| Women have increasingly entered senior-level leadership positions in corporate America. However, a disparity has existed regarding the number of African American women in senior-level leadership positions (Combs, 2003). African American women represented 5.3% of all people employed in management, professional and related occupations in 2009 and 5.2% in 2007 (Catalyst, 2008, 2010). In 2009, women of color held 3.2% board seats, as opposed to white women holding 12.2% and men holding 84.8% (Catalyst, 2010).;The goal of the current qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences of 16 African-American women leaders employed in corporate America. The five themes found in the study that contributed to the underrepresentation of African American women in senior level leadership were mentoring, work harder and outperform, exclusion from informal social networks commonly available to male executives, exposure, and dual bias of race and gender. The three sub-themes were family commitment, importance of education, and leadership styles. Responses to the interview questions described participants' methods for succeeding in dominant culture organizations. Consistent answers to interview questions were able to form a basis for conclusive analysis of the experiences.;Gender studies have focused on women, women of color, and the glass ceiling to describe women's leadership experience within senior-level leadership positions in corporate America (Castilla, 2008; Jordan, Clark, & Waldron, 2007). The lived experiences of African American women in senior-level leadership positions in corporate America required an intersectionality analysis. African American women's leadership experience within dominant culture organizations served as a catalyst for exploring identity negotiation within gendered and raced organizational frameworks (Beal, 2008; Castilla, 2008; Parker, 2005).;Organizational leaders, researchers, scholars, and practitioners may use the findings of the study by focusing on inclusive theoretical frameworks that address race and gender in organizations and leadership practices (Hillman, Shropshire, & Canella, 2007; Parker, 2005). Executive leadership may use the findings to determine the positive relationship between diversity in leadership and financial performance. |
