Abstract
This Dissertation in Practice examined the lived experiences of African American female
executive-level leaders with engineering degrees. Though women of all races and
ethnicities experience challenges in ascending the male-dominated upper echelons of
executive leadership, African American women have a unique experience. The purpose
of this phenomenological qualitative study was to explore the lived experiences of
African American female executive leaders with engineering degrees in Standard and
Poor’s (S&P) Fortune 500 companies. Intersectionality, an analytical and interpretative
framework was used to examine the problem. Intersectionality, a key precept in Black
feminist thought theory, presumes major societal institutions are interconnected and
cannot be examined separately. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with five
African American women who have held various executive-level position in S&P
Fortune 500 companies. Three themes emerged from the interviews: Simultaneous
Navigation of Complex Constructs, Concurrent Experience of the Past, Present, and
Future, and Mental Strength and Inner Drive. Based on the findings from this study, the
following evidence-based recommendations are proposed: Mentoring for African
American female engineering students, Formal mentoring for early career African
American women, Executive coaching for African American women in middle
management, and Shared experience support network for African American female
executives. The implications of this study are significant as this study addresses a
population in which there is dearth of research and secondly, it provides an in-depth
examination of how African American women with engineering degrees were able to
successfully break through the concrete ceiling.