Sacred And Restorative Haven: A Multi-Case Study of Black Women Leading in Educational Facilities Management

• In Event: Well-Being as Foundational to Women of Color Efforts for Equity and Social Justice Leadership

Abstract

This multi-case study uses a Black feminist framework to examine how four Black women leaders sustain their leadership positions in educational facilities management (FM), a field in which they are significantly underrepresented. In interviews, participants described encountering oppressive behaviors and practices from a White/male dominant, hegemonically masculinist, and patriarchal culture in FM. However, they choose to stay, believing that their presence contributes to disrupting oppressions in FM. To sustain themselves, they each described the cultivation of their own sacred and restorative metaphoric space which I termed a “haven” for self-care, care for others and their activism. This finding has important implications for future practice of professional development to support Black women and other minoritized leaders working in oppressive environments.

Author

• Winnie Kwofie, Texas Tech University