A Case Study of the Development of African American Women Executives.

Even in an era when the country elected an African American man as President of the United States, there is still a paucity of African American women executives within Fortune 500 companies. Although more African American women have joined the ranks of corporate management over the last two decades, the numbers, when compared to those of White women and African American men, are markedly low. Thus, less than 1% of executive leaders in U.S. corporations are African American women. It is still rare to find women at the top of America's largest corporations; currently there are only 15 women CEOs of the country's Fortune 500 companies and 1 African American woman CEO, who was just appointed in July 2009. The upward mobility for non-traditional managers, such as African American women, remains a particularly huge challenge. This reality is critical because highly skilled and capable African American women who are not being developed to assume senior leader roles may choose to leave corporations altogether.This research sought to explore the developmental experiences that African American women executives engaged in to help them hone their capabilities and ascend to senior leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies.The significance of this study originated from the premise that too little information was available regarding the developmental experiences of African American women executives. As a result, the objective of this study was multipurpose. The research sought to uncover the developmental experiences that helped catapult the women into senior leader roles as well as determine what they learned from these experiences in order to replicate them for the next generation of African American women leaders. Interestingly enough, many of the women have developmental experiences similar to those of other executive leaders; however, the differences and consequently exclusive to African American women, is who the mentors are and the role they play in the women's development. Additionally noted is the significance of African American women changing jobs to seek advancement, and the role that family and friends play in the women's career development.This dissertation has implications for organizations, practitioners, and HRD professionals who wish to retain and provide an equal playing field for high-potential African American women, who have historically been excluded from participating in these types of growth opportunities.