The Career Development of Black Female Chief Nurse Executives

Outsiders Within

“…Recurrent themes emerged from the review of literature, including Black and other minority nurses' encounters with racism, classism, and sexism while pursuing career growth. [13][14][15] Nurses expressed feelings of isolation in the workplace, while others expressed feeling overlooked for leadership positions in contrast to their White counterparts. Black nurses sometimes felt disregarded by physicians and other health care providers, citing that their opinions are not sought after as readily as their White colleagues.…”

“…[16][17][18] Minority nurses in leadership reported that lack of mentorship, inadequate support systems, insufficient career development opportunities, and varying levels of self-motivation as contributory factors to the underrepresentation of Black and other minorities in leadership positions. [13][14][15]19,20 When asked about the most common perceived barriers to career advancement, minority nurse leaders reported lack of equal access, lack of mentorship, and lack of opportunities for leader experiences as the top 3 issues. 11 The increased representation of minority nurses in positions of executive leadership is important for the journey toward achieving health equity.…”

“…Consistent with the literature, being Black and female, participants were self-directed and ambitious and possessed positive self-perception. 14,15,19,20 In their narratives, participants' sense of selfdirectedness and ambition enabled them to establish and actively pursue career goals, invest in their own personal and professional development, and constantly acquire more knowledge and education. Positive selfperception or a strong sense of identity was also another aspect of internal motivation.…”

“…2 Participants of this study experienced inequitable treatment at every level of their career advancement, substantiating the results of previous studies with a focus on Black female executives or Black female nurse executives, which include themes of racism, gender disparities, and discrimination. 15,20,39,49,[56][57][58] Although the age of the studies range from as recently as a few years ago to greater than 10 years ago, the similarities in results imply that while there exist data to inform practice and process change, there are still challenges in implementing sustainable strategies to transform generations of culturally accepted norms.…”

Overcoming Career Advancement Barriers to Executive Leadership Roles of Nurses From Racial and Ethnic Minority Backgrounds

“…5,9 There is limited information in the literature on the barriers that nurses with racial and ethnic minority backgrounds face on their career pathway to executive leadership and the strategies they used to overcome those barriers. A review of the literature revealed that there was, at the time of the study, a paucity of recent literature on the experiences of executive nurses with racial and ethnic minority backgrounds as they ascend to executive leadership positions, 3,[10][11][12][13] and most researchers focused on Black female nurses. There was a need therefore to conduct additional research to improve the understanding of this phenomenon.…”