Inventing herself: examining the intersectional identities and educational leadership of Black women in the USA

Becoming a Bridge: Collaborative Autoethnography of Four Female Counseling Psychology Student Leaders

“…As is the nature of qualitative inquiry, these findings offered a snapshot of our experiences and are not intended to generalize to all counseling psychology student leaders (Ponterotto, 2005). However, the fact that all themes were identified by all coauthors, and the themes align well with the literature on factors that facilitate leadership development (e.g., opportunities and mentoring) support the trustworthiness of the data (Edwards, 1994;Gregor & O'Brien, 2015;Horsford & Tillman, 2012).…”

“…We are all female, we were all trainees at the time of manuscript initiation, three of us come from working class backgrounds, and two of us are women of color. That said, our positions often involved interaction with people who represent the dominant images of leaders in our field and in the U.S.: men, professionals, and middle and upper-middle class White people (Horsford & Tillman, 2012).…”

“…Specific to the experiences of Black female leaders, Horsford and Tillman (2012) identified bridge leadership as “serving as a bridge for others, to others, and between others in multiple and complicated contexts over time” (p. 2). Our theme of Inclusion and Multiculturalism, as well as the subtheme of fostering connection, demonstrated that even among the two non-Black authors, we saw our roles as bridges between diverse students, diverse professionals, and diverse communities.…”

“…Bridge leadership is a Black feminist framework that recognizes the unique contributions of Black female leaders in bridge-building across racial, gender, and class lines to improve outcomes for students, organizations, and society (Horsford, 2012). This framework originated in educational leadership scholarship; however, bridge leadership has historical origins in Black women's leadership efforts during the Reconstruction era (Horsford & Tillman, 2012). Its application to counseling psychology literature is novel but well aligned, given the principles of equity, diversity, social justice orientation, determination, and connection upon which it is based (Horsford, 2012).…”

“…Leadership development and role occupancy may emerge differently for individuals with marginalized identities (Barling & Weatherhead, 2016; Davies et al, 2005; Horsford & Tillman, 2012; Hoyt & Kennedy, 2008). Bridge leadership provides a framework relevant to the present study.…”