dc.contributor.author	Gunn, Nicole P.
dc.coverage.spatial	United States	en_US
dc.date.accessioned	2025-06-13T15:55:44Z
dc.date.available	2025-06-13T15:55:44Z
dc.date.issued	2025-06-05
dc.identifier.other	70e87203-f62d-40a7-a9d1-1cf533852f3c	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10428/7454
dc.description.abstract	In this basic interpretive study, I investigated the career trajectories and professional roles of five African-American women serving as directors at predominantly white, four-year universities. The research explored their understanding of departmental leadership, the strategies they employed to advance within their institutions, and the specific social challenges they encountered. This study contributes to the limited academic literature on African-American female directors by focusing on how their experiences influence their approaches to leadership and professional advancement. Four key themes emerged from the data: domestication of the professional space; influence of family and racial beliefs on leadership; marginalization; and navigating the work environment. The findings suggest that African-American female directors bring valuable leadership attributes that benefit their departments and may facilitate the transition of new African-American students into predominantly white institutions. The study demonstrates how these directors' perspectives on race and gender roles shape their career trajectories and professional practices, and outlines potential directions for further research in the field of higher education leadership.	en_US
dc.format.extent	1 electronic record. PDF/A document, 159 pages, 2954342 bytes.	en_US
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en_US
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US
dc.rights	This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.	en_US
dc.subject	Education, Higher	en_US
dc.subject	African Americans--Study and teaching (Higher)	en_US
dc.subject	Women's studies	en_US
dc.subject	Dissertations, Academic--United States	en_US
dc.subject	African American women	en_US
dc.subject	Educational leadership	en_US
dc.subject	Universities and colleges—Administration	en_US
dc.subject	Educational equalization	en_US
dc.title	A Basic Interpretive Study of Professional Experiences of African-American Women Who Achieve Career Advancement in Institutions of Higher Education	en_US
dc.type	Dissertation	en_US
dc.contributor.department	Department of Curriculum, Leadership, and Technology of the Dewar College of Education and Human Services	en_US
dc.description.advisor	Tsemunhu, Rudo
dc.description.committee	Green, Robert
dc.description.committee	Nobles, Kathy
dc.description.committee	Truby, William
dc.description.degree	Ed.D.	en_US
dc.description.major	Curriculum, Leadership & Technology	en_US