A Phenomenological Study of African American Presidents Serving at Major Colleges & Universities in the United States

Introduction & Thanks

First, I would like to thank you—Dr. Ruzicka and Dr. Badal for accepting the invitation to serve on this proposal defense committee. Special thanks to you, Dr. Simmons for also serving on this committee and serving as a committed mentor throughout this process. Your guidance and support have been invaluable, and I am indebted to you for the hard work you have given towards helping reach this point in my dissertation process.

My proposed dissertation title is A Phenomenological Study of African American Presidents Serving at Major Colleges & Universities in the United States. And since this research project references race, I would like to express that all of my references to any races considered in this project is intended to express the literature and data presented by respected scholars. Furthermore, my intention is to express my findings in a professional and respectful manner.

In this proposal presentation, we will cover the following:

Background of the Problem

Literature Review

Problem Statement

Research Questions

Research Methodology, to include: (4)

Research Method & Design

Research Procedures

Data Analysis, and

Ethical Issues

Background of the Problem

My consideration of this research topic was motivated by my own interest in the experiences of African American college presidents. I was thankful to discover the research of several scholars towards diversity within higher education executive leadership roles, particularly that of the presidency (Holmes, 2004). Diversification in leadership has become of greater importance since higher education institutions are becoming more diverse (Gagliardi, 2018). However, the historical context that demonstrates how African Americans gained the opportunity to serve as college and university presidents reveals the importance of this research project.

According to Holmes (2004), the lack of diversity and underrepresentation is most visible in the office of the president. Studies conducted by Gagliardi (2018) concluded the typical college president has not changed over the years, and college presidents are usually 62 year old White males who have acquired a PhD or EdD, respectfully. As a result, this project sought to understand the experiences of African American presidents who serve major colleges and universities in the United States.

This project focused on African American presidents serving major universities rather than only historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), because tons of research can be found concerning the role African American presidents play at historically Black colleges and universities (Freeman et al., 2016). However, researchers have discovered there are differences in the experiences of African American presidents serving HBCUs when compared to those serving traditional or major universities (see pg. 11 for examples). In fact, some have argued that HBCUs have been placed within its own sector (UKEssays, 2018).

According to a study conducted by Corrigan (2002), African American presidents are more likely to serve as president over HBCUs and 2-year colleges. Ibbotson (2020) confirmed Corrigan’s conclusion when recognizing Christian universities and colleges are predominantly led by White males, even amidst an increasingly diverse student body. Therefore, this study sought not to simply understand the experiences of African American presidents who serve at HBCUs, but rather African American presidents serving major universities.

Literature Review

To understand the African American leader’s ascension to the office of college president, I conducted a literature review that cover the historical evolution of higher education institutions in the United States and how these institutions came to welcome African American presidents. Afterwards, attention was given to how HBCUs fit within the system of higher education. Lastly, the leadership styles of African American college presidents and their impact upon HBCUs were given consideration. This literature review was fashioned this way to gain a wholistic understanding of the experiences shared by African American presidents over time and within various circumstances.

A study led by Bastedo et al. (2016) concluded the United states will be a majority minority nation by 2050. To understand the experiences of African American college presidents and their leadership practices, I consulted the leading researchers. The literature revealed that the role of the African American college president has evolved along with the evolution of higher education institutions in the United States.

The evolution of the college president from the Colonial period to the current time is recognized by Thelin (2019; n.d) as he studied the responsibility of the college president. Durnin (1961) noted that the college presidents during the Colonial period were mostly clergymen. However, higher education began to expand as America demanded leaders who could lead in other industries besides Christian ministry (Goldin & Katz, 1998). Accordingly, the demands of the college president evolved into more of a business leader than a Christian leader or minister (Durnin, 1961). Therefore, responsibilities like: fundraising, budget management, and public perception were all used to define the role of a college president.

The African American integration into the American educational system was a subject discussed by scholars WEB DuBois (1936) as African American leaders debated on the role they should embrace in the attempt to end racial segregation. The impact of such court cases as Roberts v. City of Boston, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 all played a role in defining the experiences and responsibilities of African American college presidents.

This history provides the context to what led to the birth of HBUCs and the prominence of African American presidents who were prevented from leading traditional universities. Furthermore, the experiences shared by leaders during these times led to the development of leadership styles practiced by African American leaders.

