Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education

Advisor

Elizabeth Brennan

Committee Member

Roberta Schomburg

Keywords

black, education, leadership, principal, recruitment, retention

Abstract

Educational leadership is one of the most vastly explored topics in education. School principals and assistant principals make up a substantial portion of those in leadership positions. Experiences in educational leadership have been chronicled for a number of years; however, the diversity in the recorded lived experiences is lacking. To that end, the purpose of this study was to contribute to the literature by developing an understanding of and recording the essence of Black males’ experiences working in K-12 school leadership positions.

The intersection of race and gender has been proven to create dynamics which impact the enactment of leadership (Chin, 2013, p. 2). To begin to frame an understanding of how and in what ways leaders from different demographics and backgrounds experience and enact leadership, attention must be given to the experiences of those who exist at the various intersections of identity. It is not possible to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the landscape of educational leadership unless multiple experiences are considered and accounted for.

Through individual interviews and focus group discussion, this study identified a strong relationship between the racial and gender identity of Black male principals and assistant principals and how they experience leadership. Special notice was taken of the factors that contributed to the participants’ desire to become school administrators as well as the factors that contributed to their resolve to remain in the position.

It was the researcher’s intent that the information obtained from this study would be used to positively inform recruitment and retention programs and practices in an effort to address the disparity in the number of Black male school administrators.

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