Abstract/Summary

We are lacking in-depth knowledge about Black female leaders’ unique experience within leadership and career progression, as the experience of this group has remained largely underexplored and mainly from the lens of others. Black women are particularly scarce if not totally absent within the senior ranks of leadership and we are yet to gain insights into specific accounts by Black female leaders of how individuals make sense of and experience the supportive and/or hindering involvement of key others in their career progression. To gain rich and contextual insights, through the eyes of Black female leaders in the UK, I conducted in-depth interviews with 25 Black female leaders in mid- and senior management levels. Key insights from the study show that Black female leaders experience the hindering perceptions and involvement by key others, tied to stereotyping and bias, to reinforce a ‘Fragile trust’ in whether they can ever truly belong or have a chance to progress in their career with their intersecting racial and gender identity. In addition, I found that throughout the study individuals expressed underlying ‘Identity tensions’ between their individual, professional and shared Black female identity, which were tied to the ’Fragile trust’ experience. The study also sheds light on the agency Black female leaders display in changing their experience in career progression and how sponsorship and mentorship relationships, behaviours and actions can further ‘Strengthen the empowerment’ of individuals towards reaching their career goals. I develop a theoretical model, based on these key findings and literature, to demonstrate how Black female leaders’ experience of ‘Fragile trust’, ‘Identity tensions’ and ‘Strengthening empowerment’ interact to contribute toward their experience in leadership and progression.