Increasing diversity in leadership: perspectives of four Black women educational leaders in the context of the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper is a collation of the experiences of four Black women, all senior-level educational leaders in the United States of America. Considering the predominance of White males in educational leadership, our paper furthers the conversation around race-gender diversification in this realm. We employed a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, focusing on the intersections of race and gender, in the effort to challenge epistemological incongruencies within this context. Using in-depth, timed, semi-structured interviews, participants reflected on their journeys, experiences, and perceptions as non-archetypal leaders in education. In highlighting contributors’ perspectives,our objective was to bring the matter of race-gender underrepresentation in educational leadership to the forefront. Study participants revealed the importance of visibility, education, collaboration, exposure, mentorship, pursuit, authenticity, and living one's truth in the move towards diversifying the educational leadership sphere. Participants’ recollections underscore the need for more research specific to the journeys of non-typical educational leaders in the United States.