A qualitative single case study gathering the perceptions of emotional labor among Black male and female professionals in higher education in the Midwest.

Emotional labor is suppressed feelings in exchange for wages (Patahk & Singh, 2021). Managing emotional labor is the expectation of managing emotions in line with an organization’s culture. This qualitative case study examines the experiences of Black male and female professionals in the Midwest, specifically working at a predominantly White institution, through the lenses of performing, evoking, and managing emotional labor. This single case study uses a purposeful sampling method to explore 12 Black male and female higher education professionals from various positions. The lack of scholarly research addressing Black male and female professionals’ management of feelings in the workplace has led to this exploration. Many institutions struggle to retain Black faculty and staff (Baloch, 2020). The issue is not solely recruitment but a concern of retention (Baloch, 2020). Donaldson and Rosser (2007) suggest employers should consider people’s feelings about work. While existing research discusses other contributing factors to emotional labor disparities such as gender inequities, there is a need to examine expectations of performing, evoking, and managing emotional labor for Black men and women in higher education (Anthym & Tuitt, 2019; Njoku & Evans, 2022; Townsend, 2021; White-Lewis et al., 2023). This study revealed that the Black male participants felt more concerned about performing at work than Black females. Additionally, both Black male and female participants generally perceived race as a contributor to emotional labor as they fulfilled their roles as professionals in higher education. The specific impact of race includes feeling self-conscious while dealing with hypervisibility, stereotypes, and systemic racial biases, codeswitching their language, controlling how they express their emotions, and upholding the responsibility of speaking up and representing minority individuals, especially Black students. The exposure of these research findings can provide evidence for organizations to consider creating sustainable strategies that can increase the retention of Black professionals in higher education while creating a culturally sensitive environment. Three themes emerged from the study: performing, evoking, and managing emotional labor.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Grantor

Baylor University.

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Alston-Burnett, Janay, 1987-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sloan, Amy M.

• Emotional labor.
• Code switching.
• Black professionals.
• Higher education.

Statement dc:rights

• Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/2104/13820

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/13820