Date of Award

2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

Black feminist action research is a methodology designed by Dr. Gardner to cultivate agency and solidarity among Women of Color student affairs administrators. by engaging participants as co-investigators, Women of Color student affairs administrators' co-constructed knowledge to examine the challenges and barriers experienced in career navigation as well as the strategies used to disrupt oppressive working environments at historically White institutions. in this study the principle investigator and co-investigators explored the following research questions: (1) How do Women of Color student affairs administrators define systems of support? (2) How and why do Women of Color student affairs administrators establish systems of support to assist in their professional navigation of historically White institutions? (3) How do these systems of support affect WOCSAa in their professional navigation of historically White institutions? It was equally important to articulate the findings in a way that protected the co-investigators' identities as well as their places of employment. by using creative non-fiction, radical imagination, and composite character development, the findings evolved into an engaging, multidimensional narrative. Overall, the findings indicated that Women of Color student affairs administrators are often left alone to decipher coded interactions or forced to seek help from individuals who may not understand the gravity of their concern. There are two distinct ways in which leaders of HWIs can support WOCSAa in their career navigation: the implementation of professional support spaces and robust retention strategies.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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