Invisible Men: The Life Experiences of African American Male Administrators Within Predominantly White Public High School Settings

Abstract

Currently, there is a dearth of literature on the African American male administrative experience beyond the scope of an urban school environment. The purpose of this phenomenologically-based inquiry was to examine the lived experiences of six African American male high school administrators who worked in a predominantly White school setting. The experiences were obtained through semi-structured interviews and analyzed to reveal themes. The Transformative Leadership Model and Critical Race Theory was the theoretical framework used to understand the leadership style of the participants and the role of race from their perspective as an African American male in a leadership position.

It was found that the Transformative Leadership Model was appropriate in identifying the leadership perspectives that existed in each participant. Also, race played an insignificant role in how the participant viewed his experience within the setting. Consequently, it is recommended that African American males are provided more opportunities to lead in settings beyond an urban environment through the establishment of principal preparatory programs which provide training within various cultural settings. Lastly, hiring practices should be re-examined to place incoming African American male teachers in schools that are not in predominantly minority school settings to increase the likelihood of African American males who can lead in settings beyond an urban environment. This study provided insight on African American males who lead in a predominantly white high school setting and extended the literature on African American male administrators.