Parker (1976) investigated the differences in ethnic minority leadership styles and determined one’s cultural background plays a dominant role in the development of one’s leadership style. Purcell (2020) concluded that institutional racism is a motivation that influences the leadership practices of African American leaders. Furthermore, Ozoki et al. (2009) determined transformational leadership styles are commonly used by ethnic minorities who have experienced racism and discrimination. Another study confirmed that ethnic minority leaders tend to be nurturing, inclusive, dynamic, engaging, and inspiring (Ardichvili et al., 2009; Ayman & Morris, 2009).

Myrdal (1944) conducted a study that concluded African American leaders may adopt one of the two leadership styles: 1) accommodation, or 2) protest. These two styles were particularly used during the 1940s when African Americans faced intense racial conflict.

According to Myrdal (1944) accommodation leadership style is when an African American leader serves as a mediator between the African American community and other ethnic communities for personal gain (Booker T. Washington).

Myrdal (1944) stated protest leadership style is when a leader used rebellion as a means of frustrating systems of oppression.

As the United States desegregated, African American leaders were given opportunities to lead HBCUs, almost exclusively. Freeman & Palmer (2020) conducted a study on the experiences of African American college presidents serving at HBCUs and divided these experiences and leadership practices into two major divisions: 1) experiential skills, and 2) professional knowledge.

Freeman & Gasman (2014) recognized the negative reactions African American presidents serving at HBCUs face. African American presidents serving at HBCUs face challenges with racist rhetoric, underdeveloped organizational structures, low degree offerings, issues with finances, and struggles with state and federal policies (Freeman & Gasman, 2014).

Freeman and Gasman (2014) interviewed 10 HBCU presidents and discovered all 10 participants felt mentorship was an important in developing an aspiring African American president. Mentorship can include: 1) professional introductions, 2) job shadowing, 3) problem-solving, 4) fundraising shadows, 5) personal and professional advice (Freeman & Gasman, 2014). In this same study, Freeman and Gasman (2014) gathered 11 skills the participating presidents suggested should be found in an aspiring president:

vision

communication

fundraising

an entrepreneurial disposition

negotiation skills

board management

collaboration

service

respect for tradition

data-driven decision making

accreditation and student engagement

The literature review in this project confirmed that there has been positive changes in the appointment of African American presidents. As it relates to the current state of African American leadership, Lederman (2022b) discovered from June 2020 to November 2021, more than 35% of the presidents and chancellors hired in American colleges and universities were African American. Lederman (2022a) also noted, the murder of George Floyd had a significant impact on the increase of African American presidents.

Statement of the Problem

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine how leadership practices are impacted by the experiences of African American college and university presidents serving major higher education institutions.

The problem is that the experiences of African American college and university presidents serving at non-HBCU colleges and universities in the United States have not been widely researched to determine how their leadership characteristics best serve the student population of their respective higher education institutions (Smith, 2004).

Rationale

Additional research is needed to examine how the leadership of African American presidents influence the diversity agenda of colleges and universities (Walker-Belgrave, 2015). Further research needs to be conducted to determine the personal and professional experiences of African American presidents who serve at major universities, including but not limited to HBCUs.

Contribution of Study

This project adds to the current body of literature by broadening the research to African Americans serving at non-HBCU institutions. Walker (2021) recognized most of the research on African American college presidents has focused on African American female college presidents. However, this study includes males and does not limit the study to females. Consequently, aspiring presidents will find the information contained within this project useful in any context.

Research Questions

Three research questions have been created to guide this research project and describe the experiences of African American college presidents:

RQ1: How do the professional experiences of African American presidents who preside over major colleges and universities impact their ascension into the office of the presidency?

This research question will consider the different roles served by the respondent. It will also take into consideration the means of acquiring roles that led to one’s ascension to the office of president. Respondents will be asked to explain what roles they feel contributed to their ability ascend to the presidency.

RQ2: In what ways do the personal and professional experiences of African American presidents who preside over major colleges and universities impact their leadership characteristics?

This research question will consider how African American presidents interpreted personal and professional experiences that they felt contributed to the way in which they lead. When referring to personal experiences, the research will consider whether one’s personal experiences with race are considered be critically important to their role as college president. Professional experiences are concerned with use of mentorship opportunities, the educational pursuit, career development, and one’s exposure to the field of higher education.

RQ3: In what ways do the personal and professional experiences of African American presidents who reside over major colleges and universities impact their handling of diversity issues?

This question is concerned with how one’s personal and professional experiences impact diversity issues, specifically. How does the experiences one has faced regarding race impact leadership practices? How does political and religious convictions impact one’s leadership practices?

