Education Commons^™

Mentorship Within Developmental Networks: A Phenomenological Study Of Black Women Tenured Associate Professors And Their Path Toward Full Professor, Jenifer F. Godfrey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The problem of inadequate representation of Black women in tenure track faculty positions is both pronounced and longstanding. With Black women making up less than 2% of full professors, this is particularly true at institutions categorized as R1 – Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity by The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. College faculty have long been the focus of scholarly research. However, studies focused on mentorship to be promoted to full professor for associate professors generally, and Black women associate professors specifically, are lacking. Using a conceptual framework that defined mentorship broadly as developmental networks and …

A Case Study On Alternative Spring Break: Supporting Black Women At An Hbcu, Aeryel Williams

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a college-based travel program in which students spend their traditional spring break vacation traveling to a new domestic or international city to complete a service-learning project such as community restoration in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. As a result of participating in Alternative Spring Break, students gain invaluable experiences and transferable skills that can be applied to their academic and career goals. In this dissertation, the specific transferable skill explored is emotional intelligence.

The purpose of this dissertation is to illuminate the lived experiences of Black women who have participated in a college-based travel program …

Glass Ceilings And Bottomless Floors: Black Women's Experiences In Education Reform Leadership, Alicia Danielle Nance

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recent social commentary, articles, and research studies are increasingly discussing the ways in which urban education reform, which is overwhelmingly white and female, is failing communities of color in the United States by continuing to reify systems of oppression and inequity. As the faces of urban public school students in the United States become more African American and Latino, the faces of leadership in the U.S.’s urban schools should begin to reflect similar demographic changes. This study, to address the current gap in research literature, critically examines the narratives of Black women educational leaders who serve students in a mid-sized …

The Influence Of Colorism And Hair Texture Bias On The Professional And Social Lives Of Black Women Student Affairs Professionals, Rhea Monet Perkins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Influence of Colorism and Hair Texture Bias on the Professional and Social Lives of Black Women Student Affairs Professionals “If it was so honorable and glorious to be black, why was it the yellow-skinned people among us had so much prestige?” Zora Neal Hurston (1942) understood the privilege and oppression associated with colorism. “Colorism is the allocation of privilege and disadvantage according to the lightness or darkness of one’s skin” (Burke, 2008, p. 17). Colorism is the systematic preference for lighter skin tones over darker tones and stems from larger racial systems impacting education, income, marriageability, job placement, housing …

The (In)Visible Road Map: The Role Of Mentoring For First-Generation Black Female Doctoral Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Takea Vickers

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Although women’s status in higher education has vastly improved over the past decades, invisible barriers remain that disenfranchise first-generation Black female doctoral students at predominantly White institutions (PWI). Specifically, the sparse literature base constricts existing knowledge and understanding about the mentoring relationships of first-generation Black female doctoral students and the barriers they face in the academy. Using the theoretical framework of intersectionality, this study sought to address the ways in which first-generation Black female doctoral students navigated the academy through mentorship and the ways in which mentoring relationships were formidable to construct. Five first-generational Black female doctoral students and two …