Challenges Experienced by Women of Color in Educational Leadership

There continue to be many issues women of color face as they pursue both an advanced education and leadership positions in education. There appears to be an increase in the number of women of color seeking advanced degrees and pursuing educational leadership positions, but the numbers are still small overall. While some educational stakeholders have worked to increase the number of women of color in educational leadership positions, it has been minimal. A central question that is often asked is, How does a school ensure that the educational leaders are capable of moving forward, with meeting the needs of a diverse student body? Many advocates say promoting a more diverse group of educational leaders, especially women of color, will only help increase student success. Increasing the number of women of color in educational leadership positions can help have a positive effect on the issues of racism, poverty, aggression, oppression, hostility, or even privilege.

The Transformational Change Agent Equation

As Native women professors, counselors, and administrators within higher education, the four authors will focus on transformational change within oppressive environments, addressing institutionalized racism stemming from a colonial history of education. The authors will discuss identified barriers including operating in an oppressive work environment which can sometimes render us invisible and silent for self-preservation, threats to our positions from taking a stand against racial or cultural inequity, and resisting assimilation strategies created by structural racism. It is important to share experiences with working in systematically oppressive environments and the covert ways in which Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) are transformational change agents, leaders against racial and cultural oppression.

What Do You Do When Silence Is No Longer Golden?

For decades, the voice of Black Americans has been systematically silenced: from the beginning, when African ancestors were ripped away from their home shores of Senegambia and West-Central Africa, through the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s, to current civil unrest after America witnessed the murder of George Floyd. The Black Lives Matter movement's rise is a direct result of Black people who are sick and tired of being silenced. The purpose of this chapter is to describe four personalities—mediator, advocator, agitator, and activator—, the situations in which each would be appropriate, and the lessons learned through these experiences. This chapter will cover a brief personal narrative of the author growing up and taught to be seen and not heard and how the sheer notion of silence is golden is no longer appropriate in times of social unrest and when lives are at risk. The author highlights the cognitive dissonance felt as a school board member amid the new social justice movement of the late 2000s.

¿Cuándo Podemos Descansar? When Can We Rest?

The author uses testimonio as a way to situate the barriers and successes she has experienced as a Latina educational leader in Northern Colorado for 25 years. The setting is based in the backdrop of several worldwide issues in 2020 which created a dire need to address diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and social justice within industries and organizations, including educational systems. 1) National political division, 2) disparate access to healthcare and the disproportionate numbers of deaths to COVID-19, and 3) murders of Black Americans by law enforcement have re-affirmed the dehumanization of Black and Brown Americans. Solutions and recommendations are shared based on her shared experiences in moving a DEI educational agenda forward.

Black Female Education Leaders and Intersectionality

The pandemic has operated within a cultural movement opposing systemic racism. Redux of Black Lives Matter was spurred by the killings of George Floyd, Ahmad Aubrey, Rashard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, and others, and resulted in prolonged protests throughout the country. This caustic backdrop has created unique challenges for female Black educational leaders. Thus, they are compelled to navigate their already challenging duties among the intersections of leadership, race, gender, power, and social justice. Black female education leaders are challenged to courageously lead during an unprecedented era of disruption.

The Room Is Crooked AF

Societal perceptions of Black women are challenged by Black women's ability to survive in spaces that have historically been uninviting. Black women's leadership practice has developed in response to their racialized and gendered lived experiences. Through analyzing studies of Black women leaders, research suggests Black women have a strategic set of skills and practices that can be used to advance their leadership positionality. This chapter will describe the ways Black women operate at the intersection of resistance and leadership. Their leadership has become a skill, a practice, and a tool that creates space for themselves.

Othering, Intersectionality, and Americanism

Black and Brown leaders in the counseling profession continue to be minoritized as they navigate a White dominant profession. It is important that the counseling profession take steps to empower Black and Brown counseling leaders with the tools needed to effectively and confidently lead. The authors examine the socially just and culturally responsive counseling leadership model (SJCRCLM), the inclusive leadership model (ILM), and culture-centered leadership models (CCLM) using personal narratives. Black and Brown counseling leaders at different levels of leadership (i.e., beginner, intermediate, advanced) are provided with recommendations for navigating life in the US and specifically a profession that is dominated by Whiteness.

Racialization of Religion

Muslim American high school seniors navigate their educational spaces at a time when the 2016 Election has unleashed a rhetoric that is riddled with Islamophobia. The experiences of four female participants engages us in their counter-narratives, debunking stereotypes and assumptions that exist about their demographic. The formal and informal experiences of the educational journeys of these participants help us explore the role of family, faith-based education, mosque, and community in the lives of these students. The social and academic learning opportunities for these participants showcased instances of inclusion and marginalization, where there were times when the students underwent a double consciousness. Transitioning from faith-based schools to the public education system became easier when positioned in a climate of diversity. Muslim American students experience a dichotomous pull between religious values and American culture and remain cognizant of these differences. Muslim educational leadership will find the study insightful.

Black and Brown Women Fostering Authentic Activism in Counseling Programs Amid Social Unrest

The COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, and civil unrest of 2020 disproportionately impacted Black and Brown communities jolting “progressive” academic systems and exposing inherent inequities. Such inequality warrants authentic activism to promote social awareness and facilitate a culture of collaboration, respect, and inclusivity. This chapter centers on three early-career Black and Brown women leaders associated with counseling programs who voice their positionality statements, experiences, and views to align with relevant theoretical concepts. Black feminism, postcolonial feminism, and critical race theory pedagogies serve as the authors' foundation, highlighting race, culture, gender, and intersectionality to unmask cultural oppression in higher education. Committed to their lives' work as academics, researchers, and mental health practitioners, the authors assume substantial professional responsibilities and engage in emotional labor adopting a sense of family and mothering to support students. Finally, the authors provide suggestions to undo injustices during turbulent times.

The Resilient Women of Color Leaders

In this chapter, the authors report on their experiences as higher education faculty women of color through three narratives. They present the narratives from their perspectives as three full professors in educational leadership. In the first narrative, an African-American scholar reports on her experiences in academia. In the second narrative, a Latina scholar reports on former Latina students who are currently in school leadership positions enacting social justice leadership. In the third narrative, an Asian-American scholar reports on her current project about networking as a strategy for women of color.