Achieving Against the Odds

INTRODUCTION

Girl, it’s 11:30. Why are we still sittin’ up here in this office? You know we should both be home gettin’ some sleep. It’s gonna be daylight before you know it.

Yeah! But when else are we going to get to talk, just the two of us, about real things without interruptions and without having to run around here like chickens with our heads cut off? When else are we going to get our work completed?

Thus begins our story of the lives of African American women with PhDs traversing the halls of academia as administrators and faculty, women who, through their dedication and perseverance, have carved out their place in what has traditionally been foreign territory.   Achieving Against the Odds: African American Professional Women in Higher Education recounts the success stories of five African American women administrators and faculty members in predominantly White institutions of higher education (PWIs).  More specifically, these are administrators who hold upper echelon administrative positions or are tenured faculty with a position above the level of assistant professor.  They have made it past the academy’s “gate-keepers” and moved on to receive status and rewards that have been traditionally reserved for White men.  These five women have achieved at a high level and are, by institutional standards, successful.  Achieving at this level is quite an accomplishment in view of the fact that African American women are relatively new to White academia and still encounter many forms of bias and oppression (see Alfred, 2001; Antonio, 2002; Bradley and Holcomb-McCoy, 2004; Gregory, 1995).

Achieving Against the Odds began evolving several years ago in informal conversations with African American women who expressed their joys, disappointments, successes, and struggles in the academic setting.  These discussions, as well as our own personal experiences and observations, brought into sharp focus the unique challenges and various forms of oppression that exist in the university setting.  Although academia is an environment of intellectual investigation and is considered as exemplifying open-mindedness, African American women still speak of the oppressive conditions they endure that are unique to them.  As a result of these conditions, many become disheartened by the experience and some decide to leave the academy.  Some stay but are unable to advance their position.  Others, for a variety of reasons, decide to stay and manage to do exceptionally well.  The questions posed in this writing center on those who have succeeded.   We ask: “How and why are some African American women able to continue and succeed in academia?  What personal and professional fulfillment do African American women obtain working in a PWI?  How do African American administrators and faculty negotiate the demeaning, oppressive, and often exclusionary practices of the university?  These are our most pressing questions.

The literature (Alfred, 2001; Antonio, 2002; Bradley and Holcomb-McCoy, 2004; Gregory, 1995, 2001; etc.) attests to the obstacles African American women encounter in academia and the negative impact of these roadblocks.  While there is some research on African American faculty in predominantly White institutions (Aguirre, 2000; Alfred, 2001; Bradley and Holcomb-McCoy, 2004; Cooper, 2006; Gregory, 1995, 2001; Smith, Wolf, and Busenberg, 1996; Thomas and Hollenshead, 2001; Turner and Myers, 2000), a paucity of research exists on African American faculty and administrators who have endured and succeeded in such institutions.   Therefore, we feel that it is important to capture the experiences and perspectives that have enabled these successful women to reach the heights of their profession.  If we understand how African American women succeed in academia, despite the obstacles they face, we can provide a pathway to success for those who follow.  We can implement strategies that will enable the academic environment to be more conducive to the gifts and talents that African American women bring.

We feel honored to be investigating this area of research as too often the voices of African American women are ignored or silenced.  Research on gender and race has historically ignored the unique perspectives of African American women.  Therefore, we are especially interested in the observations, reflections, and strategies of African American women as administrators and faculty regarding their personal journeys of success and achievement.  We want to hear the stories of how they have confronted, managed, and overcome obstacles.  We have implemented a qualitative investigation to identify common themes in the experiences of these African American women administrators and faculty.  In essence, our investigation is an attempt to give voice to their survival and success in the academy.

Another reason has compelled us to do this research.  We are troubled by the relentless barrage of negative images and stereotypes of African American women that abound in the media, research, and even in literary works.  We have been reminded over and over again that “there is a problem in Black America.”