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Abstract
The demographics of the student population enrolled in college is changing in the United States and estimates show that minoritized students will become the majority of the enrolled student population by the year 2030. However, less than 10% of leaders at predominately White institutions are Black, with an even smaller percentage representing Black women. This qualitative research study explores the successful journeys of Black women who currently hold or previously held an executive administrative leadership position at a predominately White institution using Patricia Hill Collins’ (2000) Black feminist thought as the underlying theory. The results of this study indicate that Black women who have been successful in attaining executive administrative leadership roles at PWIs have experienced some differences in their journeys, but they also share similar experiences, which is the focus of this study. Three themes, which capture how participants describe their journeys to executive administrative leadership positions as well as how their background and personal lives contributed to their success, emerged as a result of evidence collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 study participants. The first theme, “you can’t do the job if you don’t believe in yourself” relates to how Black women self-support their professional journey and overcome challenges and barriers. The second theme, “I am one of your biggest fans, one of your biggest champions, and I want to help you” relates to the importance of external support received by the study participants as they pursued career success. The third and final theme, “if you have a seat at the table, you have to use your voice there” is related to career readiness and how participants view preparedness for the next step in their successful career journeys.