Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
7-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Cynthia Sims
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Lynda Jackson
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Wynona James
Abstract
Black women continue to be underrepresented in senior leadership positions in the workplace although they are the most educated in the workplace. This study explores the lived experience of African American women who work for the federal sector and their career advancement into leadership and managerial positions. A qualitative method was used, and the participants consisted of Black women who worked for the federal sector who had either promoted to a leadership position within the last 3 to 5 years or aspired to be in a leadership position.
Interviews were conducted via Zoom, and in vivo coding was used to analyze the data. The study revealed that Black women have benefited from being both hypervisible and invisible in the workplace to advance their careers in the federal sector. Regardless of if it was through diversity and inclusion initiatives or simply not bringing attention to oneself, there was a positive outcome for them. However, the study also revealed the disparate treatment of Black women who work for the federal sector and their experiences. This research sheds light on how African American women show up in the workplace and how maximizing their social identity or minimizing their social identity can affect their career trajectory. The findings of this study support existing research and could inform future studies to delve deeper into the psychological effects of identity shifting and what solutions companies can put in place to support authenticity and Black women who work for the federal sector.
Keywords: hypervisibility, invisibility, intersectionality, career advancement,
Black/African American
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Peters, Elisha R., "African American Women’s Experience With Invisibility and Hypervisibility in the Workplace: Does it Matter to Career Advancement?" (2024). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 801.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/801
Included in
Inequality and Stratification Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Social Justice Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons