81 Abstract This thesis argues that motherhood as depicted in Toni Morrison's novels Song of Solomon, Beloved and A Mercy is a site of female empowerment. Its emancipating potential is set against the context of slavery and patriarchy found in the narratives and shows how mothers are able to resist oppressive structures and secure their children's well-being. Slavery practices severed family ties and caused its dismemberment by separating parents from their children. In the novels under study the recovery of those ties happens in an imaginative re-writing of history. Mother figures, such as Beloved's Sethe, come to terms with the re-embodiment of a painful familial past and deal with its traumatizing effects to be able to renounce it and move on. Others like Song of Solomon's Pilate cling to their past and act as mediators between the community's history and its descendants. A re-writing of history is urgent for African American writers and peoples who share slavery pasts, and who thus need to deal with their lasting legacies in the present. Motherhood is thus identified in several recurring patterns. Toni Morrison describes physical aspects of mothering from the point of view of the mother and uses the female body as a life-giving source that cancels the objectification of female slave bodies....

The purpose of this study was to determine the experiences, challenges and strategies for success of African American female senior-level executives at predominately white institutions (PWIs). This qualitative study used a phenomenological perspective to address the research questions, as phenomenology was uniquely suited to capture participants lived experiences (Guido, Chávez, & Lincoln, 2010; Perl & Noldon, 2000). The conceptual framework for the study was based on the theoretical concepts of black feminist theory, biculturalism and intersectionality. The combination of these theories was uniquely appropriate for researching the lived experiences of African American women (Barrett, Cervero, & Johnson-Bailey, 2003; Collins, 2000; Du Bois & Edwards, 2007). Black feminist theory addressed the lived experiences of African American women (Collins, 2000); intersectionality highlighted the oppression of African American women (Collins, 2000) and biculturalism explained how African American women adapt to be successful (Barrett, et al., 2003). The findings for this study of African American female senior-level executives at predominately white institutions include: regarding experiences (1) relationships and connection were essential; (2) strategic and political savvy were vital; (3) one must have an awareness of your perception; (4) higher education was an isolating place; (5) racism and sexism were still prevalent; and (6) work/life balance was a myth; regarding identities (7) creation of a professional identity as the primary identity at PWI; (8) race and gender as prominent identities; and (9) personal persona purposely protected from PWI; and regarding strategies to cope with challenges and celebrate successes (10) know yourself and focus on your goals; (11) identify something to ground you outside of the PWIs; (12) invest in your success through academic and professional preparation; and (13) advance to uplift others. / text

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of African American female principals serving in high-poverty urban schools. This study was warranted due to the growing number of African American female principal leaders in urban schools over the last 20 years. School leaders in urban school districts are expected to increase academic achievement, support district initiatives, and foster the development of urban communities. The study results will serve as a source of information to educators on similar journeys.

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Asynchronous online credit recovery programs have been implemented in public schools across the United States for a variety of reasons. In this case, African American female students who are deficient in course credits towards high school graduation have taken advantage of this relatively new e-programming mechanism as a means to capture course credits that were lost during the course of a student's high school career. Female enrollees in the asynchronous credit recovery program are lacking in course credits due to course failure for reasons such as truancy, excessive absences, maternity, incarceration, employment, health associated and domestic related demands outside of school. Beyond the aforementioned, the school climate in terms of organization, discipline, safety, and supportive relationships plays a significant role towards student success or failure. Because African American females are positioned at the bottom of the ethno-gender stratum, concentration on African American females is vital to ensuring academic success in addition to their well being. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate and ultimately understand the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of a group of African American female graduates while enrolled in an asynchronous credit recovery program. The study was guided by the following research questions: How does enrollment in an asynchronous credit recovery program affect non-traditional African American female's perceptions of education? How does enrollment in an asynchronous credit recovery program affect the lives of non-traditional African American female student participants? What are the factors that contribute to the success of the non-traditional African American female student participants? Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, intense site immersion and observation, and thorough review of school district and student records. At the culmination of the data collection process, data analysis was conducted using the constant comparison method. Results from the data analysis revealed a reinvigorated perception of education as well as a reversal of lowered expectations, behaviors, standards, and attitudes while enrolled in the asynchronous credit recovery program. Enrollment in the asynchronous credit recovery program assuredly fostered academic success and strengthened the independent nature and identity formation of the African American female participants. Several of the implications for practice are: strengthening adult/student relationships; culturally relevant professional development exercises; consideration of a female centered curriculum; address the at-risk student population as early as elementary school; and continuing research on the effectiveness of asynchronous credit recovery programs. / Educational Administration

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Higher education literature, has several contributions that pertain to mentoring styles in academia, female faculty, gender and leadership, and recruitment and retention of women and minorities in academia. However, specific references that lend voice to the experiences of female counselor educators in the context of their career paths and patterns are scant(Hill, Leinbaugh, Bradley,& Hazler, 2005). This qualitative investigation explored the socialization process of 8 female leaders in counselor education from throughout the United States utilizing grounded theory methods. The primary theme of socialization was organized into three main categories, (a) childhood socialization, (b) anticipatory socialization (Van Mannen, 1976), and (c) organizational socialization (Van Mannen, 1976). Leaders' socialization experiences highlighted sub-themes of balancing work and family, satisfaction level of professional obligations and inequalities. The inequalities highlighted participants' experiences of exclusion in departments with counselor education and counseling psychology programs, as well as gender and race discrimination around issues such as salary, tenure and promotion. The results from this investigation provided a theoretical framework of the interrelated influences of their socialization process from childhood across the span of their careers to full professor and department chairs. Implications and recommendations for female doctoral students, counselor educators, professional development in higher education, mentoring relationships, supervision and leadership development are included.

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