Leadership from the Middle Pays It Forward: An Academic Administrator of Color’s Career Development Narrative in Postsecondary Education

Abstract

The ongoing underrepresentation of administrators of color in higher education suggests that traditional career pathways make racial equities in administrative leadership elusive. This personal narrative explores middle-manager educational and career experiences—some often-overlooked aspects of higher education administration. Using leadership and career development theories, I draw on qualitative approaches to examine my own career journey as one academic affairs administrator of color who has experienced a history of career change, lay-off, and non-traditional moves within and across diverse institutions. Through an inductive approach for analyzing data in my career narrative, emergent themes incorporate data references “calling,” citizenship, and cultural change in academic affairs administration. The analysis of this study has implications for interventions in succession planning and career development for administrators which would result in increased racial equity along the pathways toward academic leadership.