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Beyond #BlackGirlMagic: the persistence of Black women to senior level careers in higher education administration

“…Black women are clear about what they bring to the academy (Gray, 2020). There is something to be said that only one of the ten participants in this study does not have a doctoral degree.…”

“…Moses (1989) suggested that Black women in higher education administration careers were mostly concentrated at the entry and middle levels. Current literature indicates little change in this over the last almost 30 years (Gray, 2020;West & Greer, 2020;Gayles, 2022). Clayborne and Hamrick (2007) asserted that Black women at the middle level in higher education administration report having little interaction with senior leadership, despite obtaining a professional level that indicates they should and more recently, Logan and Dudley (2019) revealed Black women still struggle to advance in leadership within the academy Although Black women's numbers are increasing at the entry and middle levels of higher education administration, they continue to be poorly represented at the cabinet level (Gardner et al, 2014;Logan & Dudley, 2019;Gray, 2020).…”

“…For instance, according to Bates (2007) and Gause (2021), women are much more likely to obtain a president position at the community college level. Black women who want to move into the presidency realm are most likely to experience success in achieving this professional goal at HBCUs or Hispanic-serving institutions (Beckwith et al, 2016;Gray, 2020). However, when Black women ascend to senior administrative roles, they are much more likely to report feeling unsupported than their White female counterparts (Crawley, 2006;Johnson & Delmas, 2022).…”

“…Even so, Black women in higher education administration continue to be subjected to institutional environments that are unwelcoming and not supportive of their professional development (Turner & Myers, 1999;Stanley, 2006;Sule, 2009;Williams, 2019). The pervasiveness of these experiences has meant that, when examined through the lens of race and gender, Black women are less likely to ascend to senior and executive levels in higher education administration because of their feelings of distress and dissatisfaction with their professional experiences (Crawley, 2006; J. R. Jones et al, 2009;Gray, 2020).…”

“…Because of their intersectional experiences with racism and sexism and a lack of available mentors in the field with shared experiences, Black women often express feeling isolated in their day-to-day work (Gardner et al, 2014;West, 2015;West & Jones, 2019). Yet, some Black women have ascended the ranks of higher education administration, even up to the presidency (Alexander, 2010;Jones, et al, 2012;Gray, 2020). This qualitative study explored, based on their own narratives, how Black women were successful in reaching the executive level in higher education administration.…”