ABSTRACT
There is an underrepresentation of African American women in the position of school district superintendent. The purpose of this research was to uncover the barriers and challenges African American women face both as aspiring and sitting superintendents. To gain a lived experience perspective on the problem, five African American women superintendents were interviewed. The primary research question was: How have African American female superintendents attained and successfully held the superintendent position? Using narrative inquiry, interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for the discovery of common themes. Findings include the value of networking for mentoring and support, accepting and bearing the burden of being “twice as good,” taking calculated risks, and always keeping in mind as an African American female you are not as likely to be afforded a second chance “do-over” as your White peers - you need to get it right the first time. Strategies, practices, and long-term solutions for ameliorating these barriers and challenges are proposed.
","abstract_html":"<p>ABSTRACT</p> <p>There is an underrepresentation of African American women in the position of school district superintendent. The purpose of this research was to uncover the barriers and challenges African American women face both as aspiring and sitting superintendents. To gain a lived experience perspective on the problem, five African American women superintendents were interviewed. The primary research question was: How have African American female superintendents attained and successfully held the superintendent position? Using narrative inquiry, interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for the discovery of common themes. Findings include the value of networking for mentoring and support, accepting and bearing the burden of being “twice as good,” taking calculated risks, and always keeping in mind as an African American female you are not as likely to be afforded a second chance “do-over” as your White peers - you need to get it right the first time. Strategies, practices, and long-term solutions for ameliorating these barriers and challenges are proposed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Harris, Twyla"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Norman Weston"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:05Z","subjects":["Educational Leadership"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/544","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Norman Weston"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Harris, Twyla"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-02-05T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Educational Leadership"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/544"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["ABSTRACT
There is an underrepresentation of African American women in the position of school district superintendent. The purpose of this research was to uncover the barriers and challenges African American women face both as aspiring and sitting superintendents. To gain a lived experience perspective on the problem, five African American women superintendents were interviewed. The primary research question was: How have African American female superintendents attained and successfully held the superintendent position? Using narrative inquiry, interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for the discovery of common themes. Findings include the value of networking for mentoring and support, accepting and bearing the burden of being “twice as good,” taking calculated risks, and always keeping in mind as an African American female you are not as likely to be afforded a second chance “do-over” as your White peers - you need to get it right the first time. Strategies, practices, and long-term solutions for ameliorating these barriers and challenges are proposed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["African American Women Attaining and Maintaining the Position of Superintendent"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Norman Weston"],"dc:creator":["Harris, Twyla"],"dc:date.available":["2021-02-05T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["ABSTRACT
There is an underrepresentation of African American women in the position of school district superintendent. The purpose of this research was to uncover the barriers and challenges African American women face both as aspiring and sitting superintendents. To gain a lived experience perspective on the problem, five African American women superintendents were interviewed. The primary research question was: How have African American female superintendents attained and successfully held the superintendent position? Using narrative inquiry, interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for the discovery of common themes. Findings include the value of networking for mentoring and support, accepting and bearing the burden of being “twice as good,” taking calculated risks, and always keeping in mind as an African American female you are not as likely to be afforded a second chance “do-over” as your White peers - you need to get it right the first time. Strategies, practices, and long-term solutions for ameliorating these barriers and challenges are proposed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/544"],"dc:subject":["Educational Leadership"],"dc:title":["African American Women Attaining and Maintaining the Position of Superintendent"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:05Z"}