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.

Black Women and Social Justice Education explores Black women's experiences and expertise in teaching and learning about justice in a range of formal and informal educational settings. Linking historical accounts with groundbreaking contributions by new and rising leaders in the field, it examines, evaluates, establishes, and reinforces Black women's commitment to social justice in education at all levels. Authors offer resource guides, personal reflections, bibliographies, and best practices for broad use and reference in communities, schools, universities, and nonprofit organizations. Collectively, their work promises to further enrich social justice education (SJE)—a critical pedagogy that combines intersectionality and human rights perspectives—and to deepen our understanding of the impact of SJE innovations on the humanities, social sciences, higher education, school development, and the broader professional world. This volume expands discussions of academic institutions and the communities they were built to serve.

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.

This edited volume seeks to interrogate the structures that affect the perceptions, experiences, performance and practices of Black women administrators. The chapters examine the nature and dynamics of the conflict within that space and the ways in which they transcend or confront the intersecting structures of power in academe. A related expectation is for interrogations of the ways in which their institutional contexts and, marginalized status inform their navigational strategies and leadership practices. More specifically, this work explores mentorship as critical praxis; that being, the ways in which Black women’s thinking and practices around mentoring affect their institutional contexts or environment, and, that of other marginalized groups within academe. A discussion of Black women in higher education administration as critically engaged mentors will ultimately diversify thought, approaches, and solutions to larger social and structural challenges embedded within academic climates. Praise for Mentoring as Critically Engaged Praxis: Mentoring as Critically Engaged Praxis: Storying the Lives and Contributions of Black Women Administrators, the authors present insights on the challenges Black women face and how mentoring networks and strategies help them transcend professional and institutional barriers. Each chapter intentionally creates a space to elevate their voices, depicts the reciprocity on how they are transforming and being transformed by their institutional context, and offers hope for improving the status of women leaders. The power of this book is that it is an acknowledgement of Black women being the architect of their lives and is filled with meaningful content that is nuanced and offers a glimpse into how black women leaders continue to lift as they climb. - Gaëtane Jean-Marie, Rowan University Mentoring as Critical Engaged Praxis perfectly captures a process that Black women have been facilitating, practicing and innovating prior to and since their entry into the higher education. Deirdre Cobb-Roberts and Talia R. Esnard have assembled a strong cast of scholars who eloquently speak to the role that Black women administrators play in their daily practice of “Lift as we climb.” Despite the limited number of Black women in senior leadership roles across academe, most, if not all of them must consistently tackle institutional and societal injustices that shape their experiences and influence their capacity to mentor. - Lori Patton Davis, The Ohio State University

Transforming Leadership Pathways for Humanities Professionals in Higher Education includes thirteen essays from a variety of contributors investigating how humanities professionals grapple with the opportunities and challenges of leadership positions. Written by insiders sharing their lived experience, this collection provides an authentic look at the multiple roles humanities specialists play, as well as offers strategies for professional growth, sustenance, and satisfaction. The collection also considers the relationship between disciplinary areas of study, academic training, and the valuable skill sets and habits of mind that serve higher education leaders. While Transforming Leadership Pathways emphasizes that a leadership route in higher education can be a welcome and positive professional move for many humanities scholars, the volume also acknowledges the issues that arise when faculty take on administrative positions while otherwise marginalized on campus because of faculty status, rank, or personal identity. This collection demystifies the path into higher education administration and argues that humanities scholars are uniquely qualified for such roles. Empathetic, deeply analytical, attuned to historical context, and trained in communication, teachers and scholars who hail from humanities disciplines often find themselves well-suited to the demands of complex academic leadership in today’s colleges and universities.

Black Experiences in Higher Education: Faculty, Staff, and Students illuminates the narratives of Black faculty, staff, and students and how they navigate their professional experiences, confront the hidden curriculum and work to transform academia. As we think about the context of Black Lives Matter, intersections of race and gender, and what it means to be Black in America, there is a new consciousness and attention to the uniqueness of Black experiences in the world. This book calls attention to how Black folks are navigating their experiences within higher education. The book will present an overarching aim to delve into Black voices and experiences in higher education. Contributing authors hold varying roles of faculty, staff, and students, all sharing their experiences in higher education in the USA. In particular these scholars reflect on the challenges and opportunities within the three themes of mental health and wellness, mentorship and creating supportive spaces, and career experiences, trajectories and pathways. The aim of the variety of contributing authors creates a space to reveal unique Black experiences and voices, therefore contributing to the scholarly discourse on race in America, and in higher education, in particular.

