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The purpose of this chapter is to illuminate the importance and impact of Black women in higher education, specifically considering how they themselves and others engage with them regarding their intersectional identities. Through a Black Feminist Auto-ethnographic approach, the authors develop and articulate a reflexive praxis to reveal the hegemonic practices that Black women are subjected to at Historically White Institutions (HWIs). The authors, two Black women educators at HWIs, amplify the challenges Black women experience in academia by naming and describing their lived experiences in hopes of providing insights into the continued disparities that exist. In doing so, this chapter highlights how the authors dismantle systems to excel in their respective areas as educators. The authors center their identities as Black women to offer insight and perspectives on how they navigate experiences in academia.

This chapter connects Black women’s histories of educational leadership after emancipation to the need for creative leadership in academia now. This chapter focuses on ways in which nineteenth-century educator and activists Lucy Craft Laney and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, among others, addressed challenges of race and gender and how their stories offer opportunities to consider current needs in higher education. Contrary to the freedom that academia is supposed to promote, topics in gender and ethnic studies may be challenged or restricted as part of liberal political agendas. Additionally, this chapter considers ways in which academia has been used to limit freedom for students and the need for innovative and creative ways to promote academic freedom in educational settings.

In 2017, racial minorities made up 18.6% of the population in Appalachia compared to 39.3% of the United States population. Of this 18.6%, Black/African Americans represent the largest minority group, at 9.7% (Pollard & Jacobs, 2019). This chapter focuses on the positionality and experiences of Black women educators teaching critical perspectives at the intersection of race, gender, and class in rural Appalachia. Using Black feminist thought (Collins, 1986, 2000), a coautoethnography is used to highlight the authors' teaching experiences as Black women educators from non-Appalachian areas. Themes and recommendations identified across the authors' experiences are presented.

Research literature examining the experiences of faculty of color, particularly women in higher education, reveals a pattern of institutional and attitudinal barriers, which is directly linked to successful recruitment and retention of learners and faculty of color (Brayboy, B. M. (2003). The implementation of diversity in predominately White colleges and universities. Journal of Black Studies, 34(1), 72–87; Gregory, 2001; Hughes, R. L., & Howard-Hamilton, M. F. (2003). Insights: Emphasizing issues that affect African American women. In: M. F. Howard-Hamilton (Ed.), New directions for student services. Meeting the needs of African American women (104, pp. 95–104). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; Park, J. J., & Denson, N. (2009). Attitudes and advocacy: Understanding faculty views on racial/ethnic diversity. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(4), 415–438; Project MUSE; Stanley, C. A. (Ed.) (2006). Faculty of color: Teaching in predominantly White colleges and universities. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishers; Turner, 2002; Watson & Shealey, 2010). This chapter provides a review of the recent and relevant research on Black women in teacher education. In addition, the authors conducted a review of research specifically addressing the experiences of Black women in teacher education during the last 10 years. Findings from this summative analysis highlight recent research on the experiences of Black women faculty and shed light on the implications for future research as well as leadership and program development.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic certainly exacerbated the teacher shortage in the United States for all racial/ethnic groups, but especially for Black teachers. Black teachers account for 7–8% of the total teacher population and this percentage is the direct result of decades of systemic and structural barriers set against Black teachers in the form of racism. Still, Black teachers who enter the profession do so with the willingness to support all students and uplift Black students who often go years without seeing a teacher that looks like them. Black teachers often face different expectations than their white counterparts and these expectations, without the proper support, lead to Black teachers burning out at higher rates. In an effort to understand Black teachers' and the experiences that contribute them remaining in the classroom, the researchers explored Black teachers' working conditions through a phenomenological approach. The findings of this study suggest that Black teachers deserve working conditions that nurture who they are culturally and professionally, that reject actions of oppression toward them – both implicitly and explicitly, and offer spaces for Black teachers to be authentically heard.

Black women faculty are experiencing multiple marginalities within their intersectional identities (Thomas & Hollenshead, 2001). The overwhelming obstacles that they face in academia regarding racism, lack of mentorship, and its impact on productivity are well documented (Allen, Huggins-Hoyt, Holosko, & Briggs, 2018). However, through a raced and gendered intersection centering Black women, these workplace obstacles can transform into something far more insidious (Young & Hines, 2018). Black women academics do not enter academic environments that have been liberated from racism, sexism, or misogynoir; instead, the environment itself is a microcosm of the world in which they reside (Thompson, 2020). Black women academics are double minorities and face issues such as isolation from collegial networks; lack of institutional/departmental support; forced positionality into the role of mentorship for students of color; and increased visibility and bodily presentation concerns (Allen et al., 2018; Pittman, 2010). Further still, the workplace dynamics and needs of students of color can collide within the work of Black women academics, increasing the prevalence of othermothering and a racialized and gendered racial uplift (Griffin, 2013; Mawhinney, 2011). Though previous studies have demonstrated positive effects of university diversification, women, ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, and religious minorities continue to face antagonistic environments (Cunningham, 2009; Hughes & Howard-Hamilton, 2003). Rooted within Black Feminist Thought and Critical Race Theory, this chapter aims to highlight the intersectional identities of Black women academics and identifies mechanisms to address how Black women are experiencing multiple marginalities within their intersectional identities (Hirshfield & Joseph, 2012).

Demographic shifts and increasing diversity have increased calls for more Black women in higher education teaching and leadership in Canada. This chapter examines how I navigate my practical and theoretical journey in academe through my ontological experiences as a Black female immigrant in large university in Southern Ontario Canada. Drawing on critical race theory (CRT) as a theoretical frame, I explore and theorize my resistance to racial microaggressions through what I describe as “navigational moves.” These “navigational moves” include decolonizing education, spirituality, self-care, and developing a supportive network. These “navigational moves” are grounded in my history and experiences. The chapter explores notions of resistance, empowerment, and sustenance as important factors in challenging racial microaggressions in academe.

The author has the distinct pleasure of teaching her undergraduate alma mater, Kentucky State University (KYSU), a small Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in central Kentucky. This university was integral to her development as a young black woman and scholar coming into her own in the early twenty-first century. The author believes HBCU undergraduate experience allowed her to consistently witness successful African Americans as professors, mentors, and leaders. She further believes those individual's high expectations and intense academic rigor prepared her for graduate school at a high research Carnegie doctoral granting institution, the University of Kentucky.

It was not a surprise when she experienced both racial micro- and macroaggressions during her matriculation at the University of Kentucky. She remembers being the only African American in her classes and the only one in the entire doctoral program at certain points. The author's experiences in her doctoral program helped her immensely appreciate the HBCU experience.

After her graduate school experience, the author dreamed of returning to her alma mater and serving students in ways in which my mentors and professors influenced her. However, the return to her HBCU as a tenure-track assistant professor was a culture shock because she was the only full-time African-American tenure-track teaching faculty in the division of social sciences.

This chapter is a reflection of this author's experiences as an unapologetically black woman, scholar, professor, mentor, HBCU advocate, wife, and mother while navigating the tenure and promotion process. The author also discusses how she often grapples with how to creatively and directly speak out against intentional and unintentional racism that is a commonplace in society and reflected on campus. The author recognizes that there are a certain political and social games played in academia, and she also recognizes sometimes the rules differ for black women, even at an HBCU.