African American Women Attaining and Maintaining the Position of Superintendent

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Ed.D. Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation - Public Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership

Year dc:date.available

2020

Author dc:creator

• Harris, Twyla

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Norman Weston

• Educational Leadership

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/544

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.nl.edu:diss-1592