Research Methodology & Design

This research project will use a qualitative phenomenological study to examine the experiences of African American college and university presidents who preside over major colleges and universities. According to Teherani et al. (2015), qualitative research projects investigates the social phenomena in a subject’s natural setting. Furthermore, Teherani et al. (2015) noted qualitative research investigate the following:

interpretation of how individual experiences

behaviors of certain individuals or groups

functions of organizations

how interactions with certain individuals develop relationships

Gibson (2004) stated, phenomenological studies recognize the themes and meaning of experience within real-life scenarios to identify patterns, themes, and the meaning of those experiences.

There are other qualitative designs that could have been used for this study. The ethnographic design would not be suitable for this project, because it engages cultural and group systems and does not engage in the observation process with individual participants. A narrative design limits the participants in a way that would not allow this project to identify the relevant themes and trends of several respondents. Accordingly, this project will use a phenomenological qualitative method to provide an understanding of the unique experiences of each African American president considered in this project.

Research Procedures

As stated earlier, this research project will investigate the experiences of African American college and university presidents serving at major higher education institutions in the United States. This particular group was selected, because 14% of the college presidents in the United States are people of color (Pritchard et al., 2020). In a study conducted by American Council on Education (2017) it was concluded, 8% of college presidents are African American. According to a study conducted by the Postsecondary National Policy Institute (2021), nearly 13% of students enrolled in an undergraduate program during the Fall 2019 semester were African American. However, it would be incorrect to assume most African American students attend historically Black colleges and universities. Rather, the U.S. Department of Education (2021) reported only 7% of African American students attend historically Black colleges and universities, and 53% of African American students attend predominantly White institutions. Therefore, this research seeks to investigate the experiences of African American presidents serving at major colleges and universities not limited to historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

Selection and Recruitment of Participants: This research project will interview 12 African American college presidents, and will use several online databases including a list of African American presidents to recruit participants.

American Association of Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE)

Association of Black Women in Higher Education (ABWHE)

Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

American Council on Education (ACE)

American Educational Research Association (AERA, Association for Institutional Research (AIR)

Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE)

Association of American Universities

Each organization will be requested to invite participants for this study. However, Cresswell (need reference) emphasized the importance of snowball sampling to help eliminate biases. Snowball sampling is when the researcher uses committed participants to recruit other participants for the study. Accordingly, the snowball sampling method will be the primary means of recruiting participants as committed participants will be asked to recruit other respondents for this project.

Data Collection

After the participants are selected a strict data collection process will be used as modeled by Jacob and Ferguson (2015):

1. Utilize a script to open and conduct interview with participants.

2. Collect consent from the participant.

3. Start the recording device.

4. Begin your interview using scripted open-interview questions.

5. Take notes as the interview is being conducted.

6. End interview using the script.

7. Turn off the recording device.

The interview process will use standard open-ended questions and will occasionally ask follow-up questions for clarification. Eighteen interview questions will be used to answer the three research questions of this project to ensure each participant is being presented with the same questions. To assist with the format of each interview, all interviews will be conducted via ZOOM and recorded using this same platform. To ensure the safe capture of each interview, a back recording of each interview will also be recorded using Garageband.

Data Analysis

Creswell & Creswell’s (2018) data analysis procedures will be used to analyze the data of this study. These procedures are:

Organization and preparation of data for analysis.

Transcription of data

Ensure electronic copies and transcriptions are filed via cloud storage along with any notes taken

Will sort data according to question to create a catalogue of answers that demonstrate the differences and similarities in answers received.

Read and look at all the data.

Review to consider initial impressions and allow for notes to be developed as the interview is being conducted to be compared against the actual transcript.

The data will be transcribed using a Rev, a speech to text transcription company.

This allows for an accurate assessment of the responses given and the interpretation of such responses.

Coding of all data.

Using MAXQDA to input the data, all data ill be coded by bracketing a chunk of the data. Descriptive coding will be used to categorize all data, and describe the primary topic of the excerpt being analyzed.

Generate a description and theme.

By using the descriptive coding process, I will be able to draw reasonable conclusions that describes the participants’ experience.

Representing the description and themes.

Will organize the themes into a narrative to answer the three research questions of this project.

Ethical Issues

This research project will respectfully express the experiences of African American college presidents by using the previously mentioned procedures. Consent forms will be issued to each participant and a signed copy will be delivered for their own records. Signed consent forms will be locked in a cabinet and backed up on Microsoft OneDrive. Furthermore, copies of interview transcript will be given to each participant and then original copies will be securely stored by the researcher. To protect the participant and the integrity of this study, all respondents will be represented anonymously by assigning abbreviations to each participant.