Resilience on campus: exploring the retention narratives of Black male professionals in higher education

Pevey Harry, Christopher

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129444 Copy

Description

Title

Resilience on campus: exploring the retention narratives of Black male professionals in higher education

Author(s)

Pevey Harry, Christopher

Issue Date

2025-04-24

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Ward Hood, Denice

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Ward Hood, Denice

Committee Member(s)

• Moton, Theopolies
• Baber, Lorenzo
• Dávila, Liv

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Black Leadership
• Higher Education
• Leadership
• Resilience
• Black Males
• Black Men
• Collaborative leadership
• Compassionate leadership
• Lived Experiences
• Effective Leadership
• Queer Leadership
• Mentors
• Mentorship
• Microaggressions
• Retention Narratives
• Academic Affairs
• Educational Resilience

Abstract

Higher Education is complex, problematic, and embedded with racism and inequities for students and staff. This dissertation examines resilience on campus through the retention narratives of Black male professionals in Higher Education (HE). It scrutinizes the role that HE plays in perpetuating microaggressions and racism and how it upholds the status quo while claiming to be a great equalizer for those who choose to further their education. It chronicles the counterstories of 7 Black men who work in academic affairs leadership roles at predominantly White institutions to understand the innate or learned resilience techniques that they deploy while traversing microaggressions and racism. Using individual qualitative interviews, which were transcribed and coded, with the analysis triangulated with that of an external research auditor to ensure reliability and validity, this study uncovered that many Black men tackle imposter syndrome as they are often the only Black person on their leadership team. Additionally, it analyzes the notion of unseen and uncompensated labor, the extra work these men take on to overprove that they are worthy of the roles they are hired for, which their White counterparts are not expected to do. It highlights the benefits of mentorship and shows the empowering aspects of embracing Blackness while leading as resilience tools to combat microaggressions and racist attacks on their leadership. It positions both negative and positive lived experiences as leadership development tools and identifies leading collaboratively with compassion as an effective leadership style, a key resilience strategy for Black men. Furthermore, this study uncovers the complexity of the intersectional identities of Black male leaders, prompting some to deploy gender fluidity in their leadership to combat the societal stereotypes and political attacks associated with their Black, male, or queer identities. The findings position Black male leaders as key resources for paving the way for other Black leaders and students, especially those leaders who utilized the grit they had learned during their own first-generation student experiences. In doing so, this study calls HE, allies, and those who work with Black male leaders to understand their roles in listening to and learning from the varied retention stories of those who choose to remain in predominantly White institutions in an effort to better support and advocate for Black men in leadership.

Graduation Semester

2025-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/129444

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2025 Christopher Pevey Harry

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