Thriving Together: A Phenomenological Study of the Contributions of a Professional Counterspace to Black Women Higher Education Leaders’ Cultivation of Resilience

Abstract

Black women who serve in administrative leadership roles in higher education do so amidst conflicting experiences wherein they are positioned to exercise authority while being subjugated to conditions, socially and institutionally, that uphold racism and sexism. The manifestations and effects of gender and race-based oppression on Black women professionals in higher education have been well documented, but limited research makes visible the strategies that enable Black women leaders to persevere amidst the oppressive conditions they encounter in the higher education context. Professional counterspaces may add to the strategies employed by Black women leaders by offering inclusive spaces to cultivate resilience to persist in their professional practice. This phenomenology explores the impact of institutional racism and sexism on the leadership experiences of eleven mid-level and senior-level Black women administrators historically White Institutions (HWIs), the ways these leaders cultivate resilience, and these leaders’ experiences in a professional counterspace. Black feminist thought, critical race feminism, and resilient leadership frame this study to center the leaders’ voices. Consistent with prior literature, the participants in this study reported persistent encounters with microaggressive work environments. Participants also described their experience of the professional counterspace as a unique and additive opportunity to garner support and generate resources to resist the oppressive conditions that encumber their work as leaders. Whereas the experiences of Black women leaders are understudied, this dissertation uplifts the lived experiences of Black women higher education administrators and the ways the leaders in this study generate and exercise resilience in their practice, to expand leadership and higher education scholarship. In response to the gap in the leadership and higher education literature on the experiences of Black women administrative leaders, this study joins emerging scholarship about professional counterspaces to illustrate features of a support space crafted by and for Black women as a unique mechanism for the professional care and development of Black women leaders. The findings of this dissertation also offer research and practice implications for scholars and practitioners of leadership and resilience to further explore the contributions of sociocultural constructs that shape the experiences of leaders from minoritized communities, such as Black women.