The Perceptions of African American Administrators Regarding Their Work Experiences at Predominantly White Institutions of Higher Education

The Perceptions of African American Administrators Regarding Their Work Experiences at Predominantly White Institutions of Higher Education
Author: Cheresa Yvette Hamilton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2009
Genre: African American college administrators
ISBN:

Studies the work experience opinions, beliefs and views of African American administrators in non-student affairs and non-academic positions at 4 predominantly white higher education institutions. Among the concerns which influenced their percpetions: complexities surrounding career paths, cultural identity and race, institutional culture, and advancement from mid-management to executive positions.

Grass Roots and Glass Ceilings

Grass Roots and Glass Ceilings
Author: William B. Harvey
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 184
Release: 1999-04-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1438406045

Grass Roots and Glass Ceilings offers observations and reflections on the experiences of African American leaders in predominantly white institutions of higher education. These current and past presidents, vice presidents, and deans relate frankly and in detail their personal experiences in the academic setting. They discuss their perseverance over obstacles such as racism and sexism, and examine the current and future state of higher education in America. Grass Roots and Glass Ceilings debunks the prevalent myth that academia is a setting where race is irrelevant, and where people are judged only by their intellectual capability. Contributors include Vera Farris; Wesley Harris; Althia deGraft Johnson; Horace Judson; Reatha Clark King; Marie McDemmond; Charlie Nelms; and Barbara Solomon.

Leadership Through the Lens of African American Women Senior and Executive Level Administrators at Predominantly White Public Institutions in California

Leadership Through the Lens of African American Women Senior and Executive Level Administrators at Predominantly White Public Institutions in California
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2011
Genre:
ISBN:

While African American women are increasingly becoming equipped with the appropriate educational credentials and have made scant gains in the advancement to senior administrative roles over the past 20 years, African American women leaders remain in a quandary. Little has changed. Scholars have conducted extensive studies on issues related to African American women in higher education, yet the unique leadership experiences of African American women administrators remain absent in the literature. Research on African American women in higher education have asserted the need for additional and more targeted research on the experiences that African American women face in the academy, and most importantly at predominantly White institutions, to bring voice on the unique leadership experiences of African American women at the senior and executive level in higher education. Therefore, this dissertation describes the leadership experiences of African American women senior- and executive-level administrators at predominantly White public institutions in California. Through a phenomenological research design, and triangulation of data collected through document analysis, informal and formal interviews, and naturalistic observation, this study explored the unique experiences, challenges, and perceptions of seven women, as they navigate as "firsts" and "the only" African American women serving in their leadership roles at predominantly White institutions in southern, central, and northern California. Using a social constructionist framework, through the epistemological lens of Critical Race Theory, Black Feminist Thought and a Womanist Ideology, and a leadership framework, this study sought to document the leadership experiences, retention strategies, effects of support networks, how power impacts their roles as leaders, what meanings they ascribe to their experiences, and how experiences may differ based on institution type. The data demonstrated that African American women senior- and executive-level administrators at predominantly White public institutions in California (a) have unique paths to leadership, (b) possess leadership styles based on purpose and core values and ideals, (c) experience multiple challenges rooted in issues related to race and gender, and (d) maintain resilient retention strategies which assists them in progressing and advancing in their administrative roles. The unique leadership experiences of African American women administrators is truly a phenomenon.

Retaining African Americans in Higher Education

Retaining African Americans in Higher Education
Author: Lee Jones
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2023-07-21
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000980308

Retention of African Americans on campus is a burning issue for the black community, and a moral and financial one for predominantly white institutions of higher education. This book offers fresh insights and new strategies developed by fifteen scholars concerned by the new climate in which affirmative action is being challenged and eliminated.This is the first book devoted specifically to retention of African Americans in higher education, and is unique in addressing the distinct but inter-related concerns of all three affected constituencies: students, faculty and administrators. Each is considered in a separate section.The student section shifts attention from, to paraphrase McNairy, "fixing the student" to focussing on higher education's need to examine and, where appropriate, revise policies, curriculum, support services and campus climate. Responding to the new agenda shaped by the opponents of affirmative action, but rejecting the defensive "x percent solutions" espoused by its proponents, this book puts forward new solutions that will provoke debate. Section II begins with a survey of the literature on African American administrators, and presents a Delphi study of twelve administrators to provide an understanding of pathways and barriers to success. The contributors then consider the importance of developing community support and creating alliances, the role of mentoring, and the setting of clear expectations between the individual and the institution.Starting with the recognition that African Americans represent less than five percent of full-time faculty, the chapters in the final section examine the effects of the dismantling of affirmative action, the consequences of faculty salaries trailing more lucrative non-academic employment, the declining enrollment of students of color, the politics of promotion and tenure, and issues of identity and culture. The book concludes by stressing the roles that parents, faculty and administrators must play to empower African American students to take responsibility for their own academic performance.This is a compelling, controversial and constructive contribution to an issue of national importance.

Black Administrators in Higher Education

Black Administrators in Higher Education
Author: Terence Hicks
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 124
Release: 2018-08-24
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0761870210

This Black Administrators in Higher Education book displays a group of administrators from predominantly white and historically black institutions from both four-year and two-year institutions. Through the lenses of autoethnography and personal narrative studies, this extraordinary edited volume by two former deans of education provide the audience with cutting-edge research findings on a variety of topics relative to black administrators working in higher education.

