Attrition as Resistance Among Black Male Educators: When Departure Speaks

• In Event: Teachers’ Decision Making in Precarious Contexts

Abstract

This qualitative case study gives prominence to the voices of four African American male educators who entered the K-12 profession to serve, lead, and disrupt educational inequities yet ultimately left to pursue careers in law, public health, and other fields. Using narrative inquiry, their stories uncover a legacy of marginalization, constrained agency, and racialized expectations within schools. Their exits reflect not abandonment, but resistance and reimagination. This study calls on educational researchers to “unforget” the historical exclusion of Black male educators and construct new futures rooted in equity, professional respect, and institutional transformation. It offers a vision for rethinking recruitment, retention, and what it means to create spaces where Black male educators can thrive not just survive in public education.

Authors

• Roslin E. Growe, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

• Clementine Msengi, Lamar University