Date of Award

Fall 2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Organizational Leadership

First Advisor

Dr. Bethany Peters

Second Advisor

Dr. Joshua Henson

Third Advisor

Dr. Katrina Hutchins

Abstract

As workplace demographics become increasingly more diverse globally, the curation of organizational inclusion is becoming more dire (Shore et al., 2018). One workforce dynamic, however, has fundamentally remained unchanged: the underrepresentation of African Americans in executive or senior leadership roles (Beckwith et al., 2016). Despite tremendous legislative progress in gender and racial equality, a pervasive gap persists in organizational cultures that fail to intentionally and consistently provide equitable career advancement opportunities for African Americans to attain senior leadership roles. This study employed a phenomenological qualitative research methodology to examine the career advancement challenges faced by mid-level African American leaders and the role of organizational inclusion in fostering equitable advancement opportunities. The purpose of this phenomenological case study was to understand career advancement challenges among mid-level African American leaders and the instrumental role of organizational inclusion cultivation strategies in strengthening the perceived feasibility of career achievement. The findings suggest that mid-level African American leaders face a diverse array of barriers in seeking career advancement in corporate settings—further justifying the vital need to cultivate inclusive organizational environments that support equitable advancement. Specifically, the findings support an expanded theoretical paradigm for the myriads of career advancement barriers mid-level African American leaders encounter in corporate settings, which practitioners can use to inform management development strategies.

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