The Agony of Education

The Agony of Education
Author: Joe R. Feagin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2014-04-23
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134718349

The Agony of Education is about the life experience of African American students attending a historically white university. Based on seventy-seven interviews conducted with black students and parents concerning their experiences with one state university, as well as published and unpublished studies of the black experience at state universities at large, this study captures the painful choices and agonizing dilemmas at the heart of the decisions African Americans must make about higher education.

Black Women Navigating Historically White Higher Education Institutions and the Journey Toward Liberation

Black Women Navigating Historically White Higher Education Institutions and the Journey Toward Liberation
Author: Logan, Stephanie R.
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2022-05-27
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1668446278

Black women in higher education continue to experience colder institutional climates that devalue their presence. They are relied on to mentor students and expected to commit to service activities that are not rewarded in the tenure process and often lack access to knowledgeable mentors to offer career support. There is a need to move beyond the individual resistance strategies employed by Black women to institutional and policy changes in higher education institutions. Specifically, higher education policymakers and administrators should understand and acknowledge how the race and gender makeup of campuses and departments impact the successes and failures of Black women as they work to recruit and retain Black women graduate students, faculty, and administrators. Black Women Navigating Historically White Higher Education Institutions and the Journey Toward Liberation provides a collection of ethnographies, case studies, narratives, counter-stories, and quantitative descriptions of Black women's intersectional experience learning, teaching, serving, and leading in higher education. This publication also provides an opportunity for Black women to identify the systems that impede their professional growth and development in higher education institutions and articulate how they navigate racist and sexist forces to find their versions of success. Covering a range of topics such as leadership, mental health, and identity, this reference work is ideal for higher education professionals, policymakers, administrators, researchers, scholars, practitioners, academicians, instructors, and students.

Examining Perceptions of Black Administrators in Higher Education Regarding Administrative Leadership Opportunities

Examining Perceptions of Black Administrators in Higher Education Regarding Administrative Leadership Opportunities
Author: Renita Taylor Thompson
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2016
Genre: African American college administrators -- Attitudes -- Case studies
ISBN:

In spite of the research highlighting the significance of the presence of Black administrators to the success of Black students, there continue to be noticeable disparities in the representation of Black and White administrators in higher education. The racial and ethnic makeup of institutions of higher education does not reflect the demographics of the U.S. population. Black administrators are disproportionately underrepresented throughout academe, and are even more sparse at the executive levels of leadership. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions and attitudes of mid-level Black administrators with respect to progressing into executive-level administrative positions at predominantly White institutions. Relevant scholarly literature on mid-level administrators, career advancement, and racial barriers in higher education were examined. Three major tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in education were used as a theoretical lens to examine racial inequities and disparities Black administrators experience in the academy. To address the research question and to explore the subjective viewpoints of the participants, Q methodology was utilized. After IRB approval, purposive sampling was used to recruit 40 Black mid-level administrators to participate in the study. All participants held one of the following titles: Director, Associate Director, Assistant Director, Dean, Associate Dean, Assistant Dean, and Manager. They each worked for a bachelor's degree granting public college or university. In addition to their title, the participants had to have earned at minimum a master's degree. Semi-structured interviews were held with 8 of the 40 participants. Content from interviews, questionnaires, and literature contributed to concourse development. By removing redundant and useless items, the concourse was refined and condensed from 90 statements to develop a Q sample of 41 statements. Through an online process, 40 participants sorted the 41 item Q sample that represented the full gamut of perspectives regarding the subject of career progression in higher education. In the sorting process, the participants ranked the statements based on their personal views and beliefs. A review and analysis of data resulted in five factors that categorize and represent the subjective viewpoints of the participants. The factor arrays, post-sort comments, distinguishing statements, and demographic details aided in interpreting and naming each factor. The five factors were named: Factor 1: The Disconnected, Factor 2: The Disadvantaged, Factor 3: The Disrespected, Factor 4: The Dismissed, and Factor 5: The Disinterested. Each factor was analyzed and interpreted to provide descriptions of how Black administrators perceive career progressions in higher education. Recommendations to expand the study were included.

Pathways to Higher Education Administration for African American Women

Pathways to Higher Education Administration for African American Women
Author: Tamara Bertrand Jones
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 101
Release: 2023-07-03
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1000979458

For Black women faculty members and student affairs personnel, this book delineates the needed skills and the range of possible pathways for attaining administrative positions in higher education.This book uses a survey that identifies the skills and knowledge that Black women administrators report as most critical at different stages of their careers as a foundation for the personal narratives of individual administrators’ career progressions. The contributors address barriers, strategies, and considerations such as the comparative merits of starting a career at an HBCU or PWI, or at a public or private institution.Their stories shine light on how to develop the most effective leadership style, how to communicate, and the importance of leading with credibility. They dwell on the necessity of listening to one’s inner voice in guiding decisions, of maintaining integrity and having a clear sense of values, and of developing a realistic sense of personal limitations and abilities. They illustrate how to combine institutional and personal priorities with service to the community; share how the authors carved out their distinct and purposeful career paths; and demonstrate the importance of the mentoring they received and provided along the way. A theoretical chapter provides a frame for reflecting on the paths traveled. These accounts and reflections provide enlightenment, inspiration, and nuggets of wisdom for all Black women who want to advance their careers in higher education.