Despite changes in the law and efforts by organizational diversity practitioners to expand leadership opportunities for people of color, there is still a sharp contrast in the ratio of white leaders to leaders of color. While much research exists regarding the diversity disparity in leadership, there is little research on factors that influence the motivation to lead. The purpose of this correlational study was to test critical race and leader categorization theories by comparing how the independent variables of white privilege, organizational belongingness, and racial stereotypes affected the dependent variable of motivation to lead of black American versus white American survey respondents. It was hypothesized that the independent variables correlated stronger for white Americans than for black Americans in predicting the motivation to lead. A self-selected sample of 179 adults, drawn from various industries in the United States, completed a voluntary, online survey. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was designed to operationalize study variables and was adapted from existing instruments. Pearson correlations and a multiple linear regression aided in statistically understanding the variables' relationships. Results indicated that effects of white privilege and racial stereotypes had a statistically significant relationship with motivation to lead for black Americans, and organizational belongingness did not. Results also indicated that effects of racial stereotypes had a significant relationship with motivation to lead for the white American population while the other variables did not. This study has implications for positive social change by not only adding a sharper focus on the factors necessary for leaders of color to be successful, but also providing diversity practitioners a north star to change the leadership landscape.

This qualitative study investigated conflict within intercultural romantic relationships between Mexican American and European American partners within the United States. The goal of this study was to explore and understand the causes of differences in conflict and resulting relationship satisfaction in this largely underexplored area of intercultural relationships. Seven couples were interviewed and asked a total of 27 questions aimed at finding answers to the main research questions, which were: (1) in what ways do Mexican American and European American partners in romantic relationships experience conflict in their relationship; and (2) in what ways do Mexican American and European American partners try to resolve conflict; and (3) how do their conflict styles and ability to resolve conflict impact their relationship satisfaction? The interviews were transcribed and analyzed for themes related to the research questions. The most frequently occurring themes discovered were: (1) gender expectations, (2) family obligations, (3) finances, (4) experience of being the minority, and (5) language barriers and exclusion. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.

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