Although recent data indicate more African American females are earning academic degrees, the figures do not show gains in their career advancement within the academy, particularly with regard to obtaining senior administrative positions. Although different factors impede their progress, the question remains, if African American women possess the credentials, why are they not holding senior level administrative positions?
This qualitative study examined the developmental relationship of mentoring, frequently viewed as instrumental to an individuals career advancement, and its effect as a conduit for African American female higher education administrators whose dual identities of gender and race places them in a marginalized position in society. Eleven senior-level administrators in Pennsylvania were interviewed. All were members of the Pennsylvania Black Conference on Higher Education (PBCOHE), a nonprofit professional education organization whose purpose is to ensure that Blacks and other underrepresented groups in Pennsylvania have access to higher education.
The study examined mentoring relationships associated with African American female administrators career advancement and construct of success, including the significance of the mentors race and gender. The construct of marginality was investigated; construed as creative, it elevates the African American females self-identity; viewed as negative, it situates them as invisible within society. The construct of power was examined in an effort to understand the restrictions and limitations it had on respondents.
The findings indicate that these African American female administrators felt mentoring relationships had been critical to their career advancement; that the race and gender of the mentor was not as determining a factor as the mentors influence and reputation; that creative marginality was a way of life for them in an effort to maintain a positive attitude; and that success was measured by the legacy they left to others. Substantive recommendations were also gathered from the study, including the need for African American females to stay professionally prepared while pursuing senior-level roles and that institutions must share in the burden of increasing the pipeline for African American senior-level administrators by enforcing stringent search committee strategies to provide diverse candidate pools, establishing retention efforts, and maintaining databases that highlight disparities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-12072007-150903 |
| Date | 29 January 2008 |
| Creators | Williams, Erroline |
| Contributors | Charlene Trovato, Ph.D., John C. Weidman, Ph.D, William E. Bickel, Ph.D,, Helen Sobehart, D.A. |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-12072007-150903/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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