to empower, and to build social justice environments within the academy.

Authors

• Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, University of South Florida

• Talia Randa Esnard, University of the West Indies - St. Augustine

• Maria Migueliz Valcarlos, Eastern New Mexico University