MIAMI UNIVERSITY – THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

CERTIFICATE FOR APPROVING THE DISSERTATION

We hereby approve the Dissertation

Of

Juliana M. MosleyAnderson

Candidate for the Degree:

Doctor of Philosophy

The Directors of the Dissertation and three Readers should be identified:

Signed: ______Raymond Terrell, Director

______Michael Dantley, Reader

______Sally Lloyd, Reader

______Susan Mosley-Howard, Reader

______Cheryl Burgan Evans, Graduate School Representative ABSTRACT Their Perceptions of How Others Perceive Them: Black Women Administrators Internalize Others’ Perceptions of Them as Leaders by Juliana M. MosleyAnderson

In recent years the amount of literature on Black women administrators (BWAs) in higher education has gradually increased. However, there has been limited research that specifically explores how BWAs’ leadership perceptions and behavior are affected by others’ perceptions of them. Thus, this study attempts to build that particular foundation in the literature. The purpose of this study was to better understand and describe how others perceived Black women in higher education administration, from the views of the BWAs. Six Black women administrators from various universities participated in semi-structured interviews and were asked questions based on the following objectives: (1) to concentrate on how BWAs perceived others’ perceptions of them as leaders; (2) to describe how BWAs felt about those perceptions; (3) to explore why BWAs believed the perceptions existed; and (4) to determine how the Black women administrators were affected by their perceptions of how others perceived them. In the exploration of these objectives, a final focus of this study emerged, which centered on the self-perceptions the Black women administrators held about leadership. As initially anticipated, the women’s stories presented others’ perceptions of them as leaders, but also expressed the Black women’s personal views of their leadership. In the discussion of the administrators’ perceptions and experiences, several categories emerged: how BWAs defined leadership; BWAs self-perceptions as leaders; others’ perceptions of BWAs as leaders; misconceptions and negative perceptions of BWAs; discrimination based on race and gender; and how BWAs are affected by others’ perceptions of them. This presentation of connected categories brought life to the BWAs stories through interpretation and description of their perceptions and experiences as leaders. In an attempt to better understand the realities of the Black women administrators, I include my personal story and reflections concerning their leadership and mine. In the connections between each category and each of the women, a thematic framework focusing on the concept of dualism bridging their stories emerged. Much like that of the final category and in the discussion of dualisms, the theme speaks to how BWAs were affected by others’ perceptions of them. Specifically, the theme of Internalizing other’s perceptions, revealed how these external perceptions were internalized and affected the BWAs’ attitudes, behavior, and personal self-perceptions as leaders. The implicit nature of how these women’s leadership was affected by others’ perceptions of them, speaks to the great importance of this relationship.

Their Perceptions of How Others Perceive Them:

Black Women Administrators Internalize Others’ Perceptions of Them as Leaders

A Dissertation

Submitted to the

faculty of Miami University

in partial fulfillment of

the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Educational Leadership

by

Juliana M. MosleyAnderson

Miami University

Oxford, Ohio

2001

Copyright 2001 by Juliana M. MosleyAnderson, All Rights Reserved

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION 1 Definition of Terms 3 Concise Overview of Literature 3 The Problem Statement 7 Purpose and Final Focus of the Study 8 Research Questions 9 Need for the Study 10 Researcher 10 Expectations 10

II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE & THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 12

Literature Review 12 Obstacles to Women’s Leadership 12 History of Black Women’s Leadership Roles 21 Others’ Perceptions of Women, Especially Black Women 25 Theoretical Framework 28 Black Feminist/Womanist Theory 28 Social Constructivist & Perception Theory 33 Summary 37

III. METHODS AND PROCEDURES 39

Introduction 39 Site Selection 39 Informant Selection 39 Data Gathering 40 Data Analysis 41 Trustworthiness 41 Methodology 41

IV. INTERPRETATION OF CATEGORIES & ANALYSIS OF MEANING 44

Interpretation of Categories 44 Presentation of Stories 47 How BWAs Defined Leadership 47 BWAs Self-Perceptions as Leaders 50 Others’ Perceptions of BWAs as Leaders 53 Misconceptions and Negative Perceptions of BWAs 57 Relationship Between Race, Gender, and Discrimination 62 How BWAs are Affected by Others’ Perceptions of Them 66 Analysis of Meaning 70 iii Major Findings 70 Perceptions of Leadership 70 BWAs’ Self-Perceptions as Traditional Leaders 71 Reasons BWAs were Negatively Perceived by Others 72 Black Bitch Factor 73 Existence of Discrimination in the Workplace 74 Summary 75

V. SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, & RECOMMENDATIONS 78

Summary 78 Discussion 80 Historical Perspectives of Acceptance vs. Resistance 81 Self vs. Others Perceptions 83 Representing Part vs. Whole Self 85 Characteristics of Tough vs. Soft 87 Current Perspectives of Acceptance vs. Resistance 88 Conclusions 91 Limitations 93 Recommendations 94 Message of Hope 95

REFERENCES 96

APPENDICES 102

Appendix A Cover Letter 103 Appendix B Pre-Interview Questionnaire 104 Appendix C Consent Form/Audiotape Consent 105 Appendix D Semi-Structured Interview 106

iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would first like to thank God for giving me the strength to complete my doctoral program and write this dissertation. Without Him none of this could have been possible.

To my loving husband, Roy Edward Anderson, Jr., thank you for all your love, support, and encouragement. You were my motivation when I had none and my faith when I doubted the possibilities. Thank you for seeing something in me that I did not initially see in myself. I love you so much and look forward to being your backbone as you finish your education.

To my parents, Mary Waiters and James Mosley, I thank you for instilling in me the importance of education. It was because of your encouragement that I have been able to reach my educational goal. I love you. Specifically to my Mommy, I want to say thank you for being my life-line. You have been there every step of the way. Thank you for giving up your dreams so that I could live mine.

To my family and friends, thank you for your support and prayers over the years.

To my little “sister,” Nyota Omoiele, thank you for letting me talk you to death and for hearing my complaints and frustrations.

To my prayer warriors (Monica Morris, Brenda Bryant, Tina Moore, and Elizabeth Cardenas), thank for keeping God’s line busy on my behalf. I know your prayers helped me to make it through the rough times. Thank you for being my friends.

To Dr. Raymond Terrell, my chair, advisor, mentor, role model, friend, and “Daddy T,” thank you for believing in me. I know that our partnership was meant to be because we work so well together. We always seemed to be on the same page. Thank you for being patient---I’m sure I drove your crazy most of the time.

To Dr. Cheryl Evans, my supervisor, mentor, role model and “Momma E,” thank you for encouraging me to come to Miami the first time and welcoming me back the second. Thank you for being a “Leadership Diva” that I can model myself after.

To the rest of my committee (Dr. Mosley-Howard, Dr. Sally Lloyd, and Dr. Michael Dantley), thank you for guiding me through this difficult process. Thank you for demanding that I give my best and nothing less.

To Ms. Pat Bullock, thank you for all your help in researching and gathering resources for this study. Also, thank you for being a sounding board when I needed to ramble about my work.

v Chapter I Introduction “Whatever you do, do it to the best of your ability.”--- Mary McLeod Bethune This quote, by one of America’s most influential people, sounds like great advice. The problem is that your judgement of best is not the only judgement that counts. While we would like to think that our assessment of ourselves is what matters, society tells us something different---how others view us is also important. Then we have to consider whose best are we being measured against? If I’m a woman, am I expected to act as a man? If I’m Black---White? If I’m lower class---middle class? If that is not enough, let us complicate things by bringing into account a specific dualism, being Black and a woman, both of which are non-representative of the dominant culture. So, what happens when your best is devalued and not recognized only because you are Black and a woman? Or, what happens when someone questions your ability as a result of being a Black woman? Are the efforts of your White female counterparts also called into question? Possibly, but while gender may be the only concern of White women, aren’t Black women left to stand-up for their race and gender? In considering these questions and their difficult answers as they relate to Black women administrators, I believe that their plight has been a continuous struggle for race and gender equality, as well as gaining individual respect for one’s ability. The foremothers of this quest began the struggle in the early 1900s, with Mary McLeod Bethune and Mary E. Branch at the front of the race. Both of these women were pathfinders in their own right. Bethune was the founder and president of Bethune-Cookman College, and went on to become the director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration, under President F.D. Roosevelt (Gilkes, 1992). Branch may not have founded Tilloston College, of which she was the first Black female president, but she was instrumental in its transformation from a woman’s college to a coeducational institution (Maxwell, 1992). In addition to being administrators, Bethune and Branch were viewed as scholars, leaders with strong personalities, yet caring and motherly women. They were determined and persistent in their efforts to make education a true learning environment for their students---often teaching them beyond the classroom walls. Unfortunately, their presence in administration did not spread like wild fire.

-1- Instead people began to wonder if Black women in higher education administration were “reality or myth?” (Wiliams, 1990). Reality---Black women do exist in college administration, but mostly at the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Myth---they are respected in their administrative positions and valued for their leadership. In both HBCUs and predominantly White institutions (PWIs), Black women administrators have been silenced and perceive themselves as invisible as a result of their “other” status (Mosley, 1980; Williams, 1990). The administrators at the HBCUs have to fight to prove their competence as women, whereas, those who work in PWIs have a dual fight---proving themselves as women and Blacks (Allen-Brown, 1998). Most of the Black women in PWIs who “make it to the top,” have not really “made it” at all, but are placed to be the “token Black woman.” In the past, these women often worked without the financial means to successfully manage their institutions, fought the battles of racism and sexism, were at the bottom of a reverse pyramid pay-scale, and often without any type of institutional support system (Mosley, 1980; Ramey, 1995). Do these situations remain current experiences of Black women administrators? While most Black women administrators are not the Mary McLeod Bethune’s nor Johnetta Cole’s, both of who were past college presidents, they are women positioned at the lower end of the administration career ladder. Many Black women administrators hold positions of associate dean, chairperson, or director of a department. For many, their progression stops here, a position with limited prestige and decision making opportunities, when compared to presidential responsibilities. Is it possible that many of these women obtained their positions through tokenism to satisfy affirmative action, and then were left in isolation to do a job that had not been thoroughly defined? Fortunately, in the midst of great opposition, many Black women administrators find solitude through formal and informal mentoring relationships with other Black women in administration, with family, and supportive friends. Discussing the experiences of those who have gone before them seems to offer a glimmer of light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Despite the continuing obstacles before them, Black women administrators in higher education seem to be on the rise. They are making leadership among Black women and their individual talents known. I believe this continued success is due to the resiliency of Black

-2- women as a people, and their marked successes in out performing expectations. Since the time of slavery, Black women have continued to be survivors of sexual objectification, broken family structure, economic and educational deprivation, and discrimination based on both race and gender. Definition of Terms Numerous terms will be used throughout this study, therefore it is important for a common understanding to be established between the researcher and the reader. Accordingly, the following terms and definitions have been provided: Dualism – having the double characteristics of being both Black and a woman Glass Ceiling – A transparent barrier that keeps women from rising above a certain level in corporations or other organizations with stratified leadership positions Double Bind – A relationship between a powerful and powerless individual, where the victim has no means of escape. In organizations, the relationship exists between men and women, where women are the powerless victims. BWAs – Black women administrators HBCUs – historically Black colleges and universities PWIs – predominantly White institutions (college and universities) BFT – (Black feminist theory) consists of specialized knowledge created by Black women to interpret and clarify the reality and standpoint of Black women Womanism – feminist ideology created by Black women for Black women or women of color Social Constructivism – an ideology that is concerned with the subjective, cognitive, or interpretive cognates of the objective realm which recognizes that social problems are variously defined by different groups and that the construction of such definitions falls within the purview of a comprehensive sociology of social problems Concise Overview of Literature Black women administrators (BWAs) are often misconceived and misunderstood, in part because there is very little research specifically concerning Black women in leadership positions in higher education. Much of the research on women and people of color often ignores the unique dualism and experiences of Black women. In essence, they are the double “other” that is

-3- virtually invisible. One step to accepting and respecting BWAs’ leadership is to know about their concerns. In achieving this task, it is important to note the many parameters that may affect this study. As previously discussed, the factor of dualism is the foundation that connects Black women. Simultaneously representing Blacks and women, two discriminated groups that are often viewed in opposition to the dominant culture, brings infinite complexity. According to Triandis (2000), this complexity, birthed by cultural differences, is called cultural distance, which is affected by different languages, social structures, standards of living, and values. Second, while Black women share a bicultural status and may experience similar cultural distance, one must remember that these women are individuals with a unique sense of self. With that uniqueness comes varied lived experiences, beliefs, and attitudes. One means of better understanding their plight is to learn about their experiences and perceptions of how they are viewed by others. In being cognizant of this need, I began the research for this study with three strands of concentration: 1. the obstacles to women’s leadership, 2. history of Black women’s leadership roles in the home, community, church, etc., and 3. others’ perceptions of women, especially Black women. During the course of my research I found literature to support and explore all three areas of concentration. In recent years the amount of literature on women’s leadership has increased, which reveals that this is a topic of growing concern. For example, Sage, Initiatives, and Educational Research Quarterly have devoted special issues to the theme of women’s leadership. In addition, there is an abundance of texts, used in both the business sector and academia that cover the vast arena of women in leadership. In reviewing the first strand of concentration, the obstacles of women’s leadership, I realized that much of the focus on women’s leadership was limited to the traditionally defined views of leadership. That is, most of the studies and research concentrated on the managerial aspects adopted by the business world. In particular, consideration was given to the differences between male and female characteristics and traits that are normally associated with leadership, such as individualism vs. collaboration (Loden, 1985; Helgesen, 1990; Cantor & Bernay, 1992).

-4- While gender differences in leadership was not one of my primary concerns, this literature did spark my interest in the glass ceiling and double bind concepts. The glass ceiling is a barrier that keeps women out of powerful executive positions. This barrier does not simply exist to limit an individual based on the person’s inability to handle a higher position. Rather, the glass ceiling applies to women as a group who are retarded in their leadership careers because they are women (Morrison, White, & Van Velsor, 1987). For some women, the effects of the glass ceiling are emotionally more damaging that the overt discrimination that they face on the jobs daily (Valian, 1998). To some degree, women may expect the sexist remarks and inappropriate gestures, but what they are less prepared for is being limited in the careers simply because they are not part of the “good old boys club.” While the glass ceiling was birthed in the corporate sector, there is evidence that suggests its expansion to the educational career ladder. According to Hill and Ragland, “Women were allowed leadership roles in education as long as they accepted the responsibility with none of the authority. The highest paying leadership roles were, and often still are, reserved for men, with subtleties not in duties but in job titles that serve to differentiate pay” (1995, p. 9). Like the glass ceiling, the double bind seeks to limit women’s career possibilities and growth. Specifically, the double bind is a relationship between a powerful and powerless person (Bateson as cited in Jamieson, 1995). In regards to the roles of leadership, the double bind exists between men and women, where women lack power. This often results in the double bind being represented as a discriminatory barrier that limits women’s career advancements and represses their success. According to Jamieson’s (1995) views of double bind theory, these injustices exist due to the dichotomy of gender traits and the male perspective of competence. Essentially, these views lead to the assumption that women cannot be feminine and competent. Perhaps the traditional male model of leadership has warranted this view. Historically, the traditionally defined model of leadership has been overshadowed by great men theories. Within these theories, mythical leaders were born, which has led to the assumption that good leadership is essentially masculine (Curry, 2000). Ultimately, this says that to be a good leader an individual must be a man and to some degree---born into greatness. This male model has dominated leadership to the point that most leadership attributes are masculine in

-5- nature (Blackmore, 1989). Such masculine characteristics of being a good decision-maker, organized, assertive, and strategic have been, and continue to be associated with good leadership. In addition to the traditionally defined model of leadership being synonymous with being male, it is also limited to being White and male. Those who do not fit that description will have difficulty being accepted and respected as a leader. So where does this leave Black women in their pursuit of leadership? The literature review suggests that despite the obstacles to women’s leadership, Black women are leaders in their homes, churches, and communities, as detailed in my second area of concentration. Prior to the birth of corporate America and the leadership hierarchy of education, Black women have soared as leaders in motherhood, God’s house of worship, and the political activism of women’s suffrage, civil rights, and feminist movements. While Black women’s leadership has been more widely accepted in these venues, like that of corporations and educational institutions, they still struggle to be fully accepted and respected as leaders. In the most important leadership role of mother, Black women have raised and cared for their birth children, family members’ children, and the children of the larger community, which Collins (1991) refers to as othermothering. Similar to their roles in the home, Black women played important roles in the church. In many regards, Black women were the backbone of Black churches. Initially, they may not have been in the pulpit, but they were highly influential to the institution. For many Black women church became the forum of political activism (Reid-Merritt, 1996). Unfortunately, in their efforts to plan and participate in protests, devise political strategies, and retain needed resources, Black women’s leadership was rarely recognized (Barnett, 1993). Despite the limited recognition of their efforts, Black women fought along side their brothers in the struggle for political and civil rights. However, with the passing of time, Black women realized that their concerns were not the same as those of Black men (Davis, 1988). Thus, they created organizations and a movement that spoke specifically to their issues as Black women. In reviewing the literature of the third strand, perceptions of women and specifically Black women, I found that little research existed. While Black women may have held certain perceptions of themselves as leaders in their homes, churches, communities, and on their jobs, it

-6- has been the perceptions of men, culture, politics, and religion that have dictated much of what is perceived about women (Walker, 1994). In general, distorted images and stereotypes have weighed down the view of women leaders. Specifically, Hill and Ragland state, “Historical and contemporary myths full of icy virgins, fiery temptresses, and silent martyrs still encumber female leadership visions and possibilities in many ways” (1995, p. 7). For Black women in particular, negative perceptions may have begun with the dehumanizing conditions of slavery, where their bodies were used for sexual pleasure and physical labor (Lovejoy, 1995). This implies that Black women were viewed merely as objects to their masters. Viewing Black women as objects resulted in their reality, identity, and history being defined and created by others (hooks, 1989). Unfortunately, these negative perceptions have continued to exist through the images of the mammy and matriarch, which conflict with the more positive perceptions of mothering. In the world of work Black women continue to be subjects of negative perceptions where their use of sexuality is questioned, or they are ridiculed for possessing too many masculine characteristics in their leadership. The Problem Statement In my view, Black women are in constant battle to be viewed and appreciated as leaders due to their dualism. They are at the crossroads of two kinds of domination---race and gender--- and positioned at the bottom of the hierarchy of oppression. In addition, their leadership is viewed and judged through others’ lenses. These external perceptions and the tenets of traditional leadership often serve as the backdrop by which Black women’s leadership is compared and valued. Accordingly, Black women administrators assess their leadership through both the perceptions of others and their own. This multiple view may lead to BWAs having to consider race, gender, and the intersectionality of the two, as they reflect on their leadership traits and behavior. As a result, will Black women in leadership always be required to choose pieces of themselves to present as wholeness? According to Yolanda Moses (1997), Black women are viewed as having little to no worth in a White man’s world. Many people are uncomfortable when Black women exhibit many of the male traits normally associated with traditional leadership. While many of these characteristics may be tolerated from Black men, because they are men, will they be accepted from Black women, because they are both Black and women?

-7- One will notice that I did not say, because they are women. While not fully appreciated, White women are more likely to be tolerated as leaders espousing masculine traits than their Black counterparts. This is because White women have only the obstacle of gender to overcome, whereas Black women are victims of “double jeopardy” having to deal with both gender and racial discrimination (Allen-Brown, 1998, p. 170). Once again, this lends support to the notion that the traditional “great men” definition of leadership is still embedded in American culture. If society could move past this ideology there would likely be no division of male/female and White/Black traits. Each individual’s characteristics would represent his/her personal state of being as leaders. Furthermore, this may help to alleviate the double “other” status that Black women have to defend in their leadership positions. Since the early 1900s, Black women administrators have withstood the test of time. They continue to fight race and gender oppression as they seek out their place in leadership. In the words of Dr. Sarah Lawrence-Lightfoot, a Black woman in the academy, “It is hard as a Black woman to carve out a unique scene that is purposely not imitative of a White male kind of way of doing it. It takes some courage to say, ‘I’m going to go down my own path. I’m going to figure out a way of working that capitalizes on my gifts’” (cited in Collison, 1999, p. 31). This is the challenge that I leave for my Black sisters. When we finally accept this ideology we will no longer be called out of our name, but by our name. Specifically, my interest in this particular topic results from a previous study I conducted about the leadership experiences of Black women in higher education administration. In listening to their voices and stories, this issue of being negatively perceived by their peers was consistent with all the women. Thus, I felt it was my obligation as a Black woman, researcher, and aspiring administrator to bring further investigation to the issue. All of these women are true examples of excellence, achievement, and leadership, despite their permanent tans and ability to be mothers. They should be applauded and recognized for their continued efforts for success in a white male dominated profession. Purpose and Final Focus of the Study The purpose of this study is to better understand and describe the perceptions of Black women in higher education administration. Specifically, the initial focus of this study was to

-8- concentrate on how Black women administrators perceived others’ perceptions of them as leaders. This focus was explored further in the second objective, which described how Black women administrators felt about those perceptions. The third objective focused on why Black women administrators believed the perceptions existed. The final objective was to determine how the Black women administrators were affected by their perceptions of how others perceived them. In the exploration of these objectives, a final focus of this study emerged, which centered on the self-perceptions the Black women administrators held about leadership. As initially anticipated, the women’s stories presented others’ perceptions of them as leaders, but also expressed the Black women’s personal views of their leadership. This study is informed by the voice of the Black women administrators and, therefore, is an expression of only one of the many multiple realities of how their leadership is perceived. The Black women’s perceptions, while important for this study, may not tell the same story that might be told by others. Other perceptions or realities that exist but are not given voice in this study are the reality of the Black women administrator’s students, colleagues, and subordinates. However, in an attempt to better understand the realities of the Black women administrators, I include my personal story and reflections concerning their leadership and mine. This self- reflection is presented in Chapter IV (Interpretation of Categories and Analysis of Meaning). Research Questions The following questions guided the study by attempting to address the objectives previously discussed. How do Black women administrators (BWAs) view themselves as leaders? How do BWAs think others perceive them? Do BWAs perceive their leadership styles and characteristics cause them to be negatively or positively perceived by others? Have BWAs ever been referred to as bitch, Black bitch, or other derogatory names; or thinks that people perceive them in that manner? What experiences have BWAs had with confronting others who perceive them in this manner? How do BWAs feel about women being labeled a bitch? Why do BWAs think this labeling occurs? Could negative perceptions and labels be a result of their race, gender, or dualism?

