Black Women in Higher Education: General Administration
AUTHOR: Crystal Yuille
This study examines Black women’s positionality as both racialized and gendered minorities, as they seek leadership positions at Howard University and the changes in the gender composition of Howard University’s leadership over time. The author employs theoretical approaches rooted in intersectional Black feminism and critical race theory to examine institutionalized patriarchy paired with other forms of oppression that have impacted Black women administrators at Howard. The author concludes that the institution’s core values of excellence, leadership, service, and truth have fundamentally shaped the leadership of outstanding figures, and women leaders have been invaluable in the pursuit of cultivating the success of Howard students and, in some cases instrumental in the survival of the institution. Despite this, their efforts have gone largely overlooked.