Black Women in Academia: Minimizing Barriers and Increasing Opportunities in Leadership

The paper must be 15-20 double-spaced pages of content and must employ a minimum of 15 scholarly sources. Therefore, students must select a topic with sufficient depth and academic literature. Papers should be uploaded as a .pdf document to ensure universal format and readability.

Scholarly sources include peer-reviewed academic journal articles, academic books, and non-partisan research reports by government agencies and non-profit organizations.

o News articles, opinion pieces, and websites are not scholarly sources. Students may incorporate these to add important detail, but these will not count toward the minimum source requirement.

In addition to the written content, the paper must include the following elements that do not count toward the required page count:

o Title page

o Abstract (200-word maximum)

o Keywords

o References

■ Students must adhere to the style, mechanics, and format of APA 7th Edition. This includes in- text citations, headings, title page, references list, etc. The expectation is that students will submit papers with few or no APA errors. Students who struggle with APA formatting should consider working with the ASU Writing Center, as proper APA is a requirement for passage.

Exam Review Process:

Student papers will be reviewed by two Higher Education faculty members, chosen randomly.

Student’s will be graded on logistics (i.e., APA citations, peer-reviewed, paper flow), topic choice (i.e., is it appropriate and related to current higher education issues), content (i.e., does your paper provide a rigorous and holistic overview of issue), and your overall ability to accurately describe theories, research findings, and/or professional knowledge from the scholarly literature relevant to identified topics, problems, or professional experiences (in alignment with the Ed.S program-level outcomes).

Students who do not initially pass their comprehensive exams will be required to revise the paper (address the feedback from reviewers) and present an oral defense to their faculty readers/reviewers. Faculty readers will coordinate the date and time of the oral exam. It is encouraged that students incorporate the faculty reader feedback within their revision.

I do have an abstract

Black women at colleges and universities across the country face a multitude of issues, however, the presence of black women as senior-level leaders in higher education is minimal and their presence in leadership positions at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) is incalculable. From wage gaps to a lack of female board members and leaders, various inequities have surfaced that are leading to calls for change that black women have long struggled for; parity with men and white women in the U.S. higher education sector. Black women leaders have also continued to experience a pattern of the location at the bottom of the employment, rank, and tenure ladders. Their discrimination is often pluralized for being black and women, existing in both identities at all times while experiencing misogyny, sexism, and ageism. This paper’s intent is to briefly address some barriers and propose strategies that can be used to overcome these barriers that will contribute to the advancement of leadership for black women in Predominantly White Institutions .

Keywords: Black women, Leadership, Barriers, Advancement, Academia, Higher education, Predominantly White Institutions