-9- Need for the Study This study is important to the field of education as it brings further understanding to the perceptions and experiences of Black women administrators’ leadership. Specifically, this inquiry has significant relevance to the administrative strand of education because it provides insight on how others perceive Black women administrators and how they view themselves. If we can better understand this relationship, then we can better understand how to address and alleviate the institutionalized inequities and personal injustices in institutions of higher learning. Researcher As the researcher in this study I took on the role of an outsider, where my primary classification was listener. This outside role was due to the nature of the study. I interviewed Black women administrators about their experiences and perspectives on how others viewed them in leadership. My personal biases stem from the dualism that I share with the informants, being Black and a woman. While I have yet to achieve an administrative position, I do seek this career path and anticipate that I will have similar experiences to the women in the study. Being a Black woman causes me to carry the possibility of discrimination with me everyday of my life. I believe that the informants share this burden and this is why I am interested in understanding how they cope. In spite of these challenges, I suspect that these women have fulfilling careers, and would encourage other Black women to join them in the struggle. Expectations I expected to gain a better understanding of how BWAs perceive, feel about, and deal with perceptions that Whites, men, and other Black women have about them. In addition, I thought that these women received degrading labels, such as Black bitch/bitch, as a result of their “other” status in leadership. Finally, I expected to find some patterns in the leadership styles of these women that have been affected by the negative perceptions others have about them. They are Black women who adopt and portray leadership traits and characteristics in an effort to gain administrative positions. In particular, I think that many of the women view themselves as authoritarian, assertive, confident, self-assured, yet, caring leaders. Consequently, will these characteristics, that are accepted and viewed as the norm in male leadership, lead to Black

-10- women administrators being ridiculed and ostracized for displaying traits that are reserved for White males?

-11- Chapter II Review of the Literature and Theoretical Framework Literature Review My review of the literature revealed that minimal research has been conducted on the subject of Black women’s leadership in higher education. Much of the research that exists focuses solely on women’s leadership or that pertaining to all people of color. Very little literature specifically deals with Black women’s leadership. Thus, I chose to review three areas that I thought would provide a foundation for discussing the issues pertinent to the leadership of Black women. As previously outlined in chapter one, three strands of concentration were the focus of this literature review. First there was the presentation of the obstacles to women’s leadership, which included such concepts as the glass ceiling, the double bind theory, and traditionally defined masculine perspectives of leadership. Specifically, this strand provided insight into the problems women face in leadership positions, such as discrimination and combating the male model of leadership. Following this description is the second strand of concentration, a historical overview of Black women’s leadership roles in the home, church, community and political arena. The purpose of this section was to assess how Black women have obtained and maintained formal leadership roles outside of the workplace. Finally, the literature pertinent for the preface of this study was presented through a discussion of other people’s perceptions of women, especially Black women. Specifically, this component revealed some of the images and perceptions, past and present, that are held about the roles of Black women and women in general. Obstacles to women’s leadership In addressing the first strand of concentration, one of the most prominent obstacles to women’s leadership is the concept of the glass ceiling. This term was coined in 1986 as a result of a three-year study that was supported by the Center for Creative Leadership. The study concluded that the glass ceiling functions as an invisible barrier that prevents women from being promoted beyond the level of middle management into positions of senior executive status (Morrison, White, & Van Velsor, 1987). In essence, this barrier does not exist for any individual, but specifically applies to women as a group who are kept from advancing because

-12- they are women. Furthermore, the term suggests that the barriers or invisible factors can be as much or even more damaging than overt discriminatory practices of which women are subjected (Valian, 1998). Based on the history of discrimination in America, it is not likely that these hidden factors will simply disappear with time. For instance, a 1991 Labor Department study found that the glass ceiling remains to be broken and is even lower than had been thought, with fewer women being promoted into middle management than had been predicted (Sehgal cited in Cordeiro, 1997). Perhaps the glass ceiling is so prominent due to the historical thinking of “keeping women in their place.” For centuries many women were not permitted to work outside the home (Morrison, White, & Van Velsor, 1987). However, the war activities of the twentieth century became so overwhelming, with so many men in combat, that women were required to join the labor market. Nevertheless, with the end of the war many women did not return to their home jobs full-time, but maintained their labor positions. Thus the gender conflict in the workplace began---women realized their potential and ability to perform as well or better than their male counterparts. Ultimately, this implies that “organizational glass ceilings are not due to the inability of women to function effectively in their responsibilities...rather, the glass ceiling most often is the result of a woman being unlike her predecessor, usually a White male” (Milwid & Kanter cited in Chliwniak, 1997, p. 52). While the concept of the glass ceiling has historically been tied to the career ladder of the business world, there are links to suggest that the glass ceiling also effects the upward mobility of women in academia. Whether in the world of business or education, the glass ceiling serves the same purpose of preventing women from advancing to the top of their careers. Although women have a full view of the top of the organization, they bump against an invisible shield of resistance and can rise no further. In educational administration the top of the organizational ladder is superintendency and presidency at the K-12 and postsecondary levels, respectively. Traditionally, men have controlled the highest administrative jobs within school districts and postsecondary institutions. According to Hill and Ragland’s research on women educational leaders,

-13- Long-standing bureaucratic values have thwarted women’s entering administration. Control was largely maintained by limiting change. The ‘system’ fostered selection of new administrators who resembled their sponsors in attitude, philosophy, deed, and, even in many cases, appearance, hobbies, church affiliation, and club membership. In addition, successors were expected to mirror tightly defined concepts of administrative competency. Such a selection process resulted in the new mimicking the old down to nuances of behavior. (1999, pp. 9-10)

When specifically considering the university setting, history has shown how its training of chief school executives has been an example of a closed fraternity (Ibid.). Ultimately, this dominance has influenced career paths and choices of women in many ways. Even though some women aspire to seek the higher level administrative positions, they may be discouraged and not given support in accomplishing their goals. This lack of support is causing some women to seek other avenues for their leadership careers (Gregory, 1999). Education cannot afford this loss of talent. Unlike the corporate birth of the glass ceiling, Gregory Bateson formulated the double bind in the field of psychology, in an examination of schizophrenia. During his work in the 1950s, Bateson described double binds as a relationship between a “powerful and powerless individual”, where the “victim has no means of escape” (cited in Jamieson, 1995, p. 13). In the interest of organizational life, the double bind exists between men and women, where women are the powerless victims. As in historical institutions power is held by men, specifically White males, who control and design hierarchical structures that benefit their success. Thus, like the glass ceiling concept, the double bind is a barrier of discrimination that keeps women from moving forward in their leadership careers and is used to suppress their accomplishments. According to Kathleen Jamieson’s exploration of double bind theory, A double bind is a rhetorical construct that posits two and only two alternatives, one or both penalizing the person being offered them. In the history of humans, such choices have been constructed to deny women access to power and, where individuals manage to slip past their constraints, to undermine their exercise of whatever power they achieve. (1995, p. 14)

In essence, this strategy leads the woman to believe that as a woman she is incompatible with men and even incapable of attaining success. As a result, many women in the business world and other institutions feel that career advancement is unattainable, and do not fight for their right to be promoted. Perhaps a change in the perception of leadership is needed to move women up the

-14- career ladder. In my experience, I believe that most people view leadership as a characteristic or attribute that only certain persons are able to possess. A further analysis of the double bind theory can be found in Jamieson’s construct of five specific binds that oppress the efforts of women. Of the five binds, only two will be discussed as they directly apply to the objectives of this study. First is double bind number three of sameness/difference, where women are subordinate whether they claim to be different from men or the same (Jamieson, 1995.). Specifically, this bind addresses the notion of woman as other, where attempts are made to address Sojourner Truth’s infamous question, “Ain’t I a Woman?” Within that question lies the issue of comparison, thus formulating a new question, “By whose standard is one measured?” Jamieson argues that as long as an individual’s similarities and differences are held in comparison to some other “supposedly normal group,” the person in question will always be the one without power (Ibid., pp.101-102). In addition, I argue that this system of comparison is due to the ever present principle of patriarchism. According to Janna Oakes, patriarchism is defined as “the belief in male domination and/or superiority over the female gender” (1999, p. 58). This concept further implies that men and their actions are the norm, thus leaving women to be abnormal or substandard in comparison. Many people suggest that these gender relationships have existed since biblical times and purposefully intended by God. While I do agree that gender inequity has persisted since the biblical days, I do not believe that was God’s creation. Instead, I am suggesting that gender traits and behavior are socially constructed beliefs that society subconsciously espouses. These unarticulated beliefs about men and women are often referred to as gender schemas, which are hypotheses shared by both men and women about what it means to be male or female (Valian, 1998). In this process, certain traits are assigned to males and females. For instance, males are viewed as being “capable of independent action, as agents; they are task- oriented and instrumental” (Ibid., p. 52). Whereas females have been described as too emotional, not task-oriented enough, too dependent, lacking independence, nurturant, communal, and expressive (Biklen, 1980; Valian, 1998). As one can see, the female traits appear to be the opposite of the male characteristics. Essentially, from all of these seemingly disparate concepts a common theme emerges: “Women live in a world whose every aspect has been defined by men”

-15- (Hunter, 1994, p. 2). Due to man’s inherited authority to define woman, it is no wonder why women are constantly told they are incompetent. Gender traits and the idea of competence are the foundation of the next bind. Jamieson’s (1995) double bind number four is entitled femininity/competence, where women who are considered feminine will be judged incompetent, and women who are competent---unfeminine. Within this bind is the notion that being feminine is inconsistent with maturity, which implies that masculinity is synonymous with maturity and the ability to be decisive. Once again, this is an example of women and women’s way being subordinate to that of men. Furthermore, there is an assumption that women can not be feminine and competent. Yet, if they adopt more masculine ways they still may not be viewed as competent because their unfemininity lessens their competence as women. With these types of parameters in place, how are women expected to thrive as leaders in a world that continuously depicts them as substandard, abnormal, and subordinate? Perhaps a change in the perception of leadership is needed to answer this question. I presume that most people have a narrow view of leadership that is limited to include a specific type of person who possesses certain characteristics or attributes. In reviewing the literature, I was overwhelmed by the numerous definitions of leadership that have been outlined and explored for nearly two centuries. Within these definitions lie the traits, personality characteristics, effectiveness, style, and management of organizations, which Joseph Rost terms as the “peripheries of leadership” (1993, p. 3). Specifically, Rost states that the peripheral elements allows leaders to define and practice leadership according to prescribed behaviors, makes followers feel good about their position of following, and affirms the scientific- based theories of leadership scholars (Ibid.). Essentially, these peripheries serve as guidelines for understanding the role of a leader and he/she influences others and their organizations. With prescribed characteristics and traits people are able to determine when a person is fulfilling the role of a leader and, to some degree, his/her effectiveness in that position. In addition to the peripheries, the content of leadership was also important in leadership studies. According to Rost, the content of leadership concerns what leaders need to know to be successful in their roles and organizations (Ibid.). This leader knowledge included both an understanding of people through human behavior and an intimate understanding of the organization. To gain a more

-16- comprehensive understanding of the peripheries and content of leadership, we must review the historical state of leadership through an exploration of the past and present. This investigation will provide an understanding of the future evolution of leadership. Let us refer to the work, Leadership Without Easy Answers by Ronald Heifetz, which outlines four general approaches to leadership theory. According to Heifetz, there are hidden values of leadership that began with this first leadership theory, “great man,” which emerged in the nineteenth century and is still embedded in American culture. This time period evoked the personality traits of “great men” with “heroic” status and their impact on society (Heifetz, 1994, p. 16). In addition, the personality characteristics or traits of the great-man theory are rooted in a heroic set of personal talents, skills, or physical characteristics (Ibid.). As the title of the theory implies, these heroic characteristics were based on the male persona, as women were not even considered candidates for heroism. The popularity of the great man concept, birthed in trait theory, gained much criticism from the next wave of leadership theorists. Situationalists argued that the situation and not the person determined leadership (Heifetz, 1994). Opposite of trait theorists, situationalists believed that specific situations and times in history called forth leaders of varying talents and styles, which differed greatly from persons possessing prescribed traits to be considered leaders. Furthermore, the situationalist approach suggests that people are leaders in certain situations, where their talents and strengths are needed. While the situationalists believed they had grasped the concept of leadership, another group of theorists continued to define leadership by further exploring the situationalist perspective. Contingency theory combined the major principles of trait and situational theories. Specifically, contingency theorists suggest “that the appropriate style of leadership is contingent on the requirements of the particular situation” (Heifetz, 1994, p. 17). This says that no single trait or group of characteristics is solely associated with leadership, rather different situations require various personas and behaviors. Despite its synthesis approach to defining leadership, contingency theory, like that of trait and situational theory, only seemed to speak to the peripheries of leadership, leaving little to no focus on the relational aspects. The last approach discussed by Heifetz is that of transactional theory. In this field of

-17- inquiry, the interactions and relations between leaders and followers were explored. Heifetz referred to these interactions as “transaction by which an individual gains influence and sustains it over time” (1994, p. 17). This theory suggests that the relationship between the leader and followers is reciprocal, in that the leader influences his/her followers and is also influenced by his/her followers. This implies that leadership is relational and does not exist unless leaders and followers interact with each other. James MacGregor Burns, another leadership theorist, gave considerable attention to the concept of relationships in his leadership work. According to Burns (1998), the interaction between the leader and follower is the essence of the leadership relationship, which he discusses in two fundamentally different forms. The first, transactional leadership, he defines as “one person takes the initiative in making contact with others for the purpose of an exchange of valued things” (1998, p. 133). In this relationship the “exchange” could be economic, psychological, or political in nature, where each person is conscious of the power resources and attitudes of one another. In addition, their purposes are related in the bargaining process and can be maintained in that process. However, the leader- follower relationship does not go beyond this bargaining and advancement process (Ibid.). In other words, the parties in the relationship have no long-term purpose that holds them together--- the leadership is in the act itself. Contrary to transactional leadership, Burns states that transforming leadership “occurs when one or more persons engage with others in such a way that leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality” (1998, pp. 133-134). In this relationship the purposes of each party become fused even though they may have started out separately. (Ultimately, power is shared as mutual support for a common purpose.) Burns’ model of leadership (transformational) was further developed by Rost in an attempt to articulate a postindustrial concept of leadership. In his work, Leadership for the 21st Century, Rost defines leadership as “an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes” (1993, p. 102). To gain a more comprehensive understanding of his definition of leadership, Rost, outlines the four essential elements of leadership. First, the relationship is based on influence, where persuasion is used to have an impact on other people in the relationship. In addition, Rost states that the influence

-18- must be multidirectional and noncoercive, meaning that the influence is fluid and lacks an authority/power foundation. Second, the relationship consists of both leaders and followers, where the followers are active participants. Also, the relationship normally has more than one leader and must have more than one follower. Next, the leaders and followers intend real changes, requiring them to be purposeful, transforming, and multiple. Rost’s last element states that leaders and followers develop mutual purposes, involving the ideas of both parties that are reflected and developed into common purposes. Throughout Rost’s view of leadership, it is apparent that the concept of transformation lies at the center of his definition. Finally, this postindustrial definition moves beyond the traditional moral code of leadership to an ethic of leadership that focuses on the relationship of leadership (Rost, 1993). As previously discussed in the first definition of leadership, the great man theory, leaders were historically men and specifically White men. Thus, the traits, personalities, and characteristics developed in the trait, situational, and contingency approaches to leadership were male oriented. As assessed by Jill Blackmore (1989), leadership displays attributes, behaviors, moral virtues and principles, which are generally associated with masculinity. As a result, women were not viewed as leaders, although they have held leadership positions in their homes and communities. Specifically, Blackmore (1999) states the early neo-Marxist reproduction theory and the socialization theory of the 1970s continued to reproduce stereotypic images of existing gender relations. Within these social constructs people were placed in rigid categories of male and female. As a result, the leadership literature of that time period produced what was considered stereotypical male characteristics of leadership---“strong individualism, aggression and independence” (Blackmore, 1999, p. 47). Thus, women were portrayed as failures in leadership because they lacked innate traits and personality of prescribed leadership. Essentially, women in leadership walked the fine line of being too masculine or too feminine, which was determined by their portrayal of accepted leadership traits. However, as discussed in Burns’ and Rost’s work on leadership, being a leader today ultimately involves the ability to define the reality of others, persuading people to enact realities that further the interests one wishes to pursue (Morgan, 1997). With that in mind, I believe that everyone regardless of gender, race, and class has the ability to be leaders. Yet, it seems that Black women continue to be defeated in

-19- the leadership arena. The exploration of these concepts has made one thing very clear to this researcher: all women, especially Black women in leadership, are definitely seen as the “other.” The tenets of leadership were not founded and developed to include the perspectives of women. In particular, the glass ceiling and double bind concepts suggest that women in leadership are “caught between a rock and a hard place.” In other words, women who choose to exude the feminine traits that society has defined, will find themselves in very limited positions and not able to break the glass ceiling or become unbound. Consequently, those who adopt and work within the traditional models of leadership will be viewed as either masculine or incompetent, whereby they become victims of gender discrimination. Even with the progression of leadership development of over the past two centuries, we must realize the with the exception of feminist and Black feminist perspectives, leadership has been built on the ideologies of masculinity and male domination. Because each leadership theory was developed on the foundation of it predecessor, the great man theory continues to be interwoven throughout the leadership fabric. Just as Blackmore sought to critique existing male models of leadership, Black feminist theory, to be discussed later, seeks to analyze race and gender within leadership. Furthermore, history has shown that discrimination has been a war yet to be won. However, the hope lies in one battle being fought and won at a time. We may not be able to change people’s psyche, but we can change the system in which they work. McCulloch (1998) suggests that equality for women cannot be solved without structural changes. The answer is not solely affirmative action, but developing eligibility for promotion and decentralizing to create more leadership opportunities. Furthermore, these systemic changes will grant Black women administrators the respect they deserve in academe, just as they have gained respect as leaders in their homes, churches, and communities. Black women’s leadership may be a foreign concept in business and the academy, but it is no stranger to the homes and communities of which they reside. The literature demonstrates that Black women’s leadership can be found across the political engagements of women’s, civil rights, and feminist movements. In addition, these activities did not seem to negatively affect their leadership roles in their homes, churches, and other various institutions, but strengthened

-20- them as leaders. History of Black women’s leadership roles My second area of concentration, Black women’s leadership in the home, church, and community, did not have as rich a literature base as the first strand of concentration (the obstacles to women’s leadership). Despite the fruitful heritage of Black women’s political activism over the past century, their efforts did not appear to be of interest to scholars until approximately twenty years ago. The invisibility of Black women leaders is in part due to race, gender, and class biases prevalent in both the social movement literature and feminist scholarship (Barnett, 1993). Thus the crucial roles of Black women have been neglected and presented an erroneous image that all of the women in leadership roles are White and that all of the Blacks are men (Hull, Scott & Smith cited in Barnett, 1993). Through the years Black women have gained political experience and expertise through their efforts in the woman’s suffrage, civil rights, and feminist movements. They have also sought political office themselves and been engaged directly in lawmaking and policymaking. According to Dianetta Bryan, “the Civil Rights Movement was viable and powerful because of the efforts, in large part, of Black women” (1988, p. 60). Contrary to many Black male leaders’ opinions, Black women exhibited qualities that would make them active and powerful individuals in a battle that included race, gender and class issues. In essence, Black women were much more than followers, they were leaders who performed various roles comparable to their male counterparts. Although seldom recognized for their leadership, these women were often the ones who initiated protest, devised political strategies, and retained other sources needed to accomplish the goals of the movement (Barnett, 1993). In particular, Black women were also insightful about the critical elements of the Movement and set them as priorities. As discussed by Bryan (1988), education was an objective that Black women understood to be central to the overall success of the Movement. They believed that educating people led to a better understanding of other Movement objectives including suffrage. Although Black women played important roles in the women’s suffrage and civil rights movements, they realized that these movements did not directly address their concerns as Black women. Giddings points out that,

-21- Black women had a history of their own, one which reflected their distinct concerns, values and the role they have played as both Afro-Americans and women. And their unique status has had an impact on both racial and feminist values. (cited in Barnett, 1993, p. 165)

Accordingly, Black women had to overcome the myth of their concerns being the same as their brothers’ (Davis, 1988). Seemingly, they suggested that their concerns were also not the same as White women’s’. These myths “about Black women are held by White men and women, Black men, and even Black women themselves...and 400 years of misconceptions is a long time to make up” (Mitchell, 1988, p. 18). Therefore Black women had to create their own movement that would speak to their needs and uniqueness. Thus came the formulation of the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) in 1973. The NBFO was the first national Black women’s organization that was explicitly feminist and dedicated to eliminating the dual oppression of racism and sexism. In addition, the NBFO was needed because woman’s liberation did not attract Black women, who perceived feminists as White before they viewed them as “oppressed” (Davis, 1988, p.44). According to several Black women theorists, many Black women have a problem with the term feminist. Some may feel that feminism, as defined and used by White women, does not speak to the struggle of Black women and cannot be cleansed of its racist and elitist history (Smith, 1983; Brown, 1989; Hudson-Weems, 1992; Garth, 1994; Taylor, 1998). Finally, as Margaret Sloan, NBFO co-founder, stated, “I can’t be Black three days and woman four days when I’m a Black woman seven days a week” (cited in Davis, 1988, p. 43). Aside from the political scene, Black women also hold varying roles of leadership in different contexts. In their homes, churches, neighborhoods, voluntary associations, educational institutions, and sororities, Black women of differing backgrounds shared a common desire for what they thought was needed to bring about change---freedom of oppression (King, 1988; Barnett, 1993). As Black women exercise leadership in these diverse contexts, they may or may not acquire fame, a large following, or gain public recognition for their efforts. But when the true nature of Black women was considered, people could see that it was frequently their ability to express love and passion that enabled them to achieve all they did (Reid-Merritt, 1996). In addition to their love and passion, many Black women were successful in their own right as a

