The bicultural life experience of career‐oriented black women

Abstract

This study explores the bicultural life experience of black career-oriented women. Seventy-one women participated in a larger study on the life experiences of black women. Of this sample, 21 (29 per cent) of the women were identified as being career-oriented. Findings reveal that the women perceive themselves as living in two distinct cultural contexts, one black the other one white. The women compartmentalize the various components of their lives in order to manage the bicultural dimensions. In addition, they tend to have highly complex life structures to embrace both cultural contexts. I am indebted to Donald M. Wolfe, Toni Denton, and Jacquie McLemore for their support and guidance as colleagues in this research endeavor.

Identity Challenges of Women Leaders: Antecedents and Consequences of Identity Interference

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Power, Safety, and Learning in Racially Diverse Groups

“…Among the diversity perspectives, it is only the "colorcognizant" ILP that challenges, on this fundamental level, how organizations think about their work. As we noted earlier, members of marginalized groups typically must adapt to the culture and norms of the dominant group, which is one way in which power differentials among identity groups exact a toll (Bell, 1990;Konrad, 2003;Markus et al, 2000;McGrath et al, 1995;Yoshino, 2006). The ILP requires that white members adapt as well by learning from and with members of color about how to understand race and ethnicity and its impact on work.…”

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Engineering Identity Implications on the Retention of Black Women in the Engineering Industry

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