This phenomenological qualitative study examines why very few African American Women (AAW) occupy executive leadership positions in the federal government. According to the Congressional Research Service, the United States federal government hires over 2.1 million civilian employees (Shimabukuro & Staman, 2019). African American Women are said to be employed in various positions of the federal government. However, according to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (2018), African American women are incredibly underrepresented in leadership and high status and are only given low-grade positions. Pierce (2020a) believes that gender-based mentoring can play a crucial role in developing female leadership skills. Nevertheless, such type of mentoring causes challenges for African American females because of their gender and race; this is usually referred to as double jeopardy (Pierce, 2020b). Therefore, there is a necessity for interviewing African American Women and studying this topic further.
In order to see the whole picture and estimate whether this issue is critical, it is necessary to gather and analyze specific data. The chosen method for this study is to interview a vast number of participants, specifically, about 20.000 people. This is only a small part of those hired by the United States federal government, but it should be enough to make certain conclusions. However, due to the COVID-19 isolation, it is impossible to conduct face-to-face questionnaires, and Twitter, Facebook, and other social media are also unacceptable since not everyone has an account (Nolinske, 2021). Therefore, another method that would be safe while also providing excellent response rates is needed.
First, it is possible to use a telephone survey, a type of personal approach. According to Nolinske (2021), almost all people utilize mobile phones every day, and such a method provides anonymity and allows to ask consequential questions. Though some persons are not used to answer phone calls from unknown numbers, most people usually agree to participate in short surveys if the topic is serious and concerns them in any way (Nolinske, 2021). Therefore, considering the inability to conduct face-to-face questionnaires because of the virus, this is the best way to obtain African American Women’s interviews.
Another method that should be appropriate for this study, considering the current global situation, is online surveys. According to Nolinske (2021), during the first few days, they are proved to be more effective than mailed questionnaires and even in-person interviews. Such surveys require less time, may be finished whenever it is more comfortable for a participant, and allow people to feel safer, relaxed, and protected by anonymity and confidentiality rules.
The significance of studying this topic is difficult to be overestimated. One of the core American values is about equality and respected human rights, but African American women are extremely underrepresented in leadership and high status (Anderson, 2020). This proves the fact that there are gender and racial inequality, which is not based on any logical and authoritative reasons (Pierce, 2020b). Women, regardless of their skin color, should not be deprived of their rights, including the right to lead, guide, teach, and mentor. Though gender-based mentorship may solve this issue, it also causes particular double jeopardy for African American women due to their gender and race (Anderson, 2020). This serious problem requires more researchers and politics to interfere and take part in its elimination. African American females’ mistreatment and underestimation should become a global issue; that is why it is essential to study this topic and make it well-known.
Several important goals are expected to be accomplished by this study. First, new and crucial information may be learned during interviews and analysis of the answers. Then, this study may assist in making an extended number of people aware of this issue of African American women being underrepresented in leadership. As gender-based mentorship is proved to be effective in developing female leadership skills, it should be modified so that African American females would not face too many challenges. Finally, this study is likely to contribute to the academic field and research of this topic, which may introduce significant changes in allowing African American and other women to enter leadership positions more often.
References
Anderson, R. H. (2020). Challenging our gendered idea of mentorship.Harvard Business Review. Web.
Nolinske, T. (2021). Methods of survey data collection. National Business Research Institute. Web.
Pierce, F. D. (2020a). African American women’s perceptions about double jeopardy and mentoring in the federal government (Publication No. 8327) [Dissertation, Walden University]. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies.
Pierce, F. D. (2020b, October 1-2). Modernizing the approach to mentoring for African American women in the federal government [Poster presentation]. Web.
Shimabukuro, J. O., & Staman, J. A. (2019). Categories of federal civil service employment: A snapshot[PDF Document]. Web.
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. (2018). Federal workforce data. FedScope Web.