-22- result of their education, preparation, expertise, and skill as leaders in various and numerous settings. Perhaps the most important leadership role that Black women portray is that of mother. This is a position with permeable boundaries, whereby any woman can embody the position. In the Black community, a woman does not have to bare her own children to be considered a mother. As a result, “othermothers”---women who assist biological mothers by sharing mothering responsibilities---traditionally have been central to the institution of Black motherhood, which Patricia Collins defines as, The institution of Black motherhood consists of a series of constantly renegotiated relationships that African-American women experience with one another, with Black children, with the larger African-American community, and with self. These relationships occur in specific locations such as the individual households that make up African-American extended family networks, as well as in Black community institutions. (1991, p. 118)

This sense of other- and community mothering is an extension of historical leadership framed within African family organization and the institutional transformation of slavery (Sudarkasa, 2000). Historically, in addition to the position of motherhood, Black women recognized that home was a source of strength and emphasized it as the starting point for racial uplift. Essentially, “the home was the foundation upon which Black women built an infrastructure of organizations and institutions” (Feldman, 1999, p. 164). While some women may have been more comfortable with the leadership of motherhood in the home, the church became the place where they could devote their time and make a difference. For many Black women church was more than a religious observance, it was a forum for political and social activism (Reid-Merritt, 1996). In the church community, Black women stood as “stalwarts of wisdom, endurance and ability, and they were aware of their influential powers” (Bryan, 1988, p. 60). As early as 1787, “Black women contributed to the protest of racially segregated worship of the integrated St. George Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia” (Dodson, 1988, p. 38). These women offered their personal, financial and material resources, and their individual labor that contributed to newly founded independent religious organizations. As a result, many women’s “benevolent aide societies” were formed through which women

-23- learned the necessary skills for participation in relationships that determined “church life” (Ibid., p. 39). Although Black women attained a significant level of achievement through church affiliations, they were not allowed to hold high official positions in the church hierarchy of most denominations (Barnett, 1993; Feldman, 1999). These unattainable positions included ministers, deacons, or trustees---the decision-makers in the male-dominated hierarchy of the Black church. While the leadership roles for Black women were limited, they have been considered the “backbone” of the church. Grant presents a critical perspective of the “backbone” analogy: On the surface this may appear to be a compliment, especially when one considers the function of the backbone in the human anatomy...but the telling portion of the word backbone is ‘back.’ It has become apparent to me that most of the ministers who use the term have reference to location rather than function. What they really mean is that women are in the ‘background’ and should be kept there. (cited in Barnett, 1993, p. 170)

In response, numerous Black women sought leadership opportunities beyond the confines of the church in order to fulfill their personal goals. In their protest to the sexism of the church, many Black women found leadership solitude in sororities and other fraternal membership organizations. Such organizations as the Courts of Calanthe, the Eastern Stars, and the sororities of Alpha Kappa Alpha and Zeta Phi Beta provided an opportunity for Black women to assert their independence from men (Feldman, 1999). In addition, these organizations strengthened Black women individually and collectively through the principles of woman- and sisterhood. Within these varying arenas Black women often dealt with the issue of “whether we adapt ourselves to the established leadership roles or whether we adapt them to us, infusing in them new options and greater perceptions based on our experiences in achieving professional status” (Mitchell, 1988, p. 9). Yet in the midst of this reidentification process, one lesson Black women with leadership responsibilities can learn from one another is how we can affect change by overcoming contradictions we face (King, 1988). Although race, gender and class generally hindered Black women’s efforts and accomplishments in politics, home, church, and community, these women performed a multiplicity of significant leadership roles. As stated by Barnett, The roles Black women performed, whether as the grass-roots level or behind the scenes,

-24- represent profiles in courage and suggest that they were leaders in their communities, leaders in the day-to-day fight against various forms of oppression, and leaders in the modern civil rights movement. (1993, p. 177)

Others’ perceptions of women, especially Black women Since the beginning of time, individuals have perceived various ideas about one another and themselves. However, my review of the literature reveals limited scholarship on my third area of research concentration---perceptions of women and specifically Black women. Perhaps this lack of research is a result of the perceptions and roles of women not being self-defined. Rather, men, culture, politics, and religion have dictated much of what is perceived about women (Walker, 1994). In addition, the perceived low status and negative ideology about women in America appears to be no secret, notwithstanding a history of more than 500 years. According to Koontz, one of the most prominent perceptions of women was based on law as early as the 1700s. Specifically it stated that a married woman had no separate existence from her husband, and was “inferior to him, and acted by his compulsion” (1972, p. 12). Then by law, a woman was the property of her husband, with no right to her own life. Other controlling images of women include the labels of “castrated” and “misbegotten,” as used by Freud and Aristotle, respectively (Jamieson, 1995, p. 103). Within these terms lies the implications that women were emotional, not rational, and sexual beings controlled by their uteruses instead of their brains. Other perceptions of women, generally held by men, have taken shape in the form of stereotypes that have limited women’s employment opportunities. As presented in Sean Valentine’s study, “treatment of men and women has differed, with women sometimes being improperly placed, denied job status and authority, and flagrantly segregated from men” (1998, p. 920). For many years, this differential treatment resulted in women being underrepresented in professional and administrative positions and overrpresented in clerical jobs. In addition, stereotyping based on sex and men’s self-preservation has also been a factor in gender disparities in the workplace (Reskin & Padavic, 1994). According to Valentine, such stereotyping lead to women being characterized as “too emotional and sensitive to function outside of domestic roles” (1998, p. 920). Interestingly, as a result of this sensitive and caring nature of women, they have often been perceived, as a threat because they motivate others and perform well in

-25- administrative positions, which has resulted in male administrators being replaced by women (Reskin & Padavic, 1994). While these perceptions have been developed to represent all women, additional research indicates a broader scope that includes Black women. The property perception definitely applied to Black women, but under different parameters. Through the dehumanizing conditions of slavery, Black women were the property of their White male masters who used their bodies for arduous labor and physical pleasure (Lovejoy, 1995). Specifically, Barbara Christian asserts that in America, “the enslaved African woman became the basis for the definition of our society’s other,” and is viewed as an object to be manipulated and controlled (cited in Collins, 1991, p. 68). According to hooks, “as objects, one’s reality is defined by others, one’s identity created by others, one’s history named only in ways that define one’s relationship to those who are subject” (1989, p. 42). Ultimately, this ideology concerning Black women in leadership resulted in various forms of objectification. While objectification also existed for White women, the standards by which they were governed differed. According to Collins (1991), White women were expected to aspire to the four cardinal virtues of piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity, of which Black women were not entitled. One controlling image that applied to Black women is the mammy. Collins defines the mammy as the “faithful, obedient domestic servant” created to justify the economic exploitation of house slaves (1991, p. 71). This was a position of servitude at its best, Black women were competent enough to love and care for the master’s children, and beaten if they did not display these behaviors. The opposite of the mammy is the matriarch, who is viewed as a bad Black mother with her own children. These working women spent too much time away form home and were viewed as having a castrating persona with their lovers and husbands (Collins, 1991). These sexual images were not limited to Black women’s leadership in the home, but also extended to their leadership roles in activism and administrative careers. Similarly, their brothers held sexist ideas in social activism, such as Eldridge Cleaver who believed that Black women had no problems in liberation due to their womanliness. Cleaver was adamant about his views that this struggle for freedom did not involve Black women, since by their gender they already possessed “pussy power” (cited in Bryan, 1988, p. 60).

-26- Aside from sexual defamation of character, Black women leaders have been subjected to other negative labels. As discussed by Patricia Reid-Merritt, Black women in high power leadership positions are frequently portrayed as “brash, brazen loudmouths loaded with attitude and righteous indignation” (1996, p. 195). Black women have also received the labels of “Superwoman” and ultimately, “Black Bitch.” While the first label may be perceived as a compliment, in many respects it is viewed just as negatively as the latter term. These titles are often justified by those who view Black women administrators as “untouchable, matriarchal, and often the ‘castrating female’” based on their more masculine leadership characteristics (Carey, 1990, p. 16). In discussing this strand of the literature---others perceptions of women, especially Black women---several perceptions have been explored. However, one point or concept that has not been discussed, and perhaps is the most salient, is that of resistance. Since the beginning of time, women have been aware of how others perceived them, and how those perceptions have influenced and impacted their lives. In many ways, these perceptions have objectified women and Black women, in particular, as the other, where they were “assigned negative characteristics opposite and inferior to those reserved for whites” (Collins, 1991, p. 79). As a result, Black women have resisted those controlling images, perceptions, and the status of being the objectified other. “Unlike white women who ‘face the pitfall of being seduced into joining the oppressor under the pretense of sharing power,’ and for whom ‘there is a wider range of pretended choices and rewards for identifying with patriarchal power and its tools,’ Black women are offered no such possibility” (Lorde cited in Collins, 1991, p. 83). Thus Black women reacted to their objectification through resistance. Literature by such Black women writers as Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison, and the research by Black women scholars such as Patricia Hill Collins and Kimberle Crenshaw, provides evidence of Black women’s struggles to create positive self-definitions in the midst of negative images that cloud Black womanhood. Collins (1991) states that these writings have displayed Black women’s resistance to controlling images and negative perceptions through several methods. One avenue of resistance used in both fiction and nonfiction has been escape, where Black women turned to substance abuse, excessive religion, madness, and political

-27- activism in an “attempt to create other worlds apart form the ones that produced painful Black female realities” (Collins, 1990, p. 84). Aside from methods of escape, some Black women also retreated to the halls of denial, allowing them to reject their connections to other Black women by not acting like them and demanding special treatment. The third form of resistance Collins discusses is the process of personal growth toward positive self-definitions. This process requires Black women to actively reject the externally defined negative perceptions and controlling images of Black womanhood through an emergence of positive self-definitions that re-articulates a new image of Black women. Collins (1991) provides an example of the emergent positive self in her analysis of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Morrison presents the character of Claudia who rejected racist images of Black women and represented a young version of emergent Black women carving out new definitions of Black womanhood. Theoretical Framework When I first began researching the leadership experiences of Black women administrators I was too novice a researcher to understand the concept of utilizing a theoretical framework. I was only concerned with Black women’s experiences and how those experiences affected their lives, and not how that reality influenced theory or was influenced by theory. As I have grown in scholarship, I have come to realize that Black feminist and womanist theory provides unique meaning and understanding of the experiences, ideologies, and even behaviors of Black women. In this presentation, Black feminist and womanist theory is used to analyze the intersection of race and gender, thereby creating a political movement to combat institutional inequalities. The next theoretical lens that influenced and guided this study is social constructivist theory. This component will serve as the umbrella lens for the construction of meaning and the principles of three perception theories (attitude development, cognitive dissonance, and self-perception). Black Feminism & Womanism Similar to the difficulty of determining how long Black women have walked on this earth, is the phenomenon of deciphering when Black feminist theory was birthed. In particular, Ula Taylor’s work, “Knowledge: Feminism from an Africentric Perspective,” discusses three waves of BFT, where the first and second were outgrowths of the abolitionist and civil rights movements, respectively. Thus, leaving the third wave to come ashore in the 1980s and 1990s.

-28- During these waves, large numbers of Black women activists “developed a distinctly feminist consciousness that gave them an agency to strive for empowerment on their own terms” (Taylor, 1998, p. 18). However, Patricia Hill Collins (1991), one of the most prominent Black feminist theorists, believes that the origin of BFT lies within the lived experiences that African slaves brought with them to America in the 1700 and 1800s. In addition, Collins states that prior to their enslavement, African women were socialized to be independent, self-reliant, and resourceful. Despite the modifications resulting from slavery, African women were determined to maintain these key characteristics of their African self-definitions as women. Whether considering the more current waves or the time of slavery, the ultimate goal of Black feminism remained the same. According to several Black feminist theorists, the main objective is to create a political movement that fights exploitative capitalism, analyzes the intersection of race and gender, and protects Black women’s minds and bodies (hooks, 1989; Collins, 1991; Crenshaw, 1992; Garth, 1994; Taylor, 1998). Now that the goal has been stated, further investigation is needed regarding the definition and purpose of BFT. Unlike most terms and concepts, BFT is not easily defined because it encompasses diverse and contradictory meanings. Collins states that this contradiction stems from two interrelated tensions. The first concerns the question, “Who can be a Black feminist?” Second, the question, “What constitutes Black feminism?” has to be addressed. In looking at the first question, one might assume that it could be easily answered with little discussion needed. However, after many years, it remains at the heart of on-going dialogue. As stated in Patricia Bell Scott’s “Selected Bibliography on Black Feminism,” all Black women, regardless of their ideology, are Black feminists (as cited in Collins, 1991). A more selective, yet inclusive, definition applies to selected Blacks who possess some variation of feminist consciousness, which can include men (Guy-Sheftall as cited in Collins, 1991). While hooks would agree with Guy-Sheftall’s emphasis of selected Blacks, she would disagree with the inclusion of men (hooks, 1989). Thus, the dialogue continues, as there is no definitive answer to this question. In dealing with the second question, “What constitutes Black feminism?” Collins (1991) states that a major problem is that the ideas of a person who has been labeled a Black feminist become defined as Black feminist thought/theory. This is problematic because it does not take

-29- into account the individuality of the person nor the differences that exist among Black feminist theorists. As a result of these various perspectives, Collins states that a definition of BFT is needed more now than ever. In an effort to escape the traditional materialist position, “that being Black and/or female generates certain experiences that automatically determine variants of a Black and/or feminist consciousness,” and an idealist position, “that ideas can be evaluated in isolation from the groups that create them,” Collins created a definition of Black feminist thought that encompasses the expanded definition of Black women’s standpoint (1991, p. 21). Collins (1991) suggests that this standpoint include the incorporation of core themes, diverse experiences of Black women confronting these core themes, the varying expressions of Black women’s Black feminist consciousness regarding the core themes and their experiences with them, and the interdependence of Black women’s experiences, consciousness, and actions. Essentially, Black feminist thought is designed by Black women for Black women, in that it produces a self-defined Black woman’s standpoint and empowers Black women for political activism. The core themes of Black feminist thought/theory from Collins’ (1991) perspective that influenced this study are: (1) analyzing Black women’s work, especially Black women’s labor market victimization; (2) challenging controlling images; (3) self-definition; and (4) conceptualizing Black women’s activism. Collins’ work also presents three other core themes: (1) analysis of Black motherhood; (2) analysis of sexual politics; and (3) sexual politics and interpersonal relationships, which will not be explore in this paper. The first core theme, an analysis of Black women’s work, reveals that Black women were victimized in the labor market as a result of being viewed as dehumanized objects during the slavery and post-slavery (domestic work) eras. However, Collins (1991) suggests that this oppressive state often led to various forms of everyday resistance, and even empowered Black women to organize labor unions. In addition, this analysis also seeks to investigate the relationship between Black women’s oppression in the paid labor market and the controversial nature of their unpaid family labor. Finally, this theme attempts to shed some light on the ongoing dialogue concerning social class. The theme of challenging controlling images such as stereotypical mammies, matriarchs,

-30- and castrating females has long been a primary objective of Black feminist thought (Collins 1991). Specifically, these images have been essential to the political and economic domination advancing Black women’s oppression. For instance, the authority to define and assign these images represents a great sense of power, where those in power---elite White men---manipulate these symbols “to make racism, sexism, and poverty appear to be natural, normal, and an inevitable part of everyday life” (Collins, 1991, p. 68). Ultimately, these controlling images define Black women as other, justifying race, gender, and class oppression. In an effort to escape the behavioral conformity imposed on Black women, acts of resistance leading to self-definition have long existed. According to Collins (1991), this tradition of resistance suggests that a unique, collective consciousness among Black women exists. This need for self-definition is a response to Black women being viewed as the objectified other. Finding and expressing a voice that defines one’s true self within the confines of externally placed denigrated categories and images is a primary goal of articulating Black feminist standpoint. The last core theme, conceptualizing Black women’s activism, designed to bring about social change has occurred along two primary dimensions (Collins, 1991). The first dimension is the struggle for group survival, where actions are taken to create Black female spheres of influence within existing structures of oppression by undermining them. Struggling for institutional transformation is the second dimension, where the main objective is to change existing structures of oppression. The transformation of the institutional structures included both individual and group actions such as participating in civil rights organizations, labor unions, feminist groups, boycotts, and revolts (Collins, 1991). The complexities that have been represented in this presentation thus far do not go unwarranted. Defining BFT and deciding who has a legitimate place in its discourse is complicated because of the people it seeks to understand---Black women. They represent a dualism of the non-dominate culture, where they are often placed in opposition to White men. Kimberle Crenshaw refers to this dualism as intersectionality that “captures the way in which the particular location of Black women in dominant American social relations is unique and in some senses unassimilable into the discursive paradigms of gender and race domination” (1992, p.

-31- 404). In essence, Black women are “doubly burdened,” subjected to the dominating practices of both racial and gender hierarchies that limits one’s ability to relate to and conceptualize the experiences of Black women (Ibid., p. 404). Furthermore, this intersectionality marginalizes Black women in feminist theory as a consequence of their race, and again in race theory because of their gender. As a result, many Black women turn to BFT for understanding, empowerment, and a sense of solidarity with other Black women. While some may say BFT unifies Black women and raises their consciousness, Collins (1991) states that BFT does not raise consciousness, but affirms and rearticulates a consciousness that already exists. If this is the case, why do a great number of Black women shun away from Black feminist identity? According to several Black women theorists, many Black women have a problem with the term feminist. Some may feel that feminism, as defined and used by White women, does not speak to the struggle of Black women and cannot be cleansed of its racist and elitist history (Smith, 1983; Brown, 1989; Hudson-Weems, 1992; Garth, 1994; Taylor, 1998). As a result, many Black women are discarding the label Black feminist, and adopting womanism. Womanism, a term coined by Alice Walker, is defined as a Black feminist or feminist of color, from Black mothers expression to their daughters, “You acting womanish” (1983, p. xi). For Walker, one is a womanist when one is “committed to the survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female” (Ibid., p. xi). In addition, according to Walker, womanist has four key elements, the first of which is the aforementioned definition. Second, is one who “appreciates and prefers women’s culture.” Third, is “love” of culture and “self.” Finally, “womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender” (Ibid., p. xi). Another attraction to this term has to do with its holistic view and agenda. Unlike White feminists who are concerned with individuality (the I and me syndrome), Black womanists are concerned with self-empowerment and uplifting the entire Black community (Garth, 1994). This community/worldview consciousness allows for the “resolution of seeming contradictions not through an either/or negation but through the interaction and wholeness” (Taylor, 1998, p. 26). Consequently, it is not surprising that many Black women are more accepting of this term as it focuses on a more holistic consciousness. While womanism may seem more encompassing, Black feminism and womanism appear

-32- to be interchangeable theories of Black women’s empowerment. They both focus on the importance of grounding Black women’s activism in their cultural heritage---discouraging submissiveness as a result of their “other” status to the dominant culture. This provides a foundation for Black women to resist oppression in the race and gender arenas. In addition, both theories encourage Black women to value and love self, which assists them in combating dehumanization and objectification---Black women are more than cheap labor and baby makers. Next, both theories recognize that the objective of Black women activists is to create a community based on non-dominance. Finally, in an effort to relieve the tension and apprehension of labeling one’s self a Black feminist or womanist, they should adopt the philosophy of bell hooks. She states: I believe that women should think less in terms of feminism as an identity and more in terms of ‘advocating feminism’; to move from emphasis on personal lifestyle issues toward creating political paradigms and radical models of social change that emphasize collective as well as individual change. For this reason I do not call myself a black feminist....Black women must identity ways feminist thought and practice can aid in our process of self-discovery and share that knowledge with our sisters. This is the base on which to build political solidarity. When that grounding exists, black women will be fully engaged in feminist movement that transforms self, community, and society. (hooks 1989, p. 182)

Social Constructivism & Perception Theory The second major influence in my exploration of the perceptions of Black women’s leadership stems from the works of Lev Vygotsky, a cognitive psychologist, who is the grandfather of social constructivist theory. Like BFT, the social constructivist perspective has been controversial since its inception. Vygotsky’s view of constructivism is called social constructivism because he emphasized the critical importance of culture and social context for cognitive development. According to Gubrium and Holstein (1993), the tenets of social constructivism are concerned with the social construction of meaning from daily conversations, interactions and assumptions. Essentially, meaning and knowledge is constructed and conveyed through social interaction. Furthermore, the assumption is that “human beings actively create and interpret social reality” (Agger, 1993, p. 285). In other words, people create society just as they are created by society.

-33- In particular, the social constructivist approach was a response and alternative to the structural functionalist approach to social problems. Structural functionalists assume that social conditions exist separately from people’s interpretations of them (Miller & Holstein, 1993). Specifically, “they believe that objective knowledge of social conditions is obtainable through the scientific method and that the social conditions are truly social problems” (Ibid., p. 7). This implies that society is conceptualized external to people. In other words, problems in society live irrespective of people’s thoughts and behavior. In contrast, social constructivism posits that society is both intersubjective and objective. In this model, society is shaped through people’s interactive creation of meaning, which in turn acquires an objectivity that is somehow independent of them (Agger, 1993). Ideally, social constructivism stresses the mutual relationship of subjectivity and intersubjectivity, on one hand, and objective social institutions, on the other. Under social constructivism social problems are not objective conditions that are studied and corrected. Rather, they are “interpretive processes that constitute what come to be seen as oppressive, intolerable, or unjust conditions” (Ibid., p. 6). In addition, social constructivism purports that class of social interactions are where the members formulate, describe, interpret, and evaluate symbols based on their “morally charged intersubjective experience” (Ibarra & Kitsuse, 1993, p. 24). Specifically, for members, claims are symbolic acts, and it is the researcher’s responsibility to determine how the members read the symbols and construct meaning through the development of categories and themes that analyze the social problems. As a result of its subjective nature, social constructivism posits that members constitute reality, and that the researchers are discovering the reality (Pollner, 1993). This unveiling of one’s reality is made possible “by bracketing the life world, that is, setting aside one’s taken-for- granted orientation to it” (Holstein & Gubrium, 1993, p. 263). In this process the observer or listener can focus on the ways in which those studied make meaning of their reality. This is accomplished in our assumption that others basically experience the world in the way we do, thus allowing us to understand one another in our dealings with the world. As discussed by Holstein and Gubrium, “we take our subjectivity for granted, overlooking its constitutive character, presuming that we intersubjectively share the same reality” (Ibid., p. 263).

