An academic administrator of color’s career development narrative in postsecondary education

Location

1053

Format Type

Event

Format Type

Panel

Start Date

January 2019

End Date

January 2019

Abstract

The ongoing underrepresentation of administrators of color in higher education suggests that traditional career pathways make racial equities in administrative leadership elusive. This personal narrative explores middle-manager educational and career experiences—some often-overlooked aspects of higher education administration. I review leadership and career development theories, and then I draw on qualitative approaches to examine my own career journey as one academic affairs administrator of color who has experienced a history of career change, lay-off, and non-traditional career moves within and across diverse institutions. Through an inductive approach for analyzing data in my career narrative, emergent themes incorporate data references ‘calling’, citizenship, and cultural change in academic affairs administration. The results of this study have implications for interventions in succession planning and career development for administrators while resulting in increased racial equity along the pathways toward academic leadership.

Keywords

leadership, higher education, academic administration, career development, personal narrative, African American

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Jan 18th, 2:15 PM Jan 18th, 2:35 PM

An academic administrator of color’s career development narrative in postsecondary education

1053

The ongoing underrepresentation of administrators of color in higher education suggests that traditional career pathways make racial equities in administrative leadership elusive. This personal narrative explores middle-manager educational and career experiences—some often-overlooked aspects of higher education administration. I review leadership and career development theories, and then I draw on qualitative approaches to examine my own career journey as one academic affairs administrator of color who has experienced a history of career change, lay-off, and non-traditional career moves within and across diverse institutions. Through an inductive approach for analyzing data in my career narrative, emergent themes incorporate data references ‘calling’, citizenship, and cultural change in academic affairs administration. The results of this study have implications for interventions in succession planning and career development for administrators while resulting in increased racial equity along the pathways toward academic leadership.