Black Womens Pathways To Executive Academic Leadership

In their 2011 volume Answering the Call: African American Women in Higher EducationLeadership (Stylus), Beverly L. Bower and Mimi Wolverton assert that while the leadershipindustry is lush in its production of literature, there is little that focuses on the leadershipexperience of women of color. This work follows a tradition wherein women of color tell theirown stories and readers are left to draw themes across the volume in order to take directionsfor their own leadership and career pathways (See, e.g., Sisters of the Academy: Emergent BlackWomen Scholars in Higher Education [2001, Stylus], Black Women in the Academy: Promisesand Perils [1997, University Press of Florida], and Journeys of Social Justice: Women of ColorPresidents in the Academy [2019, Peter Lang]. In Pathways to Higher Education Administrationfor African American Women (2012, Stylus), conversations regarding the cultivation ofleadership skills and navigation of pathways are topically driven but written by women who aremostly scholars and are not in senior executive positions. In addition, this volume is whollyoriented in the four-year institutional sector. The current volume bridges these traditions bypresenting the stories of women who are senior executives in community colleges, historicallyBlack and historically White institutions. Moreover, it could provide an updated take for Styluson Black women's leadership at a time when there is increasing focus on Black women inleadership roles more generally (see e.g., Lead from the Outside: How to Build your Future andMake Real Change [2018, Henry Holt & Co.]; How Exceptional Black Women Lead [2017, IncitePublishing], Your Next Level Life: 7 Rules of Power, Confidence, and Opportunity for BlackWomen in America [2019, Mango], and The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know toSecure a Seat at the Table [2019, Seal Press]).