Persisting challenges of inequity in higher education often position Black women as outsiders within their academic environments, resulting in Black women employing strategies that reflect constant negotiation to achieve power, identity, and voice. Black women’s status internationally “at the margins” remains an unexplored leadership style in human resource development (HRD). Being at the margins, domestically or internationally, likely means that Black women everywhere engage in strategies in order to achieve power, identity, and voice.
The Solution.
Examining the position, perspectives, and leadership strategies of this typically underserved population globally works to deconstruct lingering policies that limit their access to development in higher education institutions.
The Stakeholders.
The purpose of this article is to present Black women’s unique social and cultural insights in leadership, increase the visibility of their experiences within their academic environments, and inform key educational leaders and HRD practitioners of the persistent barriers Black women encounter.
AlfredM. V. (2001). Reconceptualizing marginality from the margins: Perspectives of African American tenured faculty at a white research university. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 25(1), 1-12.
2.
AprilK.DreyerS.BlassE. (2007). Gender impediments to the South African executive boardroom. South African Journal of Labour Relations, 31(2), 51-67.
3.
BassL. (2009). Fostering an ethic of care in leadership: A conversation with five African American women. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 11(5), 619-632.
4.
BellE. L. (1990). The bicultural life experiences of career-oriented black women. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11(6), 459-477.
5.
BellE.MeyersonD.NkomoS.ScullyM. (2003). Interpreting silence and voice in the workplace. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39(4), 381-414.
6.
BellE. L. J.NkomoS. M. (2001). Our separate ways: Black and White women and the struggle for professional identity. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
7.
BenjaminL. (1997). Black women in the academy: Promises and perils. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
8.
BerdahlJ. L. (2007). The sexual harassment of uppity women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 425-437.
9.
BerdahlJ. L.MooreC. (2006). Workplace harassment: Double jeopardy for minority women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 426-436.
10.
BooysenL. (1999). A review of the challenges facing black and white women managers in South Africa. Southern African Business Review, 3(2), 15-26.
11.
CollinsP. H. (1986). Learning from the outsider within: The sociological significance of Black feminist thought. Social Problems, 33(6), 14-32.
12.
CollinsP. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
13.
CombsG. (2003). The duality of race and gender for managerial African American women: Implications of informal social networks on career advancement. Human Resources Development Review, 2(4), 385-405.
14.
CortinaL. M. (2008). Unseen injustice: Incivility as modern discrimination in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 33(1), 55-75.
15.
FiskeS. T.BerdahlJ. L. (2007). Social power. In HigginsE. T.KruglanskiA. W. (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford.
16.
HelmsJ. E. (1993). I also said, “White racial identity influences White researchers.”The Counseling Psychologist, 21(2), 240-243.
17.
HenryW.GlennN. (2009). Black women employed in the ivory tower: Connecting for success. Advancing Women in Leadership, 29(1), 2-18.
hooksb. (2000). Feminist theory: From margin to center. Cambridge, MA: South End.
20.
HullG.Bell-ScottP.SmithB. (Eds.). (1982). All the women are White, all the Blacks are men, but some of us are brave: Black women’s studies. New York, NY: The Feminist Press.
Jean-MarieG.WilliamsV. A.ShermanS. L. (2009). Black women’s leadership experiences: Examining the intersectionality of race and gender. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 11(5), 562-581.
23.
Johnson-BaileyJ. (2003). Enjoining positionality and power in narrative work: Balancing contentious issues and modulating forces. In DeMarraisK. B.LapinS. D. (Eds.), Perspectives and approaches for research in education and the social sciences (pp. 123-138). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
24.
KingD. K. (1988). Multiple jeopardy, multiple consciousness: The context of a Black feminist ideology. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society, 14(1), 42-72.
25.
KolmarW.BartowskiF. (2005). Feminist theory: A reader (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
26.
MabokelaR. (2003). “Donkeys of the University”: Organisational culture and its impact on the South African women administrators. Higher Education, 46(2), 129-145.
27.
MabokelaR.MagubaneZ. (2004). Hear our voices: Race, gender and the status of black South African women in the academy. Johannesburg, South Africa: University of South Africa.
28.
MaumeD. J. (1999). Glass ceilings and glass escalators: Occupational segregation and race and sex differences in managerial promotions. Work and Occupations, 26(4), 483-509.
29.
McIntoshP. (1993). White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies. In Minas’A. (Ed.), Gender basics (pp. 30-38). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
30.
MoiT. (1999). What is a woman? And other essays. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
31.
MorrisJ. E. (2001). Forgotten voices of Black educators: Critical race perspectives on the implementation of a desegregation plan. Educational Policy, 15(4), 575-600.
32.
NaidooV.KongoloM. (2004). Has affirmative action reached South African women?Journal of International Women’s Studies, 6(1), 124-136.
OffermanL. R.PhanL. U. (2002). Cultural intelligent leadership for a diverse world. In RiggioR. E.MurphyS. E.PirozzoloF. J. (Eds.), Multiple intelligences and leadership (pp. 187-214). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
35.
PetitB. (2009). Borrowed power. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 11(5), 633-645.
36.
SettlesI. H.CortinaL. M.StewartA. J.MalleyJ. (2007). Voice matters: Buffering the impact of a negative climate for women in science. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 31(3), 270-281.
37.
StanleyC. (2009). Giving voice from the perspectives of African American leaders. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 11(5), 551-561.
38.
ThomasD. A. (2004). Diversity as strategy. Harvard Business Review, 82(9), 98-108.
39.
ThomasK. M.Johnson-BaileyJ.PhelpsR. E.TranN. M.JohnsonL. (in press). Moving from pet to threat: Narratives of professional Black women. In Comas-DiazL.GreenB. (Eds.), The psychological health of women of color. Westport, CT: Praeger.
40.
ThomasK. M.MackD. A.WilliamsK. L.PerkinsL. A. (1999). Career development strategies and experiences of “Outsiders Within” in academe. Journal of Career Development, 26(1), 51-68.
41.
ThomasK. M.TranN. M.DawsonB. (2010). An inclusive strategy of teaching diversity. Advances in Human Resources, 12(3), 295-311.
