Gender Roles And Roles Of Women 's Career Advancement

Since the early 1800s, women in higher education have been battling to overcome barriers to gain access to education, and equal career opportunities. Research posits that women have made significant progress through government legislations during the 1960s and 1970s, which eradicated some of the barriers of gender inequality. The research also supports that women are moving the needle in educational attainment and employment in higher education as students, faculty members and senior-level administrators. However, recent data suggest that there is still work to do to increase the number of women in leadership roles. Especially black women in higher education.

The research topic I plan to focus on involves studying the experiences of African American males who have formed mentoring relationships as undergraduates, particularly when the mentor is a Black male and the relationship takes place at Clemson or other PWIs in the south. In my opinion, these relationships can have a profound impact on a student’s ability to persist towards graduating from college. Though my research, I want to hear the experiences of Black males who have benefited from successful mentoring relationships with other Black men. As a mentor, I believe that establishing a strong mentoring relationship with Black males at a young age can greatly improve their chance of academic success. Furthermore, I believe that mentoring is a strong early intervention mechanism to prevent Black males from dropping out of high school and deterring them from pursuing degrees in higher education. At the same time, I would like my research interest to focus on African American males in the south, but I would like my scope to focus on mentoring relationships between black men; both structured and unstructured.

Chavella T. Pittman " The Narratives of African American Faculty at a Predominantly White University.

When I started this phenomenal journey of researching, African-American professionals in higher education, I never realized that indeed there was truth in the obstacles, restrictions and biases in their way that must be overcome. In this research paper we will highlight and discuss some of the reasons that African- American professionals faces in higher education and some of the resources, that can be used to dismantle the indifferences. The progress has been slow in the academic arena for African-Americans in higher education. It has being over two decades from 1980 to 2003 African Americans make up only 4.3% of full time faculty in Americans universities and since 2003 it as only gone up by 1.2%. Progression toward a goal to dismantle obstacles to academe life for African- American professionals is the only way to winning the battle in education (Schwarz et al 2010).

The need for support and mentorship becomes even more crucial for faculty employed at small, private institutions, because oftentimes the duties of the professoriate are coupled with advising obligations, administrative assignments or committee leadership. To complicate matters further, the smaller faculty usually contributes to a lack of diversity among its members (Schnell, 1992), thus leaving a significant gap in possible mentors for women faculty in search of gender-matches to confide in as they learn the nuances within the academe.

As well as reveal how the effective mentoring experiences can be utilized to create tailored mentoring program for specialized populations. The researcher expected the results of the data collection and analysis to add to the existing body of literature from an African American woman’s perspective on the impact of mentoring in higher education. More significantly, the study revealed the mentees career development needs, expectations, and the impact their mentor’s influence had on their careers. These components are vital to understanding and providing suggestions for future African American women seeking leadership

While many Americans and Farrell overlook sexism in careers, it is extremely evident in academia. The ratio of female to male positions and the salaries of those positions are blatant examples of unfairness. Linda Krefting, human resources professor at Texas Tech University and co-editor of Human Resource Reality, depicts the depressing reality for women in her article concerning the academic field. Though women earn 44 percent of doctorate degrees, only 33 percent of them have faculty positions. One would not expect a perfect 50:50 ratio, but this deficit is unacceptable. Additionally, on average women receive salaries 33 percent lower than what a male in

The African American professors attempt to prove themselves to their students by demonstrating their knowledge and competence. If they succeed, then they do not reinforce negative attitudes towards black people and their intelligence (Harlow, 2003. 368-370). The inequality African American professors experiences includes being underestimated and challenged by their students and possibly their colleagues.

