Microaggressions in Administrator Preparation Programs: How Black Female Participants Experienced Discussions of Identity, Discrimination, and Leadership

Using Sue et al.’s microaggressions framework, this qualitative study focused on the preparation experiences of 10 Black, female school leaders to examine how and in what ways identity, leadership, and discrimination were discussed in their administration preparation programs. We find participants were neither given space to explore their identities or experiences of discrimination nor did they learn strategies to address them. Instead, leadership was treated as an identity-neutral endeavor, and conversations regarding racial or gender differences were ignored or silenced. In these ways, the programs perpetrated various microaggressions excluding, negating, or nullifying participants’ experiences as Black female leaders.