Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Leadership and Change

Corporations began hiring Black people into management positions in the 1960s and 1970s following the passage of the Civil Rights Act (1964) which made it unlawful to discriminate in hiring based on race, gender, religion, or country of origin. Black men were the first to benefit from this change in the law and Black women began to appear in entry level management roles in the 1980s. Forty years later, there have only been four Black women CEOs in the history of the Fortune 1000, the largest American companies based on reported revenues. This level of representation is closer to zero than 1 % despite over 6 % of the American population self-reporting as Black or African American women. The purpose of this study was to explore the career advancement journey of Black women who achieved the executive level in Fortune 1000 companies to identify what events were most critical in helping or hindering their career advancement. The research design was an exploratory, qualitative study using critical incident technique (Flanagan, 1954). The study consisted of 20 participants, Black women who had achieved executive level in Fortune 1000 companies with a minimum of 15 years of management experience. The analysis of the data revealed two over-arching themes across the participants: the experience of being the first and/or only woman, Black person, or Black woman and a small group of sustaining beliefs shared by the Black women. These beliefs served to sustain them over their career advancement journeys. Consistent with the critical incident methodology, the antecedents or what led to the incidents, the incidents themselves, and the outcomes of the incidents were all analyzed for themes. The study data was reviewed to identify practical implications and recommendations for Black women leaders, people who advocate for Black women in leadership, leadership in companies, and people in positions in diversity, equity, and inclusion. This dissertation is available in open (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: A.E. Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Harriet Schwartz PhD (Committee Member); Kathleen Brown PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Black Studies; Ethnic Studies; Gender Studies; Management; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Womens Studies

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2015, Leadership and Change

This study used the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) to better understand how organizational leaders experienced fear-related emotions. Through semi-structured interviews, fifteen executive leaders, mainly chief executive officers (CEOs), shared their experiences in response to threatening, risky, or dangerous incidents. In addition to a phenomenological understanding of the experience, participants illuminated the role that fear-related emotions play in leader decisions, how these emotions influence leader-follower relationships, the impacts of fear-related emotions on leaders' health and well-being, and the ways leaders managed their experience with fear-related emotions including the role courage played. Leaders often faced threats, risks, or dangers (stimuli) from within the organization itself and from the external organizational environment. The fear of not-knowing enough or not being good enough (self-doubt) and the fear of loss that often accompanies change were experienced the most by these leaders. The participants decided between a fear-focused (maladaptive) strategy and an incident-focused (adaptive) strategy when they were susceptible to a threatening, risky or dangerous stimulus. Leader efficacy was the key to a leader's choice, where strong leader efficacy resulted in adaptive decisions and weak leader efficacy resulted in maladaptive ones. In the follower-leader relationship, the participants often suppressed their fear-related emotions by using surface or deep acting, which at times affected leader authenticity and trust. Leaders experienced serious to mild health and well-being effects as a result of the emotional experience, while leaders who used suppression techniques experienced more serious health impacts. Supportive relationships, practicing mindfulness, and a leader's personal courage, including the courage to be emotionally vulnerable, played an important role in how leaders managed fear-related emotions. This study has important implicati (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Alan Guskin Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jon Wergin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Philomena Essed Ph.D. (Committee Member); Michael Bassis Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Management; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Psychology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1981, History

Committee: K. Kerr (Advisor) Subjects:

BA, Kent State University, 2011, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Political Science

A succession of French governments, reacting to the more recent widespread social, political, and economic changes that to some are threats to the very idea of what being “French” means, have increasingly taken a harsh stance against perceived attempts by immigrants – mostly North African and Muslim in origin – to identify with their religious or ethnic heritages before identifying with the French nation. Those defending the French nation espouse a universalist, nation-centered approach where no one is defined outside of their Frenchness. This paper argues that recent successful attempts to ban religious symbols in French public schools(in 2004) and the burqa/niqab (in 2010) in all areas of the public domain can be seen as attempts to defend this universalist doctrine against efforts towards multiculturalist integration models where various groups (religious, ethnic, etc.) are recognized as legitimate (such as in the United States). However, as this thesis also argues, these threats are largely false perceptions on the part of the French state. Immigrants of Muslim origin overwhelmingly support the French state and moreover have no qualms about becoming fully integrated into the French way of life. Youth violence and crime in run-down suburban areas (called banlieues)increase this perception that immigrants of Muslim origin do not want to assimilate into French society, where the reality is, greater efforts toward the socioeconomic integration of these immigrants (in schools, employment, and living standards) are all that is missing from these immigrants becoming fully French. Unfortunately, French leaders continue to focus on cultural symbols of division among immigrants of Muslim origin(such as the hijab or the burqa/niqab) rather than the myriad of rather glaring socioeconomic issues affecting this population

Committee: Matthew Kemp Ph.D (Advisor); Rebecca Pulju Ph.D (Committee Member); Julie Mazzei Ph.D (Committee Member); Susan Roxburgh Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: European Studies