-34- In addition to providing the foundation for the construction of meaning and reality, social constructivism served as the umbrella for the psychological theories behind attitude development, cognitive dissonance, and self-perception. These three constructs provide further insight into dimensions of social constructivism and its focus on meaning making and reality. By understanding one’s feelings, thoughts, and how humans internalize them into behaviors, we are able to gain a sense of how people understand the world. In looking at attitude development, it is necessary to define the concept of attitude. An attitude is “an evaluation of persons, places, and things” (Carlson & Buskist, 1997, p. 492). Within this concept are three components: affect, cognition, and behavior. According to Carlson & Buskist (1997), the affective component consists of the feelings aroused by a particular topic. A set of beliefs about a topic make up the cognitive component, and the behavioral component is based on the tendency to act in certain ways with respect to a certain topic. Another theory that attempts to explain how attitudes develop and affect behavior is that of Leon Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory. According to cognitive dissonance theory, dissonance, or disequilibrium, results when a person perceives an inconsistency between their attitudes and behavior, between their behavior and self-image, or between one attitude and another (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). Ultimately, there is a driven motivation to maintain a sense of consistency among relevant thoughts. In order to renew a sense of equilibrium, a person will be motivated to reduce the dissonance by engaging in dissonance reduction (Festinger as cited in Carlson & Buskist, 1997). A person can accomplish dissonance by decreasing the importance of one of the inconsistent factors, adding consistent factors, or completely changing one of the inconsistent factors (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). The final theory that influenced this study was self-perception theory. Developed by Daryl Bem as an alternative to cognitive dissonance theory, self-perception theory is defined in the following way: Individuals come to “know” their own attitudes, emotions, and other internal states partially by inferring them from observations of their own overt behavior and/or the circumstances in which this behavior occurs. Thus, to the extent that internal cues are weak, ambiguous, or uninterpretable, the individual is functionally in the same position as an outside observer, an observer who must necessarily rely on those same external cues to infer the individual’s inner states. (cited in Carlson & Buskist, 1997, p. 498)

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This says that just as observers, or others, make judgments about one’s attitudes and emotions by examining their behavior, the individual also analyzes their own internal state in a similar fashion, causing them to come to conclusions about the causes of their own behavior (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). According to Bem, people will attribute their behavior to internal influences when concrete external causes are not sufficient indicators. Unlike cognitive dissonance theory, people’s behaviors can be motivated by other internal factors besides those that are disharmonious to their attitudes and emotions. An empirical example containing the elements of attitude, cognitive dissonance, and self- perception theories is the work of psychologist Claude Steele. In his study, “A Threat in the Air,” Steele investigates how stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance. While the subject of Steele’s research does not directly align with the nature of this study, his development of stereotypes and their effects speak to the underlying objectives of this study. Specifically, the concept of stereotype threat is defined as: Situational threat---a threat in the air---that, in general form, can affect the members of any group about whom a negative stereotype exists. Where bad stereotypes about these groups apply, members of these groups can fear being reduced to that stereotype. And for those who identify with the domain to which the stereotype is relevant, this predicament can be self-threatening (Steele, 1997, p. 614).

This sense of threat can influence an affected member’s attitude about themselves, their particular group, and those who own the stereotype. Furthermore, cognitive dissonance may result as the stereotypes cause disequilibrium between these external perceptions and self- perceptions of the stereotyped member, and may eventually lead to an internalization of the stereotype. The findings of this study suggest that the stereotyped threat can be reduced through an acknowledgment of the stereotype and other practices, which ultimately reduces the negative affects of the stereotype. On can see that this issue of stereotyping and its relation to self- perception is a very complex issue, however Steele’s work makes a concerted effort to bridge the gap of understanding the connection between stereotypes, self-perception, and behavior. In looking at the concepts of attitude, cognitive dissonance, and self-perception, it is necessary to explore their developmental patterns. A brief explanation of developmental theory

-36- will provide insight into how people’s attitudes, occasionally resolve dissonance, and self- perceptions manifest. Typically, a discussion of developmental theory involves three stages (childhood, adolescence, and adulthood), but for the purposes of this study only the adulthood stage will be presented, as all of the participants are of adult age. Specifically, this discussion of developmental theory will focus on self-perceptions and personality. In general, self-perceptions do no appear to be highly changeable during the adult years. According to Sigelman and Shaffer (1995), most researchers find no evidence that young, middle-aged, and elderly adults differ in self-esteem or other forms of self-perception; in fact, they believed that culture was more important than age in shaping adults’ self-perceptions. In essence, how we are socialized is a better determinant of our self-perception than our chronicled lives. For example, the self-perceptions for Black women and White men are likely to be very different based on their represented groups that are viewed by society and based upon differential socialization. While self-perceptions in adults seem to be more stable, the personality element is both stable and changeable. Sigelman and Shaffer (1995) state that the five major personality dimensions---neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness---tend to remain the same during adulthood. Possible reasons for this stability are influence of genetic inheritance, childhood experiences, and stability of environments (Ibid.). However, there are some shifts in personality during adulthood that may be affected by biological factors or disequilibrium between person and environment. In these situations a serious illness or non-traditional thinking and behavior (not conforming to traditional stereotypes) can be responsible for significant personality changes in adults. Summary The review of the literature demonstrates that much can be learned about Black women’s leadership. Yet, there are many more elements of BWAs leadership that need to be explored, such as the effects of others’ perceptions, that will provide a greater insight and better understanding of how Black women in administration navigate the ship of leadership. From what I have learned about the obstacles to women’s leadership, Black women as leaders in other venues, and the various perceptions held about Black women, I am inclined to believe that there

-37- is a particular urgency of my inquiry concerning the affects of BWAs’ internalization of others’ perceptions of their leadership. I know that the concepts of the glass ceiling, double bind, and traditionally defined masculine views of leadership continue to be barriers that retard or totally prevent women’s mobility on the administrative career ladder. I also know that while Black women may not be respected as leaders in the worlds of business and academia, they have been and continue to be outstanding leaders in their homes, churches, and larger communities, where they seek to advance the accomplishments of an entire people. Furthermore, I know that despite their leadership efforts, women and specifically Black women have not always been perceived in a positive manner. According to the literature, most of the perceptions held about them are negative in nature (hooks, 1989; Collins, 1991; Jamieson, 1995 and Nader, 2000). In this chapter, I also explored the Black feminist/womanist, social constructivist, and perception perspectives that form my theoretical framework for looking at how the perceptions of others are internalized and affect BWAs leadership. In particular, the Black feminist/womanist lens led me to examine issues of the sociocultural and historical contexts and the intersectionality of race and gender for Black women. The social constructivist and perception theories helped me to determine how BWAs make meaning concerning their attitudes, inconsistencies between their attitudes and/or behavior, the construction of their own self-perceptions, and how others may use the same process to generate attitudes about BWAs. This exploration was important to the nature of this study, for it identified my working assumptions upon which I relied in my search to understand and construct meaning around the BWAs’ stories of how they perceive others’ perceptions of them as leaders, why they believe those perceptions exist, how they feel about those perceptions, and how the perceptions affect their perceptions of their leadership.

-38- Chapter III Methods and Procedures Introduction The purpose of this study was to better understand and describe how others perceived Black women in higher education administration, from the views of the Black women administrators. Specifically, the focus concentrates on how Black women administrators perceived others’ perceptions of them as leaders. In order to achieve this goal, it was necessary to interview several Black women administrators about their leadership experiences and their views on external perceptions of their leadership. The objectives of this study were (1). To determine how BWAs perceived others’ perceptions of them as leaders. (2). To describe how BWAs felt about those external perceptions. (3). To assess why BWAs believed the perceptions of others existed. (4). To determine how the Black women administrators were affected by their perceptions of how others perceived them. Site Selection The ideal sites for this study were both predominantly White and historically Black institutions of higher learning. These differing types of colleges contributed to greater diversity in the experiences of the participants. For this reason the participants were partially selected due to the differing characteristics of their respective universities. Two of the universities were mid- size, public, predominantly White institutions (PWIs) located in the Midwest. The other PWI was a mid-size private university located in a major southern urban city. The three remaining sites were Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) located in southern states, two of which were public and one private. Informant Selection The six informants selected for this study were Black women who held an administrative position at a four-year college or university. They had positions ranging from director of an academic program to dean of a school. The average time spent in their current administrative positions was three years. The six women had held previous administrative positions, with their

-39- administrative tenure ranging from four to fifteen years. All of the administrators held advanced degrees; two had masters and four had doctorates. The informants were selected to participate in this study for various reasons. They were chosen based on knowing a few of the women, recommendations made by a female university administrator, their administrative positions, and type of institution of which they were employed. In particular, one of the informants was a participant in a previous study I conducted the previous year. I met two of the women at graduate school/career fairs (one two years ago and the other four years ago). A university administrator who is familiar with the nature of this study recommended two of the women, whom I did not know. And the last informant was informally approached at a university event. Regarding their administrative positions, I wanted to ensure that I had selected women with varying positions, which were as follows: director of an academic scholars program, director of graduate studies, director of an academic external relations program, departmental chair, associate dean of graduate school, and dean of a school of social work. Last, I selected women from both PWIs and HBCUs to explore the components of race and gender. In order to maintain confidentiality, the names of the universities and informants were changed. In addition, any identifying characteristics of the informants and universities were changed or eliminated from the study. Data Gathering The data for this study were gathered through semi-structured interviews with the six women. The semi-structured interviews gave me the freedom to ask additional questions and helped to set a conversational tone. Most of the interview questions were taken from the guiding questions of the study. In addition, the women were sent demographics questionnaires prior to the interview, which were returned to me at the interview or received via mail at a later date. Five of the interviews were conducted at the informants’ universities. The other interview was conducted at a hotel located in a different state than the administrator worked, which was convenient for both the informant and the researcher. All of the interviews were audio taped, with the consent of the informants, and personally transcribed. The time of the interview sessions ranged from thirty to sixty minutes. Prior to the beginning of each interview, the women

-40- read and signed a statement prepared by the researcher that informed them of their rights as a participant in this study and their consent to taping the interview. Data Analysis Conceptual narrative segments were used to analyze the interviews through a constant comparative analysis. Constant comparative analysis is a process that requires the researcher to continually analyze interview narrative throughout the period of data gathering. This process involves the development of thinking units to analyze the interview transcripts. According to Hofmann (1999), thinking units are broad categories within the researcher’s conceptual framework and may be associated with the researcher questions. The thinking units were used to develop categories and the overall theme of the study. Trustworthiness Once the tapes were transcribed and a summary report written, I conducted member checks where the six interviewed participants were provided with a copy of their transcription and a report that summarized all of the interview data. This allowed the informants to review and comment on their responses, and those of the other informants. Based on the feedback provided, I believe that verisimilitude, a state of truth, was achieved as the women read the collective experiences of all the women. Methodology Interpretative discourse was used to develop this study for several reasons. First, the purpose of this study lends itself to the aims and purpose of interpretative discourse. Specifically, interpretative discourse places understanding, or Verstehen, at the center of its conversation, which is the major objective of this study. While this study is based on the stories and experiences of Black women who were studied, further understanding is needed. The perspectives these women had concerning how they are perceived by others was better understood through in-depth descriptions of their experiences, feelings, and thoughts. With this process, one is able to see how a particular group makes sense of their world. In this study, Black women administrators were able to share their experiences as they related to others’ perceptions of them. Thus, their stories provided a better understanding to the readers of this

-41- study, as well as the participants whose personal reflections may have clarified and brought meaning to their situations. Second, this discourse’s focus on multiple realities indicates that reality is socially constructed. As stated by Glesne, “The ontological belief for interpretivists, therefore, is that social realities are constructed by the participants in those social settings” (1999, p. 5). In reference to this study, the Black women administrators’ reality is not in the perceptions of how Whites, men and other Black women view the women studied, but in the Black women administrators’ perceptions of how they believed they are perceived by those people. Third, the qualitative methods utilized in interpretive discourse allowed me, as the researcher, to gain access to the multiple perspectives of the participants, which is generally accomplished through long-term, in-depth interaction between the researcher and participants. This allows for the researcher to gain a conceptualized understanding of the participants’ views on their culture and ways of living (Ogbu, Sato & Kim, 1994). For this reason, as previously stated, I used semi-structured interviews that were audio taped. Taping the interviews allowed the freedom of conversation between the researcher and participant, with little to no intrusion. Furthermore, the tapes and completed demographics questionnaires provided an opportunity for the researcher to revisit the interviews at a later time, gaining a deeper analysis of the participants’ responses. Fourth, interpretive discourse lends itself to meaning and understanding being found in language. In particular, Soltis recognized that “language is itself a social product and is socially learned. As such, it is the means for passing on the enduring ideals, values, beliefs, and accumulated knowledge of a society” (1994, p. 1523). In addition, Woods stated that the most important symbols were verbal, where concentrating on “language increase the human being’s powers of reflectivity and the ability to see one’s self as an object” (1992, p. 342). This meaning is what I hope I achieved in this study. For instance, much of meaning found is this study was based on others’ perceptions of the Black women as administrators and the collective meaning it has for the Black women administrators. In essence, the language provides a means of seeing the world from the Black women’s point-of-view that was based on the perceptions of others.

-42- Next, the elimination of the theory/practice dualism, where achieving praxis was the goal, was very important to this study. A theoretical framework cannot be determined in isolation, just as concrete events do not have meaning in isolation. It is in the coming together of both theory and practice that knowledge and meaning emerge. As the Black women administrators talked about their experiences in their stories, implications for various theories arose. Finally, the realization that it was impossible for the researcher to maintain a completely disinterested attitude was important. Due to my sharing many of the same characteristics and experiences of my informants, I recognized that I might have some biases. Therefore, I had to be continually cognizant of those biases and setting them aside through some form of bracketing or reflexivity. According to Hammersley and Atkinson, “reflexivity is a necessary part of the research process” (cited in Ogbu, Sato & Kim, 1994, p. 2048). In other words, this reflexive nature should not be overlooked and ignored, for the very essence of understanding the world from the view of others is dependent on the absence of the researcher’s views. In particular, this concept of reflexivity and the tenets of interpretative discourse afforded me the opportunity to use a reflexive writing form in the presentation and analysis of the interviews. The organization of this section was written in three voices, that of the informants, the researcher as a scholar, and the personal voice of the researcher as a Black woman. This reflexive presentation was adopted from the writing style that was presented in Gloria Ladson-Billings’ book, The Dreamkeepers (1994). While my use of reflexivity was an attempt to become more self-aware, it also served as a bridge between the informants’ reality and mine.

-43- Chapter IV Interpretation of Categories and Analysis of Meaning This chapter was written in two sections presenting the interpretation of categories and analysis of meaning. In the interpretation of categories, the stories of the BWAs’ experiences are explored. Further analysis of the stories is presented in the analysis of meaning, where theory is incorporated with the specific findings represented in the categories. Both presentations attempt to address the research questions: 1. How do Black women administrators (BWAs) view themselves as leaders? 2. How do BWAs think others perceive them? 3. Do BWAs perceive their leadership styles and characteristics cause them to be negatively or positively perceived by others? 4. Have BWAs ever been referred to as bitch, Black bitch, or other derogatory names; or thinks that people perceive them in that manner? 5. What experiences have BWAs had with confronting others who perceive them in this manner? 6. How do BWAs feel about women being labeled a bitch? Why do BWAs think this labeling occurs? 7. Could negative perceptions and labels be a result of their race, gender, or dualism?

Interpretation of Categories I have written this chapter with three voices: (1) my voice as a Black woman scholar and researcher; (2) that of the BWAs, who were the informants of the study; and (3) my personal voice as a Black woman, who relates to the stories and experiences of the BWAs. I adopted this format from Gloria Ladson-Billings, who uses a similar style in her work, The Dreamkeepers. This style of writing was particularly interesting to me because it allows the research to be both empirical and reflective, thus offering a combination of scholarship and the lived experiences of storytelling. According to Ladson-Billings, “in fields such as law, education, ethnic studies, and feminist studies, story has gained credence as an appropriate methodology for transmitting the richness and complexity of cultural and social phenomena” (1994, p. x). The basis of the stories focused on the leadership experiences of the six BWAs who were interviewed for this study. However, my own experiences as a Black woman and one who desires to be a college administrator provide a foundation for my understanding of their experiences. This writing style allowed me to integrate my research skills with my personal

-44- knowledge and understanding of my culture and experiences as a Black woman. Due to my sharing many of the same characteristics and experiences of my informants, I recognized that I cannot be completely objective and that my subjectivity might be necessary, to some degree. In other words, how I interpret the worldview of others depends on my understanding of the world. This reflexive writing style was an attempt to become more aware of my subjectivies and to understand the personal experiences of the BWAs, yet it has also served as a bridge between their reality and mine. As discussed in chapter three, conceptual narrative segments were used to analyze the interview data through constant comparative analysis. In this process, I continuously analyzed the data from the time the individual interviews were completed to the period where thinking units and categories emerged. The thinking units that I developed were leadership, discrimination, and perceptions. I found that the leadership thinking unit incorporated the subcategories of the BWAs’ definitions of leadership, views of themselves as leaders, and how others viewed them as leaders. The discrimination thinking unit included the elements of race and gender, which were often difficult to separate. Like the first thinking unit, the perceptions unit involved how the BWAs viewed themselves as leaders, how others perceived the BWAs as leaders, and the effects of others’ perceptions. From these thinking units several categories and subcategories were formed. The specific categories that emerged from the voices of the informants were (1) How BWAs defined leadership; (2) BWAs self-perceptions as leaders; (3) Others perceptions of BWAs as leaders; (4) Misconceptions and negative perceptions of BWAs; (5) Discrimination based on race and gender; and (6) How BWAs are affected by others perceptions of them. To gain a better understanding of the categories, brief descriptions are provided below. 1. The BWAs identified several traditionally defined characteristics or traits of leadership that included visionary, ability to manage, being a team player, and effective communicator, which are often viewed as classic textbook qualifiers of leadership. In addition, some more feminine qualities were offered in their descriptions of leadership, such as being patient, empathetic, and humble. 2. In looking at themselves as leaders, the BWAs believed that they captured the

-45- characteristics of leadership they discussed in their definitions. However, some stated that they did not see themselves as leaders, but began to recognize their leadership through their administrative positions. In working towards a self-definition that encompassed their leadership persona, the BWAs saw the traits of visionary, team player, and effective communicator as their greatest leadership qualities. 3. Many of the same traits that the BWAs mentioned in self-referral were discussed in terms of how they believed others viewed their leadership. However, in addition to a visionary with good communication and people skills, the BWAs felt that people also saw their more intimate qualities that included being committed, dedicated, caring, approachable, warm, nice and compassionate. The BWAs felt that these qualities, along with the more traditional characteristics of leadership, were what people saw of these women because that is what they displayed, and ultimately how they wanted to be viewed. 4. Some of the BWAs felt that their leadership qualities and personas were misperceived or seen in a negative light. For instance, those women who displayed more feminine traits in their leadership were misperceived as being soft and possibly less competent leaders. In opposition, those who possessed more traditionally defined masculine characteristics were seen as tough, rigid leaders. These misperceptions sometimes lead to negative perceptions of the BWAs---in that people were not used to seeing Black women in positions of authority. In addition, the negative perceptions existed as a means of bringing harm to the Black women’s character and their ability as leaders. 5. Discrimination in their administrative careers seemed to be another commonality that the BWAs shared. While it seems that the basis of the discrimination would be easy to determine, their dualism as Black women often blurred the lines of race and gender. Some of the BWAs, who had experience in White institutions, felt that the discrimination they experienced was more attributable to race. The most common form of discrimination experienced dealt with barriers of promotional mobility. 6. Whether based on positive or negative perceptions, the BWAs were affected by others’ perceptions of them. These perceptions focused on their leadership characteristics and abilities, personal attributes, and their race and gender. Some of the perceptions were encouraging and

-46- supportive of the BWAs personas, serving as motivation for them to continue in their leadership. Other perceptions caused the women to alter their personalities and leadership styles, in an effort to be viewed in a more positive fashion. Ultimately, the personal perceptions and behaviors of the BWAs were affected by their views of how others perceived them. In particular, these categories represented the commonalties of the women’s perceptions and experiences. As previously stated, this section was written in three voices. The interpretation of the categories was my voice as the researcher. The dialogues were excerpts from the interviews, representing the voice of the informants. The last voice represented how I personally related to the experiences of the BWAs as a Black woman. Ultimately, the three voices reflected the meaning of each category by intertwining what I knew as a researcher with the experiences of the BWAs and what I knew about myself---simultaneously telling a story. Presentation of Stories How BWAs defined leadership: In beginning the discussions with the BWAs, I felt it was necessary to build a foundation for our conversations concerning their leadership experiences. Thus, I wanted to know how they characterized or defined a leader. For many of the women, their definitions appeared to be classic or textbook in nature, listing the most common characteristics of being a visionary, team player, and effective communicator. In my discussions with the BWAs I heard several similar statements concerning the importance of being a visionary. Specifically, the BWAs stated that as a visionary, a leader must be able to create a vision or mission, communicate it to others, and move people towards its fruition. Statements that supported this assertion included: “[A leader has the] ability to create a compelling vision for their organization, communicate that vision to others, and inspire credibility and excitement around that vision.”

“A person with vision…leaders have to have a certain vision so that they can move people in the direction toward achieving that vision.”

“I think that leaders are people who look beyond today and right now.”

The next trait of being a team player or having emotional intelligence, as one of the BWAs so eloquently referenced, is the ability to get along with people. This definition extends

-47- to include working with others in a collaborative or participatory nature, whereby the leader is able to meet the needs of others. The following comments were given regarding this component of leadership: “It must be somebody who has the capacity to be a team player, who has what I call emotional intelligence, that is the ability to work with people and get people to work with you.”

“One who understands the working relationship with people---that you don’t necessarily have to beat people down to get them to perform.”

“Somebody who knows how to get everybody involved, delegate, and not try to do it all themselves.” “A leader is one who works collaboratively.”

The last characteristic, being an effective communicator, seemed to exude in all the women’s discussions, whether explicitly or implicitly. In most cases, good communication skills were mentioned in terms of being a good speaker and a listener who is approachable. The following excerpts reflect the importance of being an effective communicator: “I think a leader is a good listener. One who is an effective communicator.”

“[A leader is able] to engage people in having input into a decision. You may not make the decision in the way that everybody on the team would like you to make it, but they feel they have participated in the process.”

“[One who has] the ability to see the needs of the people you are working with, and be able to effectively address those needs.”

While these three characteristics were important to the BWAs in their definitions of leadership, they also mentioned other qualities that might be viewed as more feminine traits of leadership. They discussed such characteristics as being patient, empathetic, humble, and flexible. In their discussions, these qualities appeared to be as important as the three traditional characteristics that are normally associated with a leader. However, less attention was given to them in the BWAs interviews, possibly because they are more reflective of feminine leadership and not as widely accepted as the “norm” of leadership. The following comments reflect their more feminine views of leadership: “I think leaders should be patient. I also think leaders are people who are empathetic.”

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“One who is respectful of the expertise of others. One who is flexible and one who is patient.”

“[A leader is one who] works to make those you work with feel comfortable.”

In my review of the question that led to these responses, I wonder how I would have responded. Would I have characterized leadership solely from the traditionally defined perspective, or would I have incorporated more feminine qualities into my definition? In many ways I have been so covertly influenced by the traditional model of leadership, that I think anything outside that model is a result of outside thinking, or in some ways wrong. Like the BWAs, I believe that being a visionary, team player, and effective communicator are important. And while I believe that being patient, flexible, empathetic and respectful are equally important, I am not sure that I would offer them as traits of a good leader. In many ways that bothers me. Have I grown up in a society that has taught me to see leader and man as synonymous beings? I hope not. I believe women are leaders and think that I always have; yet in many ways my own leadership has been seen as masculine---in my eyes and those of others. In presenting this category, masculine and feminine traits of leadership were discussed. Does this mean that I heard the women defining leadership according to gender differences? Hardly, in essence the BWAs described leadership, as they believed it to be, thereby incorporating traits that can be displayed by both women and men in their efforts to be leaders. These included a leader who was focused yet flexible, decisive yet respectful, a visionary yet patient, and an effective communicator who had emotional intelligence and was empathetic. Perhaps the BWAs’ definitions of leadership were influenced by the recent feminist research on leadership that has helped to redefine the concept. Or maybe their language was a direct result of their socialization as women, where they were taught to be and act in ways that were female in nature. Whatever the case, the administrators have clearly outlined the qualities they believe represent good and effective leadership. These definitions will be further explored as consideration is given to how the concept of leadership applies to them personally.

-49- BWAs self-perceptions as leaders: Based on the interviews, it became apparent that the definitions rendered by the administrators were descriptions of them. Whether consciously or unconsciously, I believe the BWAs were describing their own character as they discussed the traits they thought represented leadership. One possibility is that when asked how they viewed themselves as leaders, they felt it necessary to respond in a way that would suggest they were examples of the good leadership they just described. So the BWAs either viewed themselves as good leaders, thus basing their definitions on their own personas, or they worked to represent the characteristics they believed a good leader possessed. Following are some statements regarding this connection of the BWAs leadership definition and their personal leadership: “I really work hard to capture all of those characteristics I just mentioned---most specifically, the visionary role.”

“Well, I guess in a way I have described myself…I guess I described all the things that if I’m not there, that is where I want to be.”

“I would like to think that I am all of the attributes, which I just mentioned---particularly one who is an effective communicator.”

As I reflect on these statements, I think that the women had conceptualized certain models of a good leader and tried to live up to that image. Their language suggests that their personas were modeled after these prescribed definitions. Perhaps as women and specifically Black women, there is an unwritten rule that they must possess the classic textbook qualities of leadership to be considered good leaders. Another possibility is that some people may still connect leadership to positions of authority, thereby creating a philosophy that one is not a leader unless she holds certain positions of authority and prestige. For instance, some of the women in the study initially declined to participate because they did not feel they were leaders. They offered to introduce me to other Black women with higher positions, because they did not feel that they were the type of persons I wanted to study. One woman briefly touched on this concept in her interview: “Sometimes you get to be a leader by virtue of a position of authority, and then you carve your way and define what fits your persona…I don’t think that I view myself as a leader all the time.”

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Another component to this category was that the administrators felt that they must continually work to improve their leadership. They did not allow their positions of authority to overshadow their desires to be effective leaders. Just as the qualities of visionary, team player, and effective communicator were the most common traits shared by the BWAs in their definitions of leadership, these were areas they seemed to be the most concerned about improving and highlighting for themselves. In her discussion of the visionary role, one administrator states: “What I’m looking for is to make things better. No matter how good things are, I believe there is a way to make them better. I have lived through that process myself, in everything I do. And I’m very excited about it and committed to it…So this commitment to continuous improvement---it’s almost a discipline of envisioning a future that is not near hand. It is not necessarily visible to others, but is possible for making the whole environment, the organization, and the opportunity better. It is something that almost comes naturally to me now, because of the on-going practice of that discipline.”

Others offered the following comments about the leadership characteristics that they believed were their strengths or needed strengthening: “The visionary piece would be one that I would need to [develop more].”

“I think I have very good people skills, which is why I say that emotional intelligence is so important. I also think that I have the capacity to get along with others.”

“I don’t think I’m as visionary as I want to be---only because it seems like I’m always dealing with people who are stuck in today. But I guess I am [a visionary]. I’m a planner. I feel I could be more organized, but the thing is delegating so you can do that. And I definitely feel that I need to know more about people in order to give them guidance or direction. If they are looking for me to lead them, then I need to understand where they are coming from…from their perspective and not just mine, otherwise I’m not helping them.”

“I would like to think that I am one who works effectively in partnership activities, by way of collaboration. One who certainly does network, one who is a good listener, one who utilizes a team concept in terms of moving forward, and one is very flexible and seeks to use innovation in activities.”

“I think that I am able to communicate well with people…I am also open to training opportunities that will strengthen my leadership.”

-51- In the midst of writing about categories that were previously thought out, they continue to unfold before me. In this process I am learning about myself and my beliefs on leadership. I have always thought of myself as a leader, but never how those thoughts were influenced by what society dictates as leadership. I guess in many ways I strive to be like the leaders I have read about and those that society accepts as leaders. For the most part these role models have been men. Even as a child, I idolized my father’s leadership position at work and never really paid much attention to my mother’s; when she was the one who, in many ways, was a leader because she was a women thriving in a male dominated profession (broadcasting and television production). It has only been in the past few years that I have selected women as my leadership role models, which now include my mother, Oprah, Maya Angelo, and Queen Latifah, to name a few. Based on my conversations with the BWAs, I have realized that my leadership lacks the more feminine traits of patience, flexibility, empathy, and warmth. In no way am I implying that I have mastered the visionary, team player, and effective communicator aspects of leadership, I am just more concerned about improving those other qualities. Perhaps this is because I tend to be more masculine in my approach to leadership, where I concentrate on being more straightforward, clear, concise, focused, decisive, assertive, and possibly authoritarian in nature. When I was leading in the classroom as a teacher, I began to realize the virtues of being more patient, empathetic and flexible with my students, parents, and colleagues. In essence, I am striving to be softer in my approach, while not being misperceived as weak. The interviews with the participants of this study have certainly taught me a great deal about my personal leadership journey and leadership in general. I have come to realize that a good leader has a balance of both sets of qualities, irrespective of their gender. Ultimately this experience has shown me that I cannot be a visionary without being flexible, a team player without being empathetic, and an effective communicator without being patient and respectful. It appears that these qualities feed off each other instead of being traits in opposition to one another. As I learn more about the tenets of leadership and myself, I realize that my leadership journey has only just begun.

-52- I believe that some of the BWAs found the process of perceiving their leadership quite challenging. It caused them to partake in self-reflection where they had to evaluate their leadership qualities, which may have caused them to question their capabilities as leaders. How often do people take time to reflect about themselves? In our society, we are so quick to evaluate and judge others that we rarely self-reflect and may even be uncomfortable doing so. However, when we take time to be reflexive, we become more aware of who we are, recognizing our strengthens and weaknesses. Not only does this self-reflective process allow us to evaluate ourselves; it opens the window to how we believe others perceive us. Others perceptions of BWAs as leaders: As administrators who worked in various colleges and universities, these women worked in many different capacities as educators to students, supervisors to their subordinates, and peers to other colleagues. In those relationships the women may have been perceived in several different perspectives, however this study was most concerned with how they were perceived as leaders. Instead of interviewing those they worked with, I wanted to know how the BWAs believed others perceived their leadership. In these perceptions, many of the women felt that others perceived them in an accurate manner. In other words, how people perceived them was representative of the qualities and traits they displayed. Interestingly, most of the BWAs felt that others perceived their leader in much the same way that they viewed themselves as leaders. Again, those classic characteristics of being a visionary, team player, and effective communicator served as the same lenses that others viewed their leadership through. Evidence of this claim can be seen in the following excerpts: “I think people see the visionary aspects. They see the strategic aspects…I think they would say [I have] high standards. They would [also] say tough, demanding, rigorous, disciplined, [and] does things well.”

“I would like to believe that I’m viewed as one who is an effective communicator, who works well with others by way of action and interpersonal skills.”

In addition to how people, in general, perceived the BWAs, they felt that key groups (students, colleagues, and peers) had more specific ways of viewing their leadership. Possibly this was due to the nature of the working relationships with these groups of people. For instance,

-53- those who discussed students’ perceptions of them seemed to talk more about their intimate qualities. I think that the students viewed them on a more intimate level because of the personal relationships that they had with students. Most of the women did not have teacher-student relationships with students, yet they established relationships with them in other venues. In many of the conversations with the BWAs, I got the impression that they served as mentors and role models for the students in their programs, offices, and campuses, as a whole. The following represents the perceptions of students, from the perspective of the administrators: “A lot of leadership has to do with behavior modeling…So, in terms of the way students view you---they know you are in a position of responsibility. You are a model to them in terms of your behavior, [which] they equate with you being a leader.”

“I think the students see me based on the decisions I make about the school. For example, I recently had to rotate my [department] chair. I am doing it for the growth of the school and because I feel that people can work with each other. The students can learn from other people, and it also allows people to grow when you rotate you chair…I make moves that say to my students, ‘She is a good leader. She is very pleasant, she is very warm, but she also is very decisive and listens to students’ concerns.’ I think some of the students have had experiences with me when they see that being warm does not mean you are a ‘yes-yes person.’ Even when I give them very direct advice, I do it with warmth.”

“The students may see me in a more maternal nature. As a result they view me as a very caring person…They would say that I have the ability to listen, that I am understanding, and a compassionate person. I think they would say I am always looking out for their best interest.”

Like the perceptions of the students, most of the BWAs felt their colleagues and peers viewed their leadership through a personal lens. However, the women also believed that their colleagues perceived their leadership in a professional manner, once again, looking to them as mentors and role models in leadership. Here is what the BWAs had to say about how their colleagues and peers perceived their leadership: “I think that a lot of my colleagues and peers see me in terms of some of the things that I have done in trying to move our institution in a certain direction. I have received recognition for some of the things I have done. The letters that I have received from my immediate supervisor say ‘we appreciate your leadership.’ Other [colleagues] might describe me as competent, committed, and dedicated…a principled person that would not do an under-handed thing just to gain some kind of reaction in people.”

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“Energetic is a word that they say a lot about me. Probably decisive…they would probably say I am a team player. But the [comment] that I hear most often is, ‘Where does Dean [Summers] get her energy from?’ So energetic is a term that encompasses…In it, I think they mean she is task oriented; she gets the job done; when she gives you an assignment, she expects you to have it in in a timely way; when you ask her to do something, she will get it back in a timely way.”

“Everybody [I work with] says, ‘You are such a nice person.’ And that makes me feel good, because I think I’m a nice person. I like myself and I hope that I’m sharing it…I think what they notice most about me is that I’m easy to get along with. Therefore, I’m available and open---they are not intimidated.”

When asked why the women believed people perceived them in the manner they just described, they offered the following responses: “Because it is not a stretch; it is not outside of my normal personality. I’m not a different person outside of the workplace than I am inside the workplace.”

“I know that is what I put out.”

“I think they see that because that is my make-up, my temperament, my personality, attributes, if you will.”

“They perceive me in this way because that is what I want.”

The perceptions the BWAs had of how others perceived them were more than abstract thoughts of how they wanted to be viewed, but were, in part, based on how others behaved or interacted with them. There was a direct connection between how they believed others perceived them as leaders and how they acted around them. For instance, if the woman thought that people saw her as a nice person, then they responded to her in that manner. Below are some examples of how the BWAs perceived the behaviors of others in relation to them as leaders: “I have two very competent young women that are coordinators in my office…I think that in the vernacular, ‘they give me my props.’ They respect the fact that I’ve accomplished whatever it is that I’ve accomplished, and they give respect for the authority of the position. But because we also have a personal relationship, I think they have high regard for me.”

“I think the behaviors are that they are respectful; they are not afraid to talk. I don’t think our faculty is afraid to express what they feel with me, whether they think I’ll agree with

-55- it or not. I think that they know I’m open to ideas. My faculty is very comfortable talking with me either in a group setting or individually…People feel comfortable processing information with me, because they think I’ll give them good feedback---telling them whether they are on track or not. So, there is a comfort level, I think, in working with me.”

“[They act] like they are my friends---like they have known me forever. People hug me all the time, without me actually initiating the hug. When [I] get through talking, they just want to hug [me].”

I can certainly relate to perceptions that the BWAs felt others had of them. Even though I did not personally know each of the women in this study, I feel that I was able to gain a sense of who they were in the interviews. All of these women were people that I would like to model myself after, in some way or another. They were everything that they thought others saw in them. For example, Dean Summers, who talked about being energetic, had so much energy that it just exuded from her presence. When I arrived at her office for our interview, she was still in another meeting with someone else. After her secretary announced me, Dean Summers made a point to let me know that she would be finishing up soon by calling out to me from her office. Apparently the meeting was taking longer than she anticipated, but in her effort to make me feel comfortable and know that we would begin our session soon, Dean Summers would periodically yell a word or two to me from her office. When I finally got the opportunity to see her, she greeted me as if I was one of her students who she was excited to see. She seemed to be really excited about participating in my study and was anxious to get started. Right before we started our conversation, she informed me that a situation had come up at home and that she would have to cut the interview short. Well, time did not appear to limit her comments. Dean Summers had so much she wanted to share with me that I was thankful I was taping, because there is no way I could have kept up by taking notes. Based on her mannerisms and interaction with me, I believe that she had this much energy all the time and that most people hang on her every word when they are in her presence. Her energy was all over the place---in her smile and genuinely interested attitude. It was truly a refreshing experience to see a person in her position have so much energy and not be distant and burned-out from her daily duties as an administrator. I can

-56- give similar testimonies to the other women, in that my perceptions of them matched how they believed others viewed them. The excerpts from this category suggest that the BWAs’ perceptions of how others perceived them as leaders, penetrated their thinking and perceptions. They recognized how others viewed them and were witnesses to their behavior and interactions with them as leaders. Those they worked with saw the many roles they played as administrators, which required them to be organized, supervise their various departments, and meet demanding deadlines. In addition, people saw their leadership qualities of being patient visionaries, empathetic team players, and flexible communicators. As a result, those that worked with the BWAs responded in kind by being respectful, communicative, and attentive. Unfortunately, those positive perceptions and relationships are not always the norm. Sometimes the BWAs were recipients of negative perceptions and misconceptions, not because they were terrible leaders, but because they were leaders who were Black and women. Misconceptions and negative perceptions of BWAs: Living in this society, it is expected that others will perceive one in various ways, resulting from personal interactions, the opinions of others, past experiences with similar people, and prejudice. The perceptions of the Black women in this study were no different. They were perceived based on their character, actions, and society’s portrayal of Black women. Due to the nature of this study, the women were asked to describe how they believed others perceived their leadership. Interestingly, this single lens provided multiple realities, where the BWAs had mixed views concerning others’ perceptions of their leadership. Two of the administrators did not believe that they were negatively perceived or misconceived, because they had not received any such feedback from the people they worked with. The other BWAs felt that people negatively perceived their leadership style and characteristics. These misconceptions and negative perceptions were based on the BWAs displaying warm, participatory, maternal, and quiet traits, which were misconstrued as being soft, insincere, bossy, and distant. Below are examples of these misconceptions and negative perceptions: “I think [my leadership style and characteristics] may sometimes be negatively perceived by others. I think it has to do with warmth---that sometimes can be perceived as soft. And people might take that to mean that you are not as decisive or as strong a leader as

-57- you need to be. Sometimes people may take my wish to have teamship as a negative--- that I really want to invite people’s participation, that may be seen as negative. I think people sometimes think that, ‘she may want to get your ideas, but she is going to do it in her own way.’ Rather than, ‘she is going to take that information into account, and wants to make the best decision possible.’ I think that sometimes my participatory style is misconstrued.”

“Those that don’t know me…if they don’t know me, then they have misperceived me. It is not so much that I did anything, but they have some issues. I have had a coworker who…I didn’t find out until after she starting reporting to me that she [had negative feelings about me], even though we worked well together. She was the receptionist and she was always praising me. That let me know that she had issues, she was one of those types of people who felt she had to kiss-up to whomever was in charge. And I realized that afterwards, that’s what it was. One day, she vented about something (that apparently had to do with me). I was so crushed. I let her know that I don’t do people like that. And if I ever do, you better come and set me straight because something is wrong with me. And since then, that has been resolved. But I realized it was her, because I go out of my way to make people feel comfortable.”

“I think you will always have those situations. Whether you want to be perceived negatively or not, that possibility exists. In my case, students may perceive my leadership in a negative light because of my maternal disposition. They may feel that I am talking to them or treating them like I am their mother, because I stay on their cases about being responsible and productive people.”

“I know that there is this aura that exudes from me. To a certain extent, I don’t know that I’m always on guard enough to control it. I think even if I’m sitting in a room and say absolutely nothing, I still turn out to be the one [people] might perceive as the most distant, or the most aloof. Some how that is the way it appears to people.”

Based on a previous study I conducted concerning Black women administrators as mentors and role models and conversations with colleagues, I became curious about how the specific negative perception of bitch played out in the leadership experiences of BWAs. Like the women in this study, the women of my previous study discussed how people negatively perceived them. The women felt that people, specifically Whites, misinterpreted their authoritarian, aggressive, direct, and clear leadership characteristics as being inappropriate. Consequently, the administrators felt that these misinterpretations were results of cultural differences. As a result of that study and the many conversations that surrounded the negative perception category, I began to question the possibility of a concept I reference as the Black bitch

-58- factor. In this process, BWAs receive this degrading label because they exhibit traits that are normally associated with White male leadership such as assertiveness, confidence, self- assurance, and decisiveness, where these characteristics that work well for the White men are grounds for penalty for Black women. In addition, due to the limited number of Black women in formal leadership positions, many people are not used to the idea of Black women being in positions outside the confines of servitude. This curiosity led me to include this concept as a specific component of this study. When the BWAs were asked if they had ever been recipients of this label or thought that people may have this perception of them, there were mixed views. The following statements speak to this controversial issue: “No. I know some of them; I recognize the ones that are ‘Bs’ or ‘Black Bs,’ and I really don’t think that my persona fits into that. Somebody might call me that, but I really don’t think so.”

“I don’t believe so. I really think that what they might be saying---she is arrogant, self- centered, likes to be right, thinks she knows everything, and doesn’t listen. But they must be very good. I haven’t heard myself referred to in this manner…I’m pretty amazed that I haven’t heard this descriptor of myself.”

Some of the women said that they had never been referred to as a bitch or Black bitch directly, but did feel that to varying degrees, people may have viewed them in such a manner. While they may not have agreed with the specific bitch label, they recognized that others may have negative and derogatory perceptions of them simply because they are doing their job. Here are their testimonies: “Yes, I think that when I come down strong on decisions or maybe make certain kinds of decisions. You can kind of get a sense that people are unhappy. I don’t know what terms they might use, but I think people may leave and say…it may not be bitch, it may be something else that is negative or just as derogatory.”

“I think that somebody might have said that because of me having a certain…probably some White person when I asserted my authority as the director of graduate admissions, and that they had to go by [certain] guidelines. Particularly when they have been very belligerent and they don’t want to accept that this is the way it is. I’m pretty sure that their thought was, ‘that Black bitch.’ You can feel it without them saying it, but nobody has ever said it to me.”

Although all the administrators may not have felt that the Black bitch factor affected them directly, they all had very strong feelings about Black women being given that label. Unequivocally, the BWAs felt that both terms, bitch and Black bitch, were derogatory in nature

-59- and the height of insult. Simply, being referred to in such a manner was the most awful thing that Black women, or women in general, could be subjected to. The following expressions clearly reveal the adamant feelings of the women regarding this concept: “Oh, it is atrocious. It is unacceptable; it is indescribably inappropriate…It is horrific---it is not to be taken lightly.”

“I think that is the height of insult for any other person to refer to a Black woman as a Black bitch. I just think that is beyond the pale. Who are you to use this type of judgment? I find it highly offensive…even for [Blacks] to use it in inside language. I find it offensive. Certainly for some White person to refer to any administrator in that way is just….”

In addition to their feelings concerning the bitch/Black bitch label, the BWAs offered their personal views regarding why Black women were subjects of such ridicule. All of the women believed that BWAs are victims of the Black bitch factor because they are in positions of leadership, to which many people are not accustomed. For many years Blacks, and specifically Black women, were in positions of servitude or positions with little to no leadership responsibilities. Thus, there have been a limited number of Black women administrators in education. Although this number is increasing, many people are not used to the concept of Black women as leaders. Accordingly, Black women are often subjected to degradation, ridicule, and disrespect due to these limited expectations of what Black women are capable of doing. Consequently, the women in this study felt that the basis for this labeling revolved around both race and gender issues, where people had prescribed images of Blacks and women. The administrators’ perspectives on why BWAs are given these labels were outlined in the following statements: “I think it has to do with a lot of pressures in society to keep people down. And so, when Black women particularly rise to certain heights, people want to attack them. One of the best ways to attack somebody is to verbally assault them, or to describe them in a derogatory term. And then the other side of it is, most people that achieve high levels, White, Black, or indifferent, have to be aggressive. And so we already know that when a person exhibits any type of assertive behavior (if it’s a man, its assertive---if it’s a woman, aggressive), so if it’s a Black woman---it just adds insult to injury. So, I think that there is a certain resentment on the part of some others that these women have achieved. And because they have had to exhibit some behaviors…and really they are just

-60- like male administrators or supervisors---that labeling occurs. I don’t think it’s based on anything other than resentment and trying to pull somebody down.”

