Race and Gender in the Leadership Experiences of Three Female African American High School Principals: A Multiple Case Study

The purpose of this multiple case study was to describe how three female African American high school principals understand the influence of race and gender on their educational leadership experiences. The study focused on the professional background, barriers each informant encountered in her pursuit of a principalship, strategies utilized to facilitate attainment of a principalship, and leadership conceptualization. Through indepth interviews, rich narratives revealed how the duel oppressions of race and gender intersected the professional lives of the three principals involved in the study. The theoretical foundation for the study was black feminist thought as defined by Patricia Hill Collins. Black feminist thought focuses on the marginalized status of African American women and places their experiences at the center of the discourse. In examining the narratives of each of the informants, four themes emerged: 1) legacy of struggle 2) desire to nurture students 3) facilitative leadership, and 4) increasing visibility in professional circles.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education in Education Administration (Ed.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Year dc:date.available

2008

Author dc:creator

• Smith, Angela Mosley

Contributors dc:contributor

• Randal Carlson
• Cheryl Reynolds

• ETD
• Educational leadership
• Race
• Gender
• High school principal
• Black feminist thought
• African American women school principals

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/310

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1310