A Study of Black Female Principals Leading through Twin Pandemics

Abstract

In 2020, the United States experienced twin pandemics disproportionately impacting BIPOC communities and their schools and school systems—one new, COVID-19, and one longstanding, that of white supremacy and anti-Black racism. This phenomenological study of 20 Black female principals in two states provides insights into how these leaders, who so often center racial justice and caring for BIPOC children and communities in their leadership practice, grappled with these pandemics and how doing so impacted their leadership and work. Findings suggest that leading through these twin pandemics further cemented these women’s commitments to engage in advocacy and justice work on behalf of their communities and students. They also reported, regarding racial inequity and white supremacy, feeling both a cautious optimism stemming from seeing the work they had long engaged in being taken up at scale, and by white colleagues in particular, and frustration, experiencing this engagement often as “performative” and thus unlikely to lead to real change. And yet they also spoke of their deep commitment to advocacy and social justice moving forward and their role in ensuring that all their students receive the education, opportunities, and outcomes they deserve.

Reifying discrimination on the path to school leadership: Black female principals’ experiences of district hiring/promotion practices

“…There is no doubt that these images are ingrained into the minds of those that hire Black women into school leadership positions to maintain order, "clean up" the school, and usher in transformation. Given the experiences of Black women in the professional world, namely in the field of education, these controlling images still stand and to which Black women do all they can to subvert these controlling images, or become victims to them (Weiner et al, 2022). Again, our goal to aid in this subversion and act as co-conspirators by de-normalizing White supremacy and gender discrimination and thus approach this work in this that manner.…”

“…Once Black women do enroll in principal preparation programs, they are often hostile places (Weiner et al, 2019(Weiner et al, , 2022. Researchers find that these programs remain predominantly White spaces with few other students and/or faculty of color (Young and Brooks, 2008;Jean-Marie and Mansfield, 2016).…”

Still, I RISE: a framework for transforming experiences of Black women leaders in K- 12 urban education

“…As Sheila exhales, a palpable sense of defeat weighs on her, echoing the shared pain of other Black women who have faced similar challenges. The dehumanization that comes with subtle acts of exclusion comes at a high cost at it leaves Black women leaders with a heavy burden to carry personally and professionally (Burton et al, 2020;Weiner et al, 2021). Within MPS, navigating SAE is a prevalent challenge for Black women principals, fostering frustration and self-doubt, exacerbated by insufficient district support.…”

“…Black women encounter the double burden of racism and sexism which can manifest in the form of microaggressions. These subtle acts of discrimination can undermine their authority, erode their confidence, and create a hostile work environment (Weiner et al, 2021). Subtle acts of exclusion (SAE) encompass behaviors or actions that, while not explicitly discriminatory, still result in the exclusion or marginalization of specific individuals or groups (Jana & Baran, 2023).…”