“I think there is still pretty much…well take a look at the world. It is still a man’s world; it is still a world run by White males. This is a world that is not accustomed to seeing other players besides these White males and we are still unwelcomed. What the world has done is…it has opened up its little crevices to White women who have gone through the floodgates and inhabited the world in large numbers at the leadership role. And we have large numbers of White males and large numbers of White females basically running everything. And there really is no place set aside for Black professionals except in tiny circumscribed roles: affirmative action, multicultural affairs, in rare cases, police chief. But there are very limited roles for Black people in the mainstream. The world hasn’t opened up to allow for us to take our rightful places. And so any assertion of excellence, or desire to be part of the action, part of the leadership is viewed as a front. It’s not accepted; it is not a happy sight and people want to stop it.”

“I think it’s largely because in the United States there are little to no role models who are successful, elegant, capable African American women. I say that with all due respect to the numbers of people who have succeeded in spite of the barriers and challenges…There is really no role model for who we are, and I say ‘we’ collectively as the women in your study, as Black professional women. Unless you can manage to bring in some sort of characature of yourself, people are just not terribly comfortable with who you are. They are questioning your right to speak knowledgeably about the things you know. But as spokespersons for knowledge, Americans in general---White Americans, specifically--- are not accustomed to seeing this picture. Thus, there is a tendency to reject it.”

Like the women, I have never been called a bitch or Black bitch to my face, however, I do believe that people have said it behind my back or may have this perception of me. Some of my friends have told me that their first impression of me was one they would have labeled as bitch. According to them, I share many of the characteristics that often lead to the bitch label, which the women in this study discussed. Specifically, I have been told that I am bossy, self-centered, extremely organized, think that I know everything and that I’m always right. In my view, if my friends had these perceptions of me, I can only imagine that strangers do too. The only difference is that my friends have had the opportunity to know me on a personal level. I believe that is was my own views of being perceived in this manner that inspired me to investigate this issue in this study. Another influence was that I desire to be an administrator in higher education and was curious to find out if the Black bitch factor existed for current administrators. I wanted to know how the label affected them personally and professionally. I

-61- often wonder how my leadership style will be perceived. Will my assertiveness and direct approach lead to the Black bitch label, or will people begin to recognize that Black women can possess those traits and be the recipient of an effective leader label instead? Will there ever be a time when such characteristics and others that have normally been associated as masculine traits of leadership, be the norm for all good leaders, irrespective of gender? Will people’s perceptions of Black women’s leadership begin to change for the better, or more importantly, will my view of my leadership change? The BWAs’ responses to the questions concerning the concept of the Black bitch factor revealed that this is a topic of a very sensitive nature. Many of them recognized that they may have exhibited traits that would normally lend themselves to be viewed in such a manner, yet they could not bring themselves to admit that the label may be applied to them. The BWAs expressed very deep feelings about the issue, revealing their disdain for the derogatory term and its negative implications about Black women’s leadership. Yet, their ability to speak to the issue of the why they believed Black women were victims of such a degrading image implied the need for exploration of the concept. Although some of the women were uncomfortable with the language itself, most of them discussed why it was important to be looking at the issue. Basically, it was time to begin a dialogue around an image that stifles their leadership and retards their desire to be perceived as good and effective leaders. Just as people used the bitch label to bring harm to Black women administrators, the discrimination they experienced served as another venue to harm them through unfair treatment. Relationship between race, gender, and discrimination: In evaluating the comments from the women regarding their administrative experiences, all but one of them had experienced discrimination at some point in their careers. These incidents were not limited to their current institutions, some occurred at previous colleges and universities. While there was no doubt in their minds that they had been discriminated against, some of the women discussed the difficulty of determining if the discrimination they experienced was due to their race, gender, or both. It seems that one would be able to discern the root of the discrimination, but when you are a Black woman separating your race from your gender can be an impossible task. Because the separation could not take place internally, some of the women

-62- used external factors to decipher the basis of the discrimination. For instance, the BWAs who worked in PWIs felt that the discrimination was more attributable to their race. They did not completely rule out the possibility of gender, but saw it as a secondary issue. The two women that worked in HBCUs, where race was not an issue, saw gender as the primary factor. The type of discrimination that was most prominent dealt with the administrators not being promoted or not receiving public recognition for delayed promotions. These experiences come to light in the passages below: “I think it depends upon the groups you work in. I am working in a Black institution and I think the gender issue is more powerful. If I were working in a White institution, I think the racial issue might be more obvious to me…And obviously today, it is more subtle. It is much more subtle. I think subtlety is more painful because it is not something you can put your hand on and people can deny it (i.e. ‘Oh, I didn’t know I offended you.’).

“Some of it is so subtle that you really can’t say it was because of race or gender. I’ll just cite kind of a global example. I’m in a position now where I finally was promoted. I was in a position lower than this for a number of years, but I was doing the work of the person that would be in my current position. My question was, ‘Why am I not being promoted?’ You know things don’t always happen for women or African Americans as they do for others in the system. So, I decided that being promoted was my goal, this is what I had to do---I had to be promoted and really kind of force the issue, and I had a superior who was sympathetic to that. And so, I got the promotion, and life was lovely. But no public notice to the institution was made, as it had been for others who had been promoted. And when I questioned the person (not the one who promoted me, but one of his staff), the response was, ‘Well if it’s in your paycheck, you know you got the promotion.’ I went on to say, ‘How will I know this is really in effect with no public acknowledgment?’ Whether that is discrimination based on race or whatever, who knows?”

“I had worked at this college for sixteen years, and I was the associate dean. I had run for the dean at that school. They had never had a Black dean at that college. At that time they were not ready for a Black dean. Even though I had outstanding evaluations, outstanding teaching record, and had been the associate dean---and I understand that there was some behind the scenes stuff about some issues that happened---there was just not a readiness for a Black woman to be in that position. At that time I did resign, because I felt that I had given that school considerable, very competent years of my life. The White female dean was leaving, and she supported me 100%. And she later talked to the new president and told her she felt it was racist. And she didn’t feel they could have found a dean that was more qualified than myself. That was when I left. So I have experienced it.”

-63- The BWAs may have had difficulty determining if their race, gender, or combination of the two was the cause of the mobility discrimination they experienced, yet they were definite that race was the primary factor in other discriminatory acts. These included situations of avoidance and limited involvement. Avoidance discrimination referred to the practice of excluding the BWAs from participating in decision making, planning, and budgeting activities of their positions as a result of them being Black. In these instances, the BWAs felt that Whites did not value their leadership in these circumstances or thought they were not competent enough to be involved in the tasks. To some, this issue of avoidance may not seem like discrimination. However, these women were kept from performing duties related to their positions as a result of someone’s prejudicial views of their race. On the other hand, some of the BWAs felt that they were excessively involved when it came to issues of race. These women stated that because of their race they were often asked to participate in issues concerning people of color. This was problematic in that it limited their involvement to race related issues and their leadership abilities were not being considered in other arenas. A few of the women spoke very candidly on these issues: “I can say that I feel like over a period of time, the way someone has conversed with me or treated me was because of…not the opinion they had of me, but the opinion they had of my race in general. Over the years, the reason that I was not put over something that required managing a budget was because the person who was in charge felt like people of color (and she never said it) should not have budget responsibilities. As years went on and I met other people doing the same [job] that I was doing, I felt that she openly gave [the budget responsibilities] to other people in the department. I believe she felt a person of color was not capable of managing the budget. It was very subtle. It wasn’t something that I observed right there that minute.”

“I do believe that in the United States it clearly has something to do with race. When you combine race with expertise and professional polish and an aura of seriousness---you have a combination that terrifies people. And if it only terrified them that would be bad enough, but it also makes them want to do you harm. They feel uncomfortable if they have to share the same platform with you, so they’d rather not have you there. You get left out of a lot of activities. You are omitted from a lot of important activities in which you really should be playing a role. You have no real opportunity to build collegial bonds. That is particularly distressing because professionals often advance their status, their research, and their well being through professional development. And there is extensive psychological research to prove that regardless of your level of expertise, that if people don’t like you for whatever reason---your future is going to be retarded. Your

-64- opportunities are going to be reduced. Your success is going to be limited.”

“What comes to me, is that you get called on anything that is a minority event to represent. Whenever there are situations that involve students of color, and they feel uncomfortable dealing with it, they call me. If there is a committee to serve on and it has to do with minority issues, I would be asked to serve. It bothered me so, that I got to the point that I would say no.”

I wish I could say this is not a category that I shared with the women of this study, but unfortunately that is not the case. I have experienced discrimination in both my occupational and educational careers. As a business teacher in a Houston high school, I was passed over for a teaching assignment, which I feel was due to race. I say this because I was certified to teach this particular course, yet it was assigned to a White male who was not certified in the discipline. The principal paid for this person to take an entire series of classes that would enable him to teach the course, when I should have been selected because it was my discipline and only would have needed to take the more advanced classes. In my estimation, there is no other reason that I was overlooked for this job, other than race. This course was going to be the first of its kind in the entire district, which would have received district-wide recognition and attracted more students to the school. Furthermore, I believe that this course was going to be used to attract more White students to the school that was 70% students of color, and having a White teacher was going to help in the recruiting efforts. In my educational career, discrimination has been no stranger, but a rather familiar face. I have been told, or it was strongly suggested that I should change my research interest. One professor, in particular, felt that I was limiting myself by focusing my research on issues concerning Blacks. I don’t believe that this advice was given to White students who only researched about Whites, special education, transformative leadership, or whatever their interests were. For some reason it appeared that less quality was given to research on Black issues. I hope that my work and this work, specifically, helps to change that way of thinking. But no matter the outcome, I will not be discouraged and will continue to fight for respect---for the battle remains to be won. Black women may have been able to advance to administrative positions, but it certainly has not been an easy journey. Even in today’s society, discrimination continues to prevail. For

-65- the Black women administrators in this study, there was an on-going struggle to determine if their race, gender, or dualism was the reason behind their unfair treatment. This was often a hard task because the discrimination that they experienced was clouded by subtlety, where it was sometimes difficult to determine if they had been discriminated against. Even when they were able to determine the root of the problem, it did not make their lives and careers any easier. More than likely it complicated matters. Perhaps it would have been more understandable to know that they were not being promoted, given less responsibilities, and limited in their participation to various committees because they lacked the skills and expertise needed, rather than as a result of them being Black women. In continuing this analysis it became necessary to understand not only the discrimination itself, but also how it affected the leadership of the BWAs. How BWAs are affected by others perceptions of them: The initial focus of this study concentrated on how BWAs perceived others’ perceptions of them as leaders. Since most people are not mind readers, it was implied that the BWAs gained a sense of others’ perceptions through external means. These included comments made to them personally or to a third party, people’s attitudes and behavior in their presence. In essence, the women internalized these factors, which ultimately affected their own leadership. They were affected in several ways, including confirmation of their personal perceptions, encouragement to continue their leadership journey, coping strategies that helped them to remain in their field, and influence to change certain characteristics. The women who felt the perceptions confirmed their personal perceptions and encouraged them to continue leading, offered the following comments: “It’s really confirmation of my upbringing, so to speak. The strive for excellence are for personal reasons, not necessarily external reward. I’ve always been taught to do my best, and I try to carry that over to the workplace.”

“It’s very, very encouraging and I think it moves me to continue with committing to the task, or tasks at hand. So that continues to motivate me to continue projects, to meet deadlines, and to lead.”

“These perceptions serve as positive motivation. Basically, it encourages me to remain in my field, where I enjoy working with young people.”

-66- “I think what it does is, allows me to be more relaxed, to feel comfortable, and offer whatever it is I have to offer.”

When others’ perceptions were not encouraging and supportive of their leadership, some of the BWAs discovered coping strategies that enabled them to move beyond the perceptions and concentrate on their leadership. Self-reflection was a strategy that many of the women explored, where the coping process was internal and not based on external evaluations. For one of the women, the formal coping strategies of suppression, confrontation, and accommodation were utilized. The BWAs’ self-reflection revealed these results: “As a leader, part of what you have to so is to be able to be self-reflective. In that role you become more self-reflective. I think it is something you have to process. I think most good female leaders who are self-reflective can do it. So I think it is a very individually tailored situation, and may also have to do with where you are developmentally in your leadership responsibilities.”

“Well actually, I think I have tried to pay more attention to some of the aspects of good leaders. As a matter of fact, I’ve been to a couple of leadership trainings, if you will. Again, not necessarily to satisfy or meet anyone else’s expectations, but just to make sure that I was as well-prepared as I could be to undertake the roles. And the funny thing about education is there really is no training for what you wind up doing. So, if you don’t try to go out and do some professional development for yourself, you’re kind of thrown into it. We don’t have a good mentoring thing in place to [prepare] people for leadership positions.”

The one administrator who used the more formal coping strategies of suppression, confrontation, and accommodation, defined and discussed guidelines in the passage below: “[In suppression, you are] almost playing the ‘they are the crazy ones’ role. They surely are the crazy ones here. The more benign role is to minimize the seriousness and the ferociousness of this on-slide. It is serious; it is ferocious. I say that because it prevents people from moving forward, being promoted, being recognized, and assuming real leadership. It gets in the way of all of those things. So when you suppress it, and you confront it---and there are circumstances where I have felt it necessary to confront it. And I don’t think that I necessarily gained a lot from confronting it immediately, but I think in the long run, it did cause some important people to register their bias. It took them several months. So the time between when I confronted it and when I saw the change in behavior became more benign, more elevated---has took several months. But I saw it come around. And by accommodating it, you approach the enemy with charm and smiles. You act as if nothing unusual has happened. You help them to drop their armor and their guard, and deal with you as a real person. And of course all of these strategies

-67- take a lot of work, but those are the three ways in which I do it.”

Some of the women felt a need to go beyond the level of coping by changing certain leadership traits and/or behaviors, as a result of others’ perceptions of them. For some of the women, the changes that occurred had to do with their approach with others. They wanted to be softer in how they dealt with people, especially is situations where they had to give a person feedback. A couple of the women talked about being more flexible. They wanted those they worked with to feel they were open to suggestions and a collaborative work environment. These changes were also influenced by how others responded and reacted to their leadership. Those that were influenced to change, expressed their experiences as such: “I tend to want to be respectful of others. I think people don’t see me… that I will attack them though they know that I can be direct. I think it makes it easy for people to say things to me because they know I don’t take it personally. I think that my behavior is based on respect, on sensing that people are talking to me about issues, and not feeling that it is going to come from a personal place. And I tend to try to be respectful of people. If I’m talking to somebody, I tend to try to note how they are taking it. And if I’m giving somebody some information or advice, and I feel that they are hurt by it, that may shift my…I may begin to soften it or to explain it in a way that may be less painful for them to hear, or to try to give them some sense of why this is a concern to me. So I’m very sensitive to how my style impacts another person. I think people see me that way, because I do try to be very sensitive in how I come across to people.”

“I am still working on my leadership. I really would like to appear more flexible. I would like to be a softer leader, equally as effective, but softer. And I am working on those things. They are hard, very, very hard for me. I believe I come from a background of straight talk, directness, and clarity of purpose, and openness. This is a characteristic of being in the United States. I think that U.S. women have learned to be more coy, to be more guarded. They’ve been trained to not really express their views. That’s the perception I have. So I think I must seem a little more bold and more bizarre and more out there, because of my more straight-forward, direct approach.”

“I think over time, I’ve become more confident in me. Therefore, feeling more enabled to do things without worrying what the consequences are. I feel like I’m doing the right thing. It has also enabled me to feel more comfortable delegating, because I have learned how to look at what people’s needs are. I think it has made me grow. I see more now that I didn’t notice in the beginning. And I’ve become more introspective in terms of looking at how I can become better. I think it has helped me to look inside, to see how I can grow more---I’ve realized you don’t stop growing. And I think being in a leadership position, now more than ever, has shown me that I have the opportunity to continue to

-68- grow.”

When I think of how I am affected by others’ perceptions of me, I would like to say that I’m not affected and that I am intrinsically motivated. But, then I know that is a far cry from reality. What others think of me and how they interact with me influences my perceptions of myself. When their perceptions and behavior are supportive of my personal perceptions, I find that I will continue to display those supported characteristics. However, when I feel that my traits and behavior are not well received, I will partake in self-reflection to evaluate my role and may even alter my persona in hopes of improving relationships and interactions. I think that my actions rely heavily on the situation at hand and the specific people involved. If the person is one that I have great respect for, I will have a tendency to suppress my feelings because I don’t want to offend them or disrupt the relationship. If it is a person that I don’t have much respect for, I may be more willing to put myself in a confronting situation. That is because I care less about the relationship and whether or not it continues. For me, the accommodation stage is one that I reserve for diplomacy. I may not like the person or the situation, but know that I have too much invested to see the relationship and future experiences damaged. So, regardless of the process, it is obvious that I am affected by others’ perceptions of me. I suppose that is a good thing, in that it causes me to be self-reflective and hopefully helps me to be a better person. This category did not reveal that the Black women were brick walls that could not be broken, nor were they fragile vases that shattered from a strong grip. Instead, they maintained a reasonable medium, where they were influenced and affected by the perceptions and behaviors of others, but not to the point that they completely changed their persona to accommodate how others thought they should act. As a result of others’ perceptions of the BWAs and how they interacted with them, the administrators were affected in several ways. Those external perceptions confirmed and motivated them to continue their leadership journeys, caused them to establish coping strategies to balance internal conflicts, and sometimes influenced them to change certain characteristics. Despite their place on this continuum, it is obvious that the perceptions of others affected the BWAs perceptions of themselves.

-69- Analysis of Meaning Major Findings My analysis of the interview data and my interpretation of the categories, produced the following findings: (1) There was limited diversity in the BWAs’ definitions, their self- perceptions, and others’ perceptions of leadership; (2) BWAs viewed their leadership through a traditional lens; (3) The reasons why BWAs were negatively perceived by others; (4) The BWAs’ contradictory views regarding the Black bitch factor; and (5) The existence of discrimination in the workplace. Specifically, the issues pertaining to the first research question (see restatement of research questions on page 44), were addressed in the first two findings. In addition, the third finding expressed the causes of being negatively perceived, which were highlighted in research questions two through seven. Because none of the BWAs had personally experienced the Black bitch factor, the issue of confronting people in regards to this matter was not discussed. Yet, they expressed their perceptions of why the labeling process occurred, as approached in questions five, six, and seven. Finally, the concept of perceptions that was interwoven throughout all the research questions was related to the BWAs experiences with discrimination in the workplace. Perceptions of Leadership: There was very little diversity in the BWAs’ definitions of leadership. Most of the women focused on the three key traits of being a visionary, being a team player, and being an effective communicator. In many ways, these characteristics were classic and could probably be found in most textbooks discussing the principles of leadership. In addition, these traits appeared to be more traditional and masculine in nature. According to Heifetz (1994), there are hidden values in leadership that began with the great man theory, in the early nineteenth century. This theory embodied an image that would envision the future of a people; convince them that the leader was right in order to gain their loyalty and following; and communicate it so effectively that they would believe in him, ultimately seeing him as their hero. Today, the heroic status may be void, however leadership continues to display attributes, behaviors, moral virtues, and principles that are generally associated with masculinity (Blackmore, 1989). This implies that women are not leaders unless they display masculine leadership characteristics.

