University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM Graduate College Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2021 The Triple Burden: Black Women Leaders In Predominantly White Institutions Of Higher Education Nadia Mitchell University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis Part of the Educational Administration and Supervision Commons Recommended Citation Mitchell, Nadia, "The Triple Burden: Black Women Leaders In Predominantly White Institutions Of Higher Education" (2021). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 1406. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1406 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate College Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE TRIPLE BURDEN: BLACK WOMEN LEADERS IN PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION A Dissertation Presented by Nadia Adina DuBose Mitchell to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Education Specializing in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies May, 2021 Defense date: March 29, 2021 Dissertation Examination Committee: Maureen Neumann, Ph.D., Advisor Maria Mercedes Avila, Ph.D., Chairperson Tracy Arámbula Ballysingh, Ph.D. Wanda Heading-Grant, Ed.D. Cynthia J. Forehand, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College © Copyright by Nadia Adina DuBose Mitchell April 2021 All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Black women face greater challenges than their white female, Black male, and white male colleagues within predominantly white institutions of higher education (PWIs) because institutional and systemic oppression encourages ideologies that promote white supremacy culture. As such, Black women remain severely underrepresented in positions of leadership in PWIs. This narrative inquiry reports the stories of five Black women’s experiences as leaders in PWIs in the northeast region of the United States and sheds light on the factors that impact their empowerment and sustainability. Black women leaders navigate a number of issues in PWIs. The burden of taking on additional work unrelated to their job functions, issues around accessing proper care and support, and adverse treatment of Black women were themes that surfaced while uncovering the stories of the study participants. These themes were present throughout the study though exacerbated by both mass racial violence towards Black people and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) global health pandemic that disproportionately harmed Black people. The overlapping of these greater societal circumstances created a public health crisis for Black people that carried over into work compounding the issues the study participants faced creating a Triple Burden. Collectively, the tapestry of their stories demonstrated the very real threat to the empowerment and sustainability of Black women leaders in PWIs. DEDICATION To Black women and girls everywhere. I love you. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, a tremendous THANK YOU to my study participants Adorah, Agnes, Betty, Elizabeth, and StarAnn for collaborating with me to co-create this work. You five women are gifts to the world, and I feel incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to uplift your stories. Immense gratitude to my committee Dr. Wanda Heading-Grant, Dr. Tracy Arámbula Ballysingh, and Dr. Maria Mercedes Avila. You are a dream team of BIPOC women leaders, and I carried your support, wisdom, and guidance with me throughout this entire journey. A very special thank you to my dissertation advisor Dr. Maureen Neumann who was absolutely the backbone of my process. I can’t imagine how I would have done this without you walking beside me the entire time, encouraging me, reading and reviewing my work, letting me call or text you when I need to download a thought, and just generally reminding me that I am not an imposter. Coincidentally, I did not sustain as a Black woman leader in a predominantly white institution of higher education during the writing of this dissertation, however I owe so much gratitude to my colleagues Angela, Reese, and Ashley Michelle for all the love and support you provided me throughout my journey at that PWI. You all are incredible colleagues and human beings, and I will forever chase the opportunity to work together again. I am deeply thankful for my community of friends and family that uplift and support me daily. I especially want to acknowledge my mom Adline, and friends Barbara, Nu-Gina, Vicki, and Maggie. Thank you for being incredible women that I can count on. iii Sweet love, admiration, and gratitude @kcleffty. Your partnership during this journey was an unexpected, life affirming gift and I am deeply grateful for that. Finally, and above all, Nylah & Noah, my reasons for it all. Thank you for your endless motivation, love, and patience. I am eternally grateful that I get to be your mom and I love you more than anything. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 Purpose of Study and Research Questions .................................................................................................. 2 Significance of Proposed Work .................................................................................................................... 3 Use of Terms ................................................................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE .............................................................................................. 9 Dominant Leadership Theory .................................................................................................................... 10 Hegemonic Leadership Practices .............................................................................................................. 11 Transformative Leadership ........................................................................................................................ 12 Impact of Race and Gender ....................................................................................................................... 14 Harsher criticism ................................................................................................................................... 15 Limited upward mobility ....................................................................................................................... 16 Limited support and mentorship ............................................................................................................ 17 Threatened authenticity and burnout ..................................................................................................... 18 Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................................................ 20 Intersectionality ..................................................................................................................................... 20 Critical Race Theory .............................................................................................................................. 21 Black Feminism ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Triple Burden ............................................................................................................................................. 24 Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................................. 25 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS ................................................................................................... 27 Purpose of Study and Research Questions ................................................................................................ 27 Critical Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................ 28 Counter-storytellinG ............................................................................................................................... 28 Research Design ........................................................................................................................................ 28 Transformative Research Paradigm .......................................................................................................... 29 Site and Participant Selection ...................................................................................................................