Within the next 10 years, 75% of community college presidents plan to retire; with 15% more to retire within 11-15 years (McNair, 2015). Due to retirements, there will be a need to fill many new academic leadership positions (Eddy, 2013; Lennon, 2013). The struggle to find and retain highly qualified leaders will be a challenge for community colleges (Jones & Taylor, 2013). An additional concern related to the community college leadership crisis is the gender leadership gap; where few females are appointed as community college leaders (Dahlvig, 2013; Hannum, Muhly, Shockley-Zalabak, & White, 2015). When community colleges seek candidates for president and associated leadership positions, women are considered in the same light as men as per hiring requirements (Fujii, 2014). Yet, in 2012, only 26% of women held university and community college president positions; suggesting that equal representation among women leaders has not yet been realized in higher education (Hannum et al., 2015).

Gender and work exist sociologically as a way to maintain both authority and inequality. Women’s roles throughout history shed a light on the expectations and stereotypes that exist today; however, navigating a gendered economy and overcoming sex segregation continues to be a challenging task for most women. Wages continue to be uneven, and wives continue to bear most of the child rearing and domestic responsibilities despite increasingly working the same amount as their husbands do. Becoming educated on these inequalities and viewing them with a sociological perspective will allow people to see gender and work in an accurate light and continue to develop

CRT utilizes narratives to provide real life accounts of the experiences of people of color (Taylor, 2006), and these narratives provide voices for the voiceless and nameless (Lynn & Parker, 2006). People of color are marginalized and isolated in academia, and these narratives are crucial for whites to understand the experiences of minority faculty members at PWIs. For example, one African American was denied tenure because her white chairman thought her research lacked rigor (Turner et al., 2011). She reminded her chairman about the college’s mission to promote diversity and multiculturalism. However, he stated that he was not a champion of affirmative action. Thereby, this white male upheld the white supremacy of society by denying tenure

The issues I have decided to address are the lack of formal in group mentors and mentorship opportunities available for female students, faculty, and staff of color. The University has been intentional about recruiting students, faculty and staff of color. Despite these efforts our women of color who work as faculty or staff are the few available mentors available for students. Unfortunately, they are burdened with few professional growth opportunities while juggling work, mentorship requests, as well as providing the minority voice on committees throughout the campus. Subsequently, these women do not have in group mentors to support their growth. While some research shows, professionals who have been mentored are more likely to engage in mentoring, this does not seem hold true for women in general, it is especially untrue for women of color (Wright and Wright 1987). Increased professional expectations, distress and demands are likely the reasons for this difference. With all this, it is clear that women of color are at a significant disadvantage for finding mentors on this campus, and in most male dominated fields.

My underrepresented group in higher education is African American. The representation of the African-American racial group within higher education is disproportionately low compared to other racial groups in higher education due to various barriers. As a consequence, the severe shortage of African American faculty is a critical challenge for many institutions that attempt to produce racial and cultural uniformity among faculty, staff, and students. African Americans only occupied 6 % of faculty positions in the United States in 2013. Additionally, research indicated that African Americans only comprised a dreary 6.9 % of full-administration in higher education, compared an immense 82.7% for whites. African American women faculty in the United States outnumbered African

In a publication titled ‘Black Women in Academe’, author Yolanda Moses describes how “isolation, invisibility, hostility, indifference, and a lack of understanding of the Black women’s experiences are all too often part of the climate Black women may face on campuses” (Moses, 1989). The detrimental environment surrounding these women frequently results in sullenness, lack of social assertiveness, and belief that they are less competent than male students. Even if time spent at an academic institution is minimal, with this kind of prejudice faced at an early age, any woman- black or otherwise, would suffer the rest of their life. In response to the discrimination faced at universities, some have created programs to aid black students and other minorities; these programs tend to generalize the needs of all its black students and do not fully support black women specifically.

What attitudes about women might contribute to their underrepresentation in positions of educational leadership? There are several attitudes that might contribute to women being underrepresented in positions of educational leadership. First, stereotyping is a major issue. Many still view women as being the weaker species that are supposed to take care of the children and household needs. Second, many women don’t have the higher educational experiences needed to be an administrator. Some didn’t reach a higher degree status out of the need of having to raise their children. Next, some think that women don’t represent a larger number of educational leadership roles because they lack self-confidence. Finally, most think that women in educational leadership roles are low because there isn’t enough mentorship opportunities