Fostering an Ethic of Care in Leadership: A Conversation with Five African American Women

Abstract

This article is a qualitative, exploratory, multicase study that examines the leadership of five educational administrators and teachers serving students of various levels. This study addresses the following questions: How do African American women leaders’ experiences with intersectionality (race, class, and gender) inform an ethic of care in responding to social injustices within the educational system? How do African American women in these situations define caring? This study offers new perspectives to feminist care-focused frameworks by including the intersection of race, gender, and class in the conversation. Central to the discussion is African American women’s sensitivity of issues that emerge from the intersection of race, gender, and social class in large organizational systems as a result of their own marginalized status in society. Although this study examines educational leaders, the implications are similar across other professions where African American women are leaders and demonstrate an ethic of care.