-70- Furthermore, this masculine leadership concept suggests a sense of normalcy, thus leaving women to be abnormal or substandard in comparison. Specifically, in her discussion of double bind theory, Jamieson argues that as long as an individual’s similarities and differences are held in comparison to some other “supposedly normal group,” the person in question will always be the one without power (1995, pp.101-102). Perhaps this would explain why there were overwhelming similarities of the administrators’ definitions, self-perceptions, and their views on others’ perceptions of their leadership, individually and collectively. While I believe that the women’s definitions were genuine, I also think that they described what was considered normal, thereby offering traditional views of leadership. Because Black women are viewed as the “other” in comparison to White men and are a marginalized group, there is a need to be accepted and viewed as normal. When the BWAs described themselves as leaders and others’ perceptions of them as leaders, in the same way they described leadership, I believe they were subconsciously articulating their beliefs about men and women. These beliefs are often referred to as gender schemas, which are hypotheses shared by both men and women about what it means to be male or female (Valian, 1998). In turn these schemas could be applied to what it means to be a good leader. Ultimately, the BWAs viewed themselves and perceived others’ perceptions of them in a manner that would suggest they possessed the very traits they listed as qualities of a good leader. BWAs Self-Perceptions as Traditional Leaders: In the initial stages of analyzing the women’s stories, I was surprised by their views of themselves as leaders. I heard them describing themselves in much the same way that I would have expected White women or men to view themselves. In other words, they used the same traditional language of leadership to discuss who they were as leaders. Instead of talking about the visionary, team player, and effective communicator, I expected that they would have discussed being mentors and role models to other Black women, being more direct and assertive, and even authoritarian in their leadership. My expectations were based on the history of Black women’s leadership since their days in Africa, which spanned the boundaries of home, church and the community. Collins (1991) addressed these issues when she stated that prior to enslavement, Black women were socialized to be independent, self-reliant, and resourceful---

-71- qualities they were determined to maintain beyond the dehumanizing confines of slavery. Whether or not they were in formal leadership positions, Black women displayed many leadership qualities including, perseverance, determination, loyalty, and mothering. Based on their stories expressing the desire for self-improvement in their leadership, I believe that the women in this study were the visionary, team players who knew how to effectively communicate, but they were also Black women who embodied resiliency and undying spirits. As Mitchell stated, “whether we adapt ourselves to the established leadership roles or whether we adapt them to us, infusing in them new options and greater perceptions based on our experiences in achieving professional status,” Black women continue to thrive in the leadership arena (1988, p. 9). I believe that the Black women in this study were affected by this notion of adaptation because their descriptions of themselves in traditional terms of leadership suggest that they had adapted themselves to the tenets of traditional leadership. Reasons BWAs Were Negatively Perceived by Others: Even in their attempts to be perceived as “normal,” competent, and effective leaders, the BWAs still faced negative perceptions from others. For most of the women, these negative perceptions resulted from certain traits and leadership styles the women displayed including, warmth, patience, flexibility, participatory, and maternal characteristics. As a result of these qualities, the women were often viewed as soft, insincere, distant, and sometimes incompetent. This phenomenon can best be explained by one of Jamieson’s (1995) theories on double bind, which discusses that women who are considered feminine will be judged incompetent and women who are competent---unfeminine. When the BWAs displayed more feminine qualities, their leadership was questioned and they were viewed as incompetent, because they were not acting in ways that male leaders act. On the other hand, when one of the women displayed traditionally defined masculine traits of being strategic, disciplined, having high standards, demanding, tough, and rigorous, then she was seen as distant and aloof, which are less desirable characteristics of effective leadership. There is an assumption that women can not be feminine and competent leaders, thus, they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Due to my expectation that BWAs would be perceived negatively, I wanted to know if they were affected by a concept I call the Black bitch factor. As previously discussed, the label

-72- of Black bitch or bitch is given to Black women administrators who exhibit traits normally associated with White male leadership such as assertiveness, confidence, self-assurance, and decisiveness. While these traits work well for White men, Black women specifically and women, in general, are penalized for displaying them. For instance, a recent article in the Cincinnati Enquirer stated that women in American culture have been expected to be nurturing, supportive, and dependent upon others, but when they try to get ahead in the workplace by displaying assertive and logical characteristics, they will be called bitches (Nader, 2000). Although all of the women in this study were not directly affected by the Black bitch factor (to be discussed in the next finding), all of them addressed what they believed to be the reason behind the labeling process. The BWAs believed that Black women are the victims of the Black bitch factor or negative stereotypes because being in positions of leadership is something to which many people are not accustomed. With the exception of the past few decades, Black women have held positions of servitude with little to no leadership responsibilities. As a result, there are a limited number of Black women in higher education administration. Accordingly, the lack of representation has fostered limited expectations of what Black women are capable of doing. Consequently, the women in this study felt that the basis for this labeling revolved around both race and gender issues, where people had prescribed images of Blacks and women. Through the use of such labels, Black women are defined by society in a way that gives them the status of “other” and “abnormal”, which causes them to be viewed as objects that can be manipulated and controlled (Collins, 1991). According to hooks, “as objects one’s reality is defined by others, one’s identity created by others, one’s history named only in ways that define one’s relationship to those who are subjects” (1989, p. 42). In my opinion, it is this type of ideology that leads people to refer to a Black woman as a female dog that can be controlled, tamed, trained, punished and even destroyed when she does not behave. For the Black women who are the victims of the Black bitch factor, they are being controlled through the objectification of their minds, spirits, and emotions. Black Bitch Factor: With the controversial concept of the Black bitch factor, came the controversies of how it specifically applied to the Black women in this study. There appeared to be some major

-73- contradictions in relation to how the women viewed the bitch label when personally applied to them. Yet, none of the administrators had been referred as a bitch or Black bitch directly, four of them felt that it might have been perceived about them. Two of the women were adamant in saying that they did not believe that people had this view about them. However, after the interview with one of these women was over, she alluded to the fact that she might need to change her response, as she headed toward the desk of her secretary, whom she was about to give directives. Even though she may have been joking, that experience made me believe that she really did believe that others might perceive her in this manner. As for the other women, two of them thought there was a possibility that they were perceived as a bitch but doubted that it actually happened. Instead, they offered other descriptors and perceptions that people might have about them such as, “she is arrogant, self-centered, likes to be right, thinks she knows everything, and doesn’t listen.” My experiences have shown me that the label of bitch/Black bitch often overshadows these types of qualities. The other two women felt that that the Black bitch label probably applied to them when they had to make decisions and assert their authority. Perhaps the controversy is not with the concept of the Black bitch factor, but the specific word bitch. As previously discussed, all of the women recognized the Black bitch factor---that it is a perception held about Black women administrators and the reasons behind the perception. Yet, some of the BWAs seemed to have problems with the term. Admitting that someone might use the term to describe them might simply have been unbearable, or implied that they believed this to be true of themselves, thus, altering their own self-perceptions. In summary, according to Carlson & Buskist (1997), this says that just as others make judgments about one’s attitudes and emotions by examining one’s behavior, the individual also analyzes his/her own internal state in a similar fashion, causing one to come to conclusions about the causes of his/her own behavior. Existence of Discrimination in the Workplace: All of the BWAs, except one, had experienced discrimination in their administrative careers. Whether the discrimination was a result of their race, gender, or dualism was not always completely clear. There were times when four of the six BWAs felt that race was the most obvious reason, or because they worked at PWIs it made the most sense. Discrimination was also an issue for the women who worked at HBCUs. However, at the HBCUs the racial

-74- component was eliminated and the gender factor was of primary concern. Then, for some of the women, there were times when the lines of race and gender could not be separated. Regardless of the factors of race and gender, the BWAs were recipients of discrimination. The most common form of discrimination dealt with upward mobility. The women were not being promoted or not receiving public recognition for delayed promotions. In some cases, the administrators had been performing the duties of the higher positions, but their experience was constantly overlooked or not considered. These women had the education, experience and skills for upward mobility, yet they had difficulty getting beyond the glass ceiling. This implies that “organizational glass ceilings are not due to the inability of women to function effectively in their responsibilities…rather, the glass ceiling most often is the result of a woman being unlike her predecessor, usually a White male” (Milwid & Kanter cited in Chliwniak ,1997, p. 52). Furthermore, the glass ceiling did not only affect the administrators because they were women, but because they were Black women. Evidence of this statement was found in the stories of women who discussed the administrative careers of the White women in their institutions. If the White women could be promoted then the gender aspect was void, leaving race as the underlying reason for the BWAs immobility. It was no longer an issue of keeping women in their place, but Black women in their place. In addition to promotion issues, the BWAs also experienced discrimination by being limited to situations concerning people of color. Once again, their race kept them immobile. In these situations upward mobility might not have been the primary concern, but they were definitely being retarded in activities and involvement with campus-wide issues. Only being seen in situations that involved people of color probably added to the misconceptions and perceptions of the capabilities of Black women and Blacks in general. In essence, the Black women were experiencing double binds in their careers that kept them from moving forward in their leadership careers and suppressed their accomplishments. Summary In this study I was interested in understanding and describing how others perceived BWAs in higher education, from the views of the BWAs. However, in my analysis of the women’s stories, I realized that their self-perceptions were just as meaningful. My understanding

-75- of this concept began to unfold through the interpretation of the categories that emerged from the women’s stories. Through the process of interpreting the perceptions and experiences of the women, my personal views about the women and my own personal experiences rose to the surface. This allowed me to play two very critical roles in this study, that of researcher and pseudo-participant. As researcher, I was required to analyze, interpret and describe their stories, thereby giving the reader a sense of who the women were and their leadership experiences. In the pseudo-participant role, I was given the opportunity to share my personal voice that was set aside through a continuous process of reflexivity. In analyzing their stories, I found connections between each of the six categories. In the first category, the BWAs defined leadership with the classic characteristics of visionary, team player, and effective communicator. Their definitions also incorporated traits that are usually perceived as more feminine, which included patience, flexibility, warmth, and humbleness. It became apparent that these definitions were more than abstract thoughts because they seemed to influence the BWAs self-perceptions as leaders, the second category. In this section, the women felt they were the leaders they had previously described, and if there were traits they felt could strengthen, they worked to improve those areas in an effort to be better leaders. Interestingly, their perceptions of themselves as leaders were closely tied to other’s perceptions of them as leaders. The BWAs believed others viewed the BWAs in much the same way they viewed themselves. However, the next category, Negative perceptions of BWAs, revealed that some of the women were perceived in a negative light, where certain characteristics were misconceived or their positions of authority sometimes led to derogatory labeling. Beyond the nature of their positions, the women thought they were perceived negatively and discriminated against as a result of their race and/or gender. This fifth category showed how the administrators were not promoted, limited in their administrative responsibilities and to situations involving persons of color. Finally, the last category revealed that BWAs were affected, to varying degrees, by the perceptions, attitudes, behavior, and interactions of others. They were encouraged, learned to utilize coping strategies, or changed certain characteristics to continue their leadership journeys. This presentation of connected categories brought life to the BWAs’ stories through interpretation and analysis of their perceptions and experiences as leaders. As I began to make

-76- the connections between each category and each of the women, the thematic framework bridging their stories, major findings, and theory emerged. Specifically, the theme of dualisms will be explored through in the Discussion presented in Chapter V.

-77- Chapter V Summary, Discussion, Conclusions, & Recommendations A summary of the study is presented in this final chapter, along with the discussion of thematic framework and conclusions based on the analysis of the data. Expectations, limitations, recommendations for further research, and a message of hope conclude the report. Summary The purpose of this study was to better understand and describe how others perceived Black women in higher education administration, from the views of the Black women administrators. Specifically, the initial focus of this study was to concentrate on how Black women administrators perceived others’ perceptions of them as leaders. This focus was explored further in the second objective, which described how Black women administrators felt about those perceptions. The third objective focused on why Black women administrators believed the perceptions existed. The final objective was to determine how the Black women administrators were affected by their perceptions of how others perceived them. In the exploration of these objectives, a final focus of this study emerged, which centered on the self-perceptions the Black women administrators held about leadership. As initially anticipated, the women’s stories presented others’ perceptions of them as leaders, but also expressed the Black women’s personal views of their leadership. The literature review revealed that limited research has been conducted on the subject of Black women’s leadership in higher education. Much of the research that exists focuses solely on women’s leadership or leadership that pertains to all people of color. Very little literature specifically deals with Black women’s leadership. Thus, I chose to review three areas that would provide a foundation for discussing issues pertinent to the leadership of Black women. Three strands of concentration were the focus of this literature review. First, there was the presentation of the obstacles to women’s leadership, which included such concepts as the glass ceiling, the double bind theory, and traditionally defined masculine perspectives of leadership. This strand provided insight into the problems women, in general, face in leadership positions, such as discrimination and combating the male model of leadership. Following this description was the second strand of concentration, a historical overview of Black women’s leadership roles in the

-78- home, church, community and political arena. The purpose of this section was to assess how Black women had obtained and maintained formal leadership roles outside of the workplace. Finally, the literature pertinent for the premise of this study was presented through a discussion of other people’s perceptions of women, especially Black women. Specifically, this component revealed some of the images and perceptions, past and present, that are held about the roles of Black women and women in general. In addition to a review of the literature I also explored the Black feminist/womanist, social constructivist, and perceptual perspectives that formed my theoretical framework for looking at how the perceptions of others were internalized and affected BWAs’ leadership. The Black feminist/womanist lens led me to examine issues of the sociocultural and historical contexts and the intersectionality of race and gender for Black women. The social constructivist and perception theories helped me to determine how BWAs make meaning concerning their attitudes, inconsistencies between their attitudes and/or behavior, and the construction of their own self-perceptions. This exploration was important to the nature of this study, for it identified the working assumptions upon which I relied in my search to understand and construct meaning around the BWAs’ stories of how they perceive others’ perceptions of them as leaders, why they believe those perceptions exist, how they feel about those perceptions, and how the perceptions affect their own perceptions of their leadership and/or leadership behavior. Six Black women administrators in higher education participated in semi-structured interviews. Most of the interview questions were taken from the guiding questions of the study. However, the semi-structured format gave me the freedom to ask additional questions and helped to set a conversational tone. The stories gathered in these interviews were analyzed as conceptual narrative segments and used to analyze the data through constant comparative analysis. This process required the researcher to continually analyze interview narrative throughout the period of data gathering and category development. The specific categories that emerged from the voices of the informants are (1) How BWAs defined leadership; (2) BWAs self-perceptions as leaders; (3) Others’ perceptions of BWAs as leaders; (4) Misconceptions and negative perceptions of BWAs; (5) Discrimination based on race and gender; and (6) How BWAs are affected by others perceptions of them. These

-79- categories represented the commonalties of the women’s perceptions and experiences. The presentation of these categories was written in three voices. The interpretation of the categories was my voice as the researcher. The dialogues were excerpts from the interviews, which represented the voices of the informants. The last voice represented how I personally related to the experiences of the BWAs as a Black woman. Ultimately, the three voices reflected the meaning of each category by intertwining what I knew as a researcher with the experiences of the BWAs and what I knew about myself. Based on the interpretation of the categories, I discovered and developed five major findings: (1) There was limited diversity in the BWAs’ definitions, their self-perceptions, and others’ perceptions of leadership; (2) BWAs viewed their leadership through a traditional lens; (3) The reasons why BWAs were negatively perceived by others; (4) The BWAs’ contradictory views regarding the Black bitch factor; and (5) The existence of discrimination in the workplace. These findings incorporated theory with the guiding principles of the interpreted categories. This presentation provided an analysis of meaning or better understanding of the BWAs’ experiences and perceptions. Furthermore, the discussion of the findings was an attempt to explore the purpose and primary objectives of this study. Finally, as a result of the interpretation of categories and the presentation of major findings, a thematic framework emerged that is presented in the Discussion section of this chapter. This discussion of themes led to some conclusions about the BWAs and their experiences. Discussion This section presents an integrative thematic framework that bridges my interpretation of the categories and analysis of meaning discovered in the major findings. The thematic framework reintroduces the concept of dualism. Throughout this study, dualism has been defined as having the double characteristics of being Black and woman. This cross road of race and gender is often referred to as intersectionality, in that Black women are simultaneously members of both race and gender domination (Crenshaw, 1992). However, as a result of this study, the concept of dualism began to unfold on a larger spectrum. Like the Black/woman dualism, the other dualisms presenting opposing characteristics or concepts that emerged suggest

-80- a position of simultaneously being, representing, or possessing two opposing characteristics or beliefs. The specific dualisms presented and discussed in this chapter are (1) the historical/current perspectives of acceptance vs. resistance, (2) self vs. others perceptions, (3) representing part vs. whole self, and (4) the characteristics of tough vs. soft. With the exception of the first, each dualism is discussed as separate concepts within this thematic framework. The first dualism is separated into two concepts, the historical and current perspectives of acceptance vs. resistance. The historical perspectives are presented first to provide a historical portrayal and foundation for the other three dualisms. The presentation of these dualisms will conclude with a discussion of the second part of the first dualism, concentrating on the current perspectives of acceptance vs. resistance. The purpose of dividing this dualism is to show how the history of Black women’s relationship with acceptance and resistance has influenced their current relationship. Historical perspective of acceptance vs. resistance: Black woman---enough said. Why are these words not enough? Why have Black women been the victims of others definitions of who they were, what they thought, and how they were expected to behave? According to Collins (1991), these external definitions serve as ideological justifications for the existence of race, gender, and class oppression. In essence, since the days of slavery, Black women have been the basis for the definition of our society’s “other”. This defined other is birthed in the either/or dichotomy, where people, things, and ideas are categorized in terms of their difference to one another (Ibid.). Furthermore, one part of the dichotomy is not simply different from its counterpart; it is inherently opposed to it as other. For example, in relation to Black women, the dichotomies that define them are Black/White and male/female. As a result of these dichotomies, meaning is only gained in relation to their counterparts. Thus, Blacks are defined in relation to Whites, women in relation to men, and Black women in relation to White men. Aside from the concept of opposition, the either/or dichotomy’s central theme is objectification. In objectification, “one element is objectified as the Other, and is viewed as an object to be manipulated and controlled” (Collins, 1991, p. 69). Specifically, bell hooks asserts that “as subjects, people have the right to define their own reality, establish their own identities,

-81- name their own history…as objects, one’s reality is defined by others, one’s identity created by others, one’s history named only in ways that define one’s relationship to those who are subject” (1989, p. 42). However, in this process of oppositional difference, “human beings actively create and interpret social reality” (Agger, 1993, p. 285). In other words, regardless of one’s position as subject or object, one creates society just as they are created by society---constructing meaning and knowledge through social interaction. Black women have participated in the construction of meaning by actively accepting or resisting other’s definitions and controlling images. Collins (1991) suggests that the dominant ideology of the slave era fostered the creation of socially constructed controlling images of Black womanhood, reflecting the dominant group’s interest in maintaining Black women’s subordination. Collins presented several images, however only two images, the mammy and matriarch, will be explored in this discussion as they offer concrete understanding of acceptance and resistance. The first controlling image applied to Black women was that of the mammy---the faithful, obedient domestic servant. The mammy was created to justify the economic exploitation of house slaves and symbolized the dominant group’s perceptions of the ideal Black female relationship to White male power (Collins, 1991). Although she cared for the White children of her slave master and even may have been loved by her White “family,” the mammy knew her place as obedient servant---thus, accepting her subordination. This acceptance of subordination served as a means to physical and eventually economic survival. Basically, they had to play the mammy role to keep from being beaten, killed and working without pay (post-slavery era). However, their acceptance of subordination was often coupled with forms of resistance. When these women would return home to their own families, they would teach their children something quite different than what they were doing. They would teach their children that they were no different from Whites and encouraged them to avoid domestic work. Another form of resistance found in Barbara Christian’s analysis of the mammy in Black slave narratives reveals that, “unlike the white southern image of mammy, she is cunning, prone to poisoning her master, and not at all content with her lot” (cited in Collins, 1991, p. 73). This implies that while the Black woman played the mammy role to please her master, she was resisting that very image through various forms of retaliation.

-82- The second controlling image is that of the matriarch, which symbolizes the mother figure in the Black home (Collins, 1991). In keeping with the ideology of the either/or dichotomy, the matriarch represents the bad Black mother with her own children, while the mammy was posited as the good mother with the White master’s children (Ibid.). The matriarch was accused of spending too much time away from home working as the mammy in the White home. As a result, the matriarch image allows the dominant group to blame Black women for their children’s failure in school, being overly aggressive, and unfeminine, when it was because of the dominant group’s domination that Black women were forced to portray this dual role. Black women accepted this image by necessity; they had to continue to work outside the home for economic survival. As a result of slavery’s deterioration of the Black family, Black women maintained their jobs and continued to be strong figures in their home in an attempt to rebuild the Black family, thereby resisting the negative image of a non-existent Black family structure. In doing so, Black women indirectly redefined the concept of family and women’s roles. Both the images of mammy and matriarch are examples of how Black women were externally defined as other but resisted those images through self-definition, and they represent a critical historical dualism that foreshadows many other dualisms in the lives of Black women. Finally, more current images based on this study will be analyzed for patterns of acceptance and resistance when this section is revisited at the end of this discussion. Self vs. others perceptions: As this thematic framework suggests, the dualism of self/other perceptions was a consistent them throughout this study. While not initially anticipated, it became apparent to me that the BWAs’ self-perceptions were equally, if not more, important than their perceptions of how others’ perceived them. In beginning this study, I wanted to better understand and describe BWAs’ perceptions of how others perceived them. I found that there was a fine line between their self-perceptions and their perceptions of how others perceived them. Perhaps this is due to a blending of those perceptions, where it is difficult to determine if their self-perceptions were influenced by others’ perceptions of them, or vice versa. For example, in the findings I discussed how the BWAs perceived themselves as traditional leaders and the fact that they were often viewed in much the same way that they perceived themselves. Yet, it that analysis I was not able

-83- to determine which perception influenced the other. Because these women held dual perceptions, theirs and others, the line was very easily blurred. Holstein and Gubruim’s (1993) work in social constructivism suggests that this line may be blurred because people take their subjectivity for granted by presuming that all people share the same reality. In other words, we forget or ignore that our perceptions and those of others color our worldview, as a result, we experience the world through different lenses. Whether consciously or subconsciously, the women in this study were aware of the relationship between their self-perceptions and their perceptions of how others perceived them. When the BWAs described themselves as leaders they often referred to their previous statements where they defined leadership. In addition, when they described how they believed others perceived them, those perceptions often reflected the same characteristics revealed in their personal definitions of leadership and their self-perceptions as leaders. This implies that one draws conclusions about the causes of their own behavior, just as others make judgments about one’s attitudes, emotion, and behavior (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). Furthermore, this phenomenon suggests that the BWAs were cognizant of what society viewed as leadership, how they desired to fit that model and have others view them in a similar light. Perhaps these various (society, BWAs’, and others’) perceptions of leadership and their influential relationship can be further explained through a discussion of Claude Steele’s work with stereotypes. Steele’s (1997) study stated that a sense of threat---regarding stereotypes--- could influence an affected member’s (member of stereotyped group) attitude about themselves, their particular group, and those who own the stereotype. Thus, regarding this study, the BWAs were aware of the stereotype of good and effective leadership and were so influenced by that perception that they defined their leadership in the same manner. For instance, for at least two of the participants, I sensed that their self-perceptions of leadership might have included characteristics such as, authoritarian, no non-sense, rigid, or spiritually based, yet they did not offer these traits as part of their self-definition. Perhaps they were aware of the stigma that would be placed on them for not stating society’s prescribed and accepted leadership characteristics. Leon Festinger would have called this struggle between self-perception and society’s accepted definition of leadership a state of dissonance or disequilibrium (cited in