Gender and diversity are crucial areas that require more attention in multiple academic settings. As more women progress into leadership positions in academia, it becomes necessary to develop solutions geared specifically toward success for females in such environments. Navigating Micro-Aggressions Toward Women in Higher Education provides innovative insights into the institutionalized racism against women of color in higher education institutions. The content within this publication offers information on the historical vestiges of racist and sexist ideologies and why women of color are underrepresented in various levels of higher education leadership. It is a vital reference source for educational administrators, professors, higher education professionals, academicians, and researchers seeking information on gender studies and women’s roles in higher education.

Discussions surrounding the bias and discrimination against women in business have become paramount within the past few years. From wage gaps to a lack of female board members and leaders, various inequities have surfaced that are leading to calls for change. This is especially true of Black women in academia who constantly face the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling represents the metaphor for prejudice and discrimination that women may experience in the attainment of leadership positions. The glass ceiling is a barrier so subtle yet transparent and strong that it prevents women from moving up. There is a need to study the trajectory of Black females in academia specifically from faculty to leadership positions and their navigation of systemic roadblocks encountered along their quest to success. Black Female Leaders in Academia: Eliminating the Glass Ceiling With Efficacy, Exuberance, and Excellence features full-length chapters authored by leading experts offering an in-depth description of topics related to the trajectory of Black female leaders in higher education. It provides evidence-based practices to promote excellence among Black females in academic leadership positions. The book informs higher education top-level administration, policy experts, and aspiring leaders on how to best create, cultivate, and maintain a culture of Black female excellence in higher education settings. Covering topics such as barriers to career advancement, the power of transgression, and role stressors, this premier reference source is an essential resource for faculty and administrators of higher education, librarians, policymakers, students of higher education, researchers, and academicians.

The intersection of black feminism and gendered racism has formed a complex narrative that impacts black women's leadership, specifically in predominantly white workspaces. As society wrestles with persistent gender and racial disparities, the stories of black women stand out as both bold and brilliant but stifle their professional opportunities and experiences in academia and education. Despite standing as the most educated demographic nationally and displaying unmatched levels of labor market participation, black women are alarmingly scarce in leadership roles across sectors, also facing significant challenges as educational leaders. Their ascent to higher positions is often impacted by barriers stemming from damaging stereotypes such as the "angry black woman" or the dangerous transition from being perceived as a "work pet" to a "work threat." Against this backdrop, Sharing the Legacy and Narrative Leadership Experiences of Black Women in Education explores black women's challenges, unraveling the narratives that need attention, understanding, and urgent action. Sharing the Legacy and Narrative Leadership Experiences of Black Women in Education invites readers to step into the shoes of black women as leaders in academia and education, providing an authentic and raw glimpse into their experiences. The book challenges societal workplace expectations and attempts to reshape conversations around how intersectionality cross-connects with diversity, equity, and inclusion. By intertwining powerful storytelling with compelling research, it seeks to dismantle the barriers that have hindered the progress of black women with a focus on offering relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest academic research. The book empowers leaders, educators, and organizations to become allies in the fight for a more equitable workplace for black women in leadership. It envisions a future where black women can feel empowered to be authentic while thriving and leading with unapologetic determination.

This book explores the meanings, experiences, and challenges faced by Black women faculty that are either on the tenure track or have earned tenure. The authors advance the notion of comparative intersectionality to tease through the contextual peculiarities and commonalities that define their identities as Black women and their experiences with tenure and promotion across the two geographical spaces. By so doing, it works through a comparative treatment of existing social (in)equalities, educational (dis)parities, and (in)justices in the promotion and retention of Black women academics. Such interpretative examinations offer important insights into how Black women’s subjugated knowledge and experiences continue to be suppressed within mainstream structures of power and how they are negotiated across contexts.