African American women principals: heeding the call to serve as conduits for transforming urban school communities

Abstract

African American women leaders are often found in urban schools that have been exhausted of resources and lack support. However, due to their disproportionate representation in urban schools, African American women principals have become adept at uniting and engaging stakeholders in marginalized school settings into action. The intent for this research project was to illuminate commonalities of African American women leaders of urban school environments and understand how they make sense of their leadership roles. We conducted a focus group interview with three African American women principals of urban schools. Themes that emerged include: Heeding the Call and Staying the Spiritual Course; Understanding Individual Students, Families, and Communities for Change; and Caring for the Human Condition. Findings have implications for leadership preparation and practice.

Keywords:

• women
• urban
• leadership

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.