Rooted in justice: one Black woman’s unique, intersectional educational leadership journey

ABSTRACT

Historically, there remains an underrepresentation of Black women in and en route to the highest levels of organisational leadership. The divide is all the more pronounced in the field of education, one in which women represent a large share of the community. Particularly relevant for Black women is the incongruence between their heightened educational attainment levels compared to their lower status in the organisational pecking order. To advance both theory and research in this domain, social justice leadership theory (SJLT) serves as the framework for this paper, rooted in the context of the United States. This paper explores the multilayered journeys of Black women aspiring to and operating in senior-level leadership roles (i.e. executives, directors, and CEOs) in US-based education, highlighting the unique and intersectional experiences of one Black woman educational leader. Indeed, there is a need to increase collective consciousness about the impact of leadership cultures on Black women, their experiences, their personal and professional choices, and the ensuing ramifications. In addition, the education leadership sector can benefit from the advancement of more research and theory development relevant to the progression of Black women educational leaders in the United States.

KEYWORDS:

• Black women educational leaders
• educational leadership
• equity
• identity
• intersectionality
• social justice leadership
• social mobility

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank her study participant, the journal editors, and the anonymous reviewers for their roles in seeing this product to fruition.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The study participant’s name was replaced with a pseudonym to protect her identity and anonymity.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Natasha N. Johnson

Dr. Natasha N. Johnson is a Clinical Instructor of Criminal Justice and Criminology in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. A career educator since 2001, her research focuses on critical theory, equity, and social justice leadership, particularly within the K-20 sector. Her other research areas include intersectionality, educational law, policy, and governance, and curriculum development. Dr. Johnson holds multi-state reciprocity and has previously worked as a teacher, guidance counselor, assistant dean, instructional leader, and curriculum developer domestically and abroad. She is a David L. Clark scholar, a CETLOE Faculty Teaching Fellow, and her work is published in JSTOR, SAGE, the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Taylor & Francis, the Routledge Focus series, Psychology of Violence, the popular press, and several highly acclaimed educational leadership journals.