-84- Carlson & Buskist, 1997). This state occurs when there is an inconsistency between one’s self- image and their attitude (beliefs) (Ibid.). In order to decrease the state of dissonance the importance of one of the inconsistent factors is decreased. Thus, the women set aside their more personal views of their leadership by stating generally accepted traits of leadership. In the BWAs adoption of society’s values and views of leadership, they were inadvertently defining themselves. They were carving out their place in society that said, “we are leaders.” Radically, their common definitions of leadership showed that they did not see themselves outside the norm of leadership, but recognized their leadership characteristics and status as normal. In their acceptance of society’s definition of leadership, these women defined their place in leadership different from how their leadership was advanced by the dominant culture, ultimately creating their own leadership identity. According to Steele (1997), this effort to overcome stereotype threat by disproving the stereotype can be overwhelming as one personal exemption does not generalize to the whole group, and may have to be renegotiated in a different setting. This says that because the six women in this study have redefined Black women’s leadership in their personal experiences, it does not mean that their definition extends to all Black women in leadership. Furthermore, the creation of their self-definitions will not be the newly accepted perceptions that society has of Black women and leadership. Consequently, the stereotypes about Black women in leadership will continue and BWAs will continue to carry the dualism of self vs. others’ perceptions, requiring them to struggle with the reality of portraying part of themselves in some situations and their whole self in others. Representing part vs. whole self: Based on my experiences, I believe that the concept of part vs. whole is no stranger to Black women. As a result of race and gender oppression, Black women have had to separately represent their Blackness, or womanhood, while simultaneously being both. Depending on their cause or political involvement, Black women, in part, have been invisible. During the Civil Rights Movement, their representation was often limited to their Blackness. On the other hand, during the Feminist Movement their womanhood was their primary representation. Despite the important roles Black women played in these movements, they realized that their concerns as Black women were not acknowledged. In an attempt to finally represent them as a whole, Black

-85- women created their own movement that would speak to their needs and uniqueness. This whole representation of self led to the formulation of such organizations as the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) in 1973. The main objective of this organization and Black feminist theory was to create a political movement that fights exploitative capitalism, analyzes the intersection of race and gender, and protects Black women’s minds and bodies (hooks, 1989; Collins, 1991; Crenshaw, 1992; Garth, 1994; and Taylor, 1998). Furthermore, as stated by Margaret Sloan, NBFO co-founder, “I can’t be Black three days and woman four days when I’m a Black woman seven days a week” (cited in Davis, 1988, p. 43). Black women can not be expected, nor continue, to separate themselves by race or gender when the part not represented comes with the price of invisibility. While probably the most common and difficult intersection to resolve, the race/gender dichotomy was not the only one that challenged the representation of BWAs. The part vs. whole concept also applied to their leadership with the concept of administrator vs. leader. By virtue of their positions within their respective colleges and universities, all of the participants were administrators, and based on their interviews I would classify all the women as leaders seeking to motivate others towards common changes. Which part they chose to display, the administrator, the leader, or both, was the difficult call to make? Even though the women held administrative positions, some did not initially feel they were leaders. Instead, they felt that they were leaders only as a result of their positions of authority. As previously stated, a couple of the women initially declined to participate because they did not feel they were leaders, or that I would have been more interested in interviewing someone in a higher administrative position. Possibly, this non-identified status of leadership is due to the traditional definitions of leadership that are based on male oriented traits, personalities, and characteristics and a hierarchical structure (Blackmore, 1999). Therefore, women who do not possess those traits or are not at the top levels of administration are not considered leaders, despite the roles they actively portray in their administrative positions. However, through our conversations, the women who doubted their leadership status began to understand they were leaders as they discussed the informal, influential relationships they had with students, colleagues, and staff. As administrators they managed their particular departments, but as leaders they navigated “an influence relationship among leaders

-86- and followers who intend real changes that reflect their mutual purposes” (Rost, 1993, p. 102). This leadership component is often a difficult task to master as it calls into question one’s relations with others. Leadership requires the whole of a person whereas administration is based on specialized skills, knowledge, and ability. Even for the women in this study, their skills and abilities were critiqued as too soft or too tough. Characteristics of tough vs. soft: The dualism of tough vs. soft characteristics seemed to resonate from the BWAs stories. They often found themselves in situations where the degree of their characteristics was challenged. In particular, several of the women discussed their leadership in terms of whether they were tough or soft in their approach. Specifically, traits such as warmth, having a participatory style or maternal nature, and being quiet were often misconstrued as being soft. Yet, when they displayed more assertiveness, made strong decisions, or set guidelines for others to follow, they were viewed in a negative light. In these situations, the BWAs felt people perceived them as tough and that they held negative perceptions of them as a result. These evaluations of the BWAs’ traits were based on male models of leadership, where men and their actions as leaders are the implied norm, leaving women to be abnormal or substandard in comparison. These unarticulated beliefs about men and women are often referred to as gender schemas, which are hypotheses shared by both men and women about what it means to be male or female (Valian, 1998). This concept of toughness and softness is further explored in Jamieson’s (1995) femininity/competence double bind. This double bind posits that women who are considered feminine will be judged incompetent and women who are competent, unfeminine (Ibid.). In addition, this concept assumes that women can not be feminine and competent. Yet, if they adopt more masculine traits and behavior, they still may not be viewed as competent because their unfemininity lessens their competence as women. Based on their need to adjust their degree of softness or toughness, I presume that the women in this study were cognizant of this femininity/competence issue. In many ways this double bind acted as a stereotype by which women are judged. Whether or not the BWAs believed the concept was unimportant, their awareness of the issue determined their attitude and behavior in this matter. Steele’s work with

-87- stereotypes suggests that “to experience stereotype threat, one need not believe the stereotype nor even be worried that it is true of oneself” (1997, p. 618). Even if the person does not believe the stereotype to be true of them, the threat still acts as a life-shaping force that pressures adaptive responses (Ibid.). For example, the BWA who felt that her leadership style was too rigid attempted to soften her approach with others, to make them more comfortable in working with her. One of the other administrators who experienced the overwhelming view of being perceived as soft, tried to toughen-up her approach, especially when she was working with her male colleagues (she was the only female dean at the university). Altering one’s leadership approach in this manner is another example of cognitive dissonance. In this particular situation, disequilibrium occurred when the BWAs perceived an inconsistency between their behavior and self-image. The women wanted to maintain a self- image and be viewed as competent, effective leaders, yet, they perceived that others were viewing their leadership approach in opposition to their desired approach. Therefore, to gain their desired perception leadership, the BWAs changed their behavior and leadership style to avoid being viewed as incompetent. In addition, as a result of this changing behavior the BWAs were inadvertently redefining their self-perceptions by analyzing their own internal state, causing them to come to conclusions about the causes of their own behavior (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). It can be said that the BWAs were influenced to alter their leadership approaches based on both the external influences of others’ perceptions and stereotypes, and the internal influences of their self-perceptions. The actions influenced by the tough vs. soft characteristic lead us back to the dualism of acceptance vs. resistance. Current perspectives of acceptance vs. resistance: At the start of this discussion several examples where discussed in terms of Black women’s acceptance and/or resistance of issues that seek to define them, by providing a historical view of some controlling images. As a result of the historical nature of the first part of this dualism’s discussion, no references were made to the present study. However, this part of the discussion seeks to explore current perspectives of Black women’s acceptance and/or resistance of controlling images, stereotypes, and leadership situations using the experiences and perceptions of the six BWAs included in this study.

-88- For the women in this study, the controlling images they encountered dealt with their leadership styles and characteristics. As discussed in the second dualism, self vs. others’ perceptions, BWAs espoused their views on others’ perceptions of them as leaders. Specifically, the concept of being viewed as a traditional leader was discussed. Based on the existing views of leadership, how the BWAs perceived others’ perceptions and their self-perceptions as leaders, the women’s acceptance of external perceptions was obvious. Defining their personal leadership in much the same manner as society’s definition of leader, reveals a certain level of acceptance. The BWAs sought to achieve a sense of normalcy through their portrayal of prescribed and accepted leadership characteristics. In order to resist the perception of other in relation to leadership, the BWAs adopted the traits and characteristics of society’s definition of leadership--- the definition espoused by leadership theorists and scholars. Thus, acceptance and resistance worked together in counterbalance---accepting one concept to resist the ramifications of another and vice versa. By accepting the prescribed definition and characteristics of leadership, the BWAs were attempting to rearticulate a definition of leadership that included Black women. By challenging a historical image of leadership that did not include Black women, the BWAs in this study have made and attempt to bring about social change by challenging this controlling image of leadership and replacing it with a Black woman’s standpoint on the issue (Collins, 1991). This standpoint is essential to Black women resisting systems of race and gender oppression that have been defined them for more that 300 years, and defining a sense of self. According to Collins (1991), self is not defined as the increased autonomy gained in separating oneself from other, instead self is found in the context of community. This concept of “self in community” was found in the narratives of the participants. For example, they described themselves and their leadership in relation to Whites and males, often in the context of their university/college communities. Also, when the BWAs talked about their personal experiences with others’ perceptions and discrimination, they referenced Black women as a group instead of focusing solely on themselves as individuals. Furthermore, to define self in isolation would only continue to perpetuate Black women’s status of the objectified other. As discussed by Holstein and Gubrium (1993), meaning and knowledge is constructed and conveyed through social interaction.

-89- Thus, Black women can not create a self-definition void of the interactions Black women have within the larger community. One specific controlling image and stereotype that the BWAs in this study adamantly rejected and resisted was that of bitch/Black bitch. While they recognized the label and its use as a means of degradation and harm to the Black woman’s standpoint and self-definition, they resisted the application of the term to their personal character. Even the women who stated that there was a possibility of them being perceived in this manner, rejected a definitive statement suggesting that others perceived them as a bitch/Black bitch. Instead, they offered the possibilities of other less derogatory labels that others might have perceived of them, such as arrogant, distant, aloof, demanding and rigid. Their resistance to this label speaks to the power dynamics involved in rejecting an externally defined controlling image of Black womanhood (Collins, 1991). In addition, such controlling images applied to Black women are actually distorted renderings of those aspects of our behavior that threaten existing power arrangements (Ibid.). For example, strong Black women administrators are threatening because they contradict elite White male definitions of femininity. To ridicule and defame strong, assertive Black women administrators by labeling them bitch/Black bitch reflects an effort to control a dimension of Black women’s behavior and capabilities as leaders that threatens the status quo. This significance of self-valuation is illustrated through the emphasis that Black feminist scholars place on respect (Collins, 1991). “In a society in which no one is obligated to respect African-American women, we have long admonished one another to have self-respect and to demand the respect of others” (Collins, 1991, p. 107). By resisting the label of bitch/Black bitch, Black women are defining their standpoint on self-respect and demanding that others respect them as effective leaders, and not dehumanize them as something outside the norm of leadership. Whether through the historical perspectives of acceptance vs. resistance, self vs. others perceptions, representing part vs. whole self, the characteristics of tough vs. soft, or the current perspectives of acceptance vs. resistance, Black women have managed to balance several dualisms that help them to create self-definition about a unique dualistic group---Black women. In their search for self-discovery and definition, Black women have accepted and resisted others definitions of who they are. This creation of self-definition has often required Black women to

-90- internalize external perceptions of themselves either through acceptance or rejection in order to gain self-respect and redefine the Black woman. Conclusions Unlike a traditional evaluation of perceptions where the people who hold the perceptions are the stakeholders, this study looked at others’ perceptions of Black women administrators from the views of the Black women. The conclusions, based on the BWAs perspectives, emerged from a theme that bridged the categories, major findings and thematic framework previously discussed. This theme of Internalizing Others’ Perceptions emerged from the stories of the women in this study and through the exploration of how the concept of dualism affected their lives. It was the voice of the administrators that created the awareness of internalized perceptions. It became apparent during the early stages of this study that the BWAs had views about how others perceived them. They were able to provide clear descriptors of how they believed others viewed them as leaders and their leadership styles. Even though the perceptions given were not directly from the people who held them, they were so real in the minds of the women that when they discussed others’ perceptions of them, I felt I was hearing their personal self- perceptions. Even though the perceptions of others represented multiple realities, because they were internalized, they presented a single reality for each of the women. This shows that external perceptions inevitably affect one’s self-perception (Steele, 1997). The perceptions of the BWAs varied greatly. While there were some similarities in the perceptions held about these women, in general they were individually based. Until the women were asked about negative perceptions, all of the women felt they were perceived in a positive light. They discussed how people respected them, looked to them as role models, trusted their decisions, and viewed them as caring leaders. These perceptions were internalized in that the women felt the perceptions confirmed their self-perceptions and encouraged them to continue displaying those characteristics. This says that just as observers, or others, make judgments about one’s attitudes and emotions by examining their behavior, the individual also analyzes her own internal state in a similar fashion, causing her to come to conclusions about the causes of her own behavior (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). It is through this social interaction that meaning and

-91- knowledge were constructed. Based on the attitudes and behaviors of others, the BWAs’ own self-perceptions were affected. How the BWAs internalized the negative perceptions of others is clearer than how they internalized the positive. The positive perceptions served as motivation and confirmation to continue their leadership, the negative perceptions caused changes in their attitudes and behaviors. For instance, when the women thought their warmth and participatory styles were perceived as soft and ingenuous, or that their rigidity and discipline were viewed as inflexible and overly demanding, they tried to alter their approach and the way they interacted with people. Basically, the women attempted to bring balance to what people thought of them, how they viewed themselves, and how they interacted with people. Carlson and Buskist (1997) would refer to this unbalance as dissonance or disequilibrium. According to cognitive dissonance theory, dissonance results when persons perceive an inconsistency between their attitudes and behavior, between their behavior and self-image, or between one attitude and another (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). In order to renew a sense of equilibrium, a person will be motivated to reduce the dissonance by engaging in dissonance reduction (Festinger as cited in Carlson & Buskist, 1997). A person can accomplish dissonance by decreasing the importance of one of the inconsistent factors, adding consistent factors, or completely changing one of the inconsistent factors (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). For the women in this study, their dissonance reduction involved changed behavior that would bring an end to the negative perceptions others might have had about specific leadership characteristics. Although the purpose of this study was to understand and describe others’ perceptions of BWAs from the views of the Black women, which has been presented throughout this report, the self-perceptions of the women were equally as interesting. In their reflection of how others’ perceived them, the BWAs were also engaged in self-reflection and an unveiling of their own perceptions. When I asked them how they believed others viewed their leadership, in many ways I was forcing them to view themselves through others’ lenses and their own. Even I, as the researcher, did not realize this was occurring until the final stages of analyzing their interviews. The BWAs were able to describe how others perceived them as a result of their own self- perceptions, attitudes, and behavior with them. In essence, perceiving others’ perception, which

-92- was intended to be an external process, was ultimately internal. Daryl Bem’s self-perception theory offers the following explanation of this perception phenomenon: Individuals come to “know” their own attitudes, emotions, and other internal states partially by inferring them from observations of their own overt behavior and/or the circumstances in which this behavior occurs. Thus, to the extent that internal cues are weak, ambiguous, or uninterpretable, the individual is functionally in the same position as an outside observer, an observer who must necessarily rely on those same external cues to infer the individual’s inner states. (cited in Carlson & Buskist, 1997, p. 498)

This says that the individual analyzes her own internal state causing her to come to conclusions about the causes of her own behavior, just as others make judgments and have perceptions about a person’s attitudes and behavior (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). Essentially, people will attribute their behavior to internal influences when concrete external causes are not sufficient indicators. Finally, with perceptions and various dualisms existing all around them, it is no wonder that others’ perceptions and the dualisms that define them affect BWAs. These external perceptions and dualisms were internalized and affected their attitudes, behavior and personal self- perceptions as leaders. Limitations The nature of the study was a limitation in and of itself. Trying to understand one’s leadership through the perceptions of others’ perceptions brings a high level of complexity. The Black women administrators’ perceptions were the sole perceptions, which could be based on a source of the attitudes and/or behavior of themselves or others. Due to the internalization of others’ perceptions it was difficult to determine if the self-perceptions were attitudinal or behavior based. Although the purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of Black women’s perceptions of how others perceived them, only the views of the Black women were included. In future research it may be advantageous to represent the voices of those who work with Black women administrators to report their perceptions first-hand. It would be interesting to see how the perceptions of others compared to the perceptions of the Black women administrators. Another limitation is the length of time each woman has been in an administrative position. There were vast differences in the experiences of novice and veteran administrators.

-93- The longer periods of time in administration affected the women’s perceptions, and ultimately their leadership performance and behavior. The last limitation deals with the type of institution in which the women worked. The experiences and the perceptions of the women differed as a result of their university being an HBCU, PWI, all female, or co-ed. As a result there were racial and gender issues that affected their experiences, and ultimately their perceptions. Recommendations As a result of the research of the existing literature and the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made: 1. In order to have a more in-depth analysis of the internalization of others’ perceptions, perhaps a long-term study would be more appropriate, where the Black women administrators could be interviewed at various points in their careers. They could be followed from the beginning of their administrative careers to various intervals across their careers. This would allow the researcher to gain a sense of the women’s self-perceptions of their leadership and track how that perception, their attitudes, and behaviors are changed as a result of social interaction or internal perspectives. 2. In dealing specifically with the perception of the Black bitch factor, more discussion is needed regarding the historical connotations of the label and its implications in present day. Perhaps if the interviewer would ascertain the women’s feelings about the term at the beginning of the interview, it would make the specific questions that pertain to the label more comfortable to discuss. To achieve a higher comfort level, it may be more advantageous to discuss the characteristics of the Black bitch factor without actually using the label itself. 3. To gain a better understanding of how BWAs’ perceptions and behavior are affected by others’ perceptions of them as leaders, a comparison study that evaluated the actual perceptions others have about Black women administrators and the women’s perceptions of themselves as leaders. This forum would allow the researcher to determine if actual external perceptions really influenced the BWAs’ internal perceptions, or if the women’s perceptions are solely influenced by their internal thoughts of how they are perceived.

-94- Message of Hope Hearing the stories of Black women administrators is a powerful tool in understanding their leadership. In spite of the limited representation and lack of role models, these women have persevered. They understand who they are as Black women and leaders, and constantly work to make the system better and a more comfortable journey for those that follow them. In addition, they recognize how others perceive them, and how those perceptions can be used to improve their leadership by causing them to be reflective leaders. These Black women know that they and those who look like them will continue in the struggle of being accepted and appreciated as leaders. Fortunately, for those of us who desire to join them in the struggle, our battles will be easier as their determination, perseverance, support, and encouragement shields us. It is because of their journey that the legacy of Black women’s leadership can continue to evolve.

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Appendices

-102- Appendix A Cover Letter

October XX, 2000

Name of Participant Title Address 1 Address 2 City, State Zip

Dear Participant:

I would like to thank you for your acceptance to participate in my study. Per our conversation (day), October (XX), 2000 we scheduled an interview for (day), (Month XX), 2000 from (time) in your office. As you know, my research interests includes the leadership and career experiences of Black women administrators in higher education. Based on my previous study, I would like to investigate Black women administrators’ perceptions of how other people perceive them as leaders. The goal of this study is to better understand the perceptions of Black women in leadership positions. It is my hope that this research will support the limited body of literature concerning the significance of Black women’s leadership.

I anticipate conducting interviews with you and one other women at another university. These discussions will focus on your career experiences, your perceptions of how others perceive you, and how those perceptions affect your leadership. All interview sessions will take place during the months of October and November 2000.

Your participation is voluntary, which gives you the right of refusal and termination of the interview session. To insure accuracy and clarity, I would like to audiotape our conversation. Please note, your name and the name of the university will be kept confidential, as pseudonyms will be used in all interviews.

Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any questions, please contact me at your convenience. I may be reached Monday - Friday at 513-529-2362 until 12:00 p.m. and 513-664- 8583 after 1:00 p.m., or by email: [email protected].

Sincerely,

Juliana M. MosleyAnderson Administrative Associate Miami University Graduate School

-103- Appendix B Pre-Interview Questionnaire (for Juliana MosleyAnderson’s study)

Please respond to the following questions. This form will be collected at the time of the interview. Response may be attached.

Educational Background: 1. What degrees have you earned? (Please include the academic discipline for each)

2. What colleges/universities have you attended? (Please state type of institution---public, private, religious affiliation, HBCU, predominately white, single sex, or coed)

Administrative Career: 3. What is your current administrative position and what are your primary job responsibilities?

4. How long have you been in your current administrative position?

5. What other administrative positions have you held? (Please include time in each position)

-104- Appendix C Consent Form

I, ______agree to participate in Juliana MosleyAnderson’s (Informant’s Name) study of the perceptions and experiences of Black women administrators’ leadership in higher education. My participation involves an interview of approximately two hours, in which I will be asked questions regarding my administrative career and current position. I understand that my identity will be confidential and that information I provide will be used in a professional research report. The use of pseudonyms will render the information confidential. I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am under no obligation to answer any of the questions asked of me. I may discontinue participation at any time or refuse to answer specific questions or terminate the conversation with no consequences.

Signature ______Date ______(Informant’s Signature)

Signature ______Date ______(Researcher’s Signature)

Audiotape Consent

I, ______agree to allow Juliana MosleyAnderson to audiotape all interview sessions. I understand that pseudonyms will be used in the interviews, thus maintaining my identity as confidential.

Signature ______Date ______(Informant’s Signature)

Signature ______Date ______(Researcher’s Signature)

For any questions regarding the study, please contact Juliana M. MosleyAnderson Monday - Friday at 513-529-2362 until 12:00 p.m. and 513-664-8583 after 1:00 p.m., or by email: [email protected].

For questions regarding your rights as a subject in this study, please contact the Office for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching at Miami University (513) 529-3734.

-105- Appendix D Semi-Structured Interview

Potential questions to be asked of each informant are listed below. However, the researcher has the right to ask additional questions for clarification, as the interview process progresses.

1. What characteristics or traits do you believe are representative of a leader?

2. In what ways do you view yourself as a leader?

3. How do you think others perceive you as a leader?

4. What words do they use to describe your leadership or you as a leader? (In reference to #3)

5. What behaviors do they exhibit? (In reference to #3)

6. Why do you think they perceive you in this way?

7. In what ways do these perceptions affect your behavior and/or performance as a leader?

8. As a result of these perceptions, how has your leadership changed over time?

In reference to your administrative career: 9. Have you ever experienced discrimination due to your race and/or gender? Describe.

10. Do you feel that your leadership style and characteristics are negatively perceived by others? Why or Why not?

11. Specifically, have you ever been referred to as “bitch,” “Black bitch,” or any other derogatory names (please list other names)?

12. What are your feelings about Black women being labeled a “bitch” or “Black bitch”?

13. Why do you believe this labeling process occurs?

14. What experiences have you had with confronting people who perceive you in this manner?

15. In what ways does this labeling process affect your behavior and/or performance as a leader?

16. As a result of this labeling, how has your leadership changed over time?

17. How do you see your experiences relative to women of other ethnicities in administration positions in academe?

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18. Are there any other experiences, thoughts or perceptions that you would like to talk about?

19. Do you have any questions for me?

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