“There's No Way to Make it Without Your People:” Documenting the Path to Leadership for Women of Color

• In Event: Gender, Identity, and Intersectionality In Educational Leadership

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to understand the experiences of women of color who are K-12 administrators. Grounded in counter storytelling, a key tenet of Critical Race Theory, we address the following research question through the use of narrative-portraiture: What are the experiences and perspectives of women of color who moved from teaching to administration? An integral component to this research design is an intentional inter-generational component of the methods where undergraduate women of color teacher education students collect the stories and document the experiences of the more senior women of color school administrators. The portraits are filled with stories of community, strength, struggle, and resilience.

Authors

• George Theoharis, Syracuse University

• Eliani Jimenez Merino, Syracuse University

• Vera Wang, Syracuse University