Ain\u27t I Cool: Investigating the Lived Experience of Cool for Black Male Collegians

The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of cool for Black male college students. Cool, defined as a means to navigate cross-cultural structures, serves as Black men’s acknowledgement of, and response to, the rules of their self-identified cultural group when confronted by dominant racial, gendered, and/or class hegemonies. Results of this study note that cool is a major part of the fabric in the identity development of Black males and is contextualized through environmental factors. For this study, four theoretical frameworks were used to understand Black male cool: Phinney’s (1989) Ethnic Development Model, 2) Performance Theory (Butler, 1988), 3) Face-Identity negotiation theory (Ting-Toomey & Kurogi, 1998) and 4) Cultural Capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Carter, 2003; Yosso, 2005). These theoretical frameworks were merged together to create a textured analysis of cool. Texturing for this academic study established a greater “feel” and connection with the topic it is analyzing. Through texturing, I was able view cool through a complex lens in order to assess how cool was learned, performed, and advanced for Black male students. In order to investigate Black male cool, I adopted a quasi-phenomenological qualitative research design, rooted in a social constructivist worldview. To obtain data for this study I conducted one to two-hour semi-structured in-depth interviews with 11 Black male students and employed a version of photo elicitation called framing. Framing is the process of identifying a visual representation of an idea, behavior, or concept, after speaking about the experience with that idea, behavior or concept. For this study the participants were asked to share their lived experiences with cool and to later frame cool. Through in-depth interviews and framing, data triangulation was accomplished, and four major themes spoke to the experiences of the participants. For the participants (1) cool is learned and influenced by one’s environment; (2) the experience of cool is an expression of self (self awareness); (3) The experience of cool provides access to multiple spaces, people, and relationships; and (4) The experience of cool creates opportunity to (re)define self

Exploration of the Socialization Process of Female Leaders in Counselor Education

Higher education literature, has several contributions that pertain to mentoring styles in academia, female faculty, gender and leadership, and recruitment and retention of women and minorities in academia. However, specific references that lend voice to the experiences of female counselor educators in the context of their career paths and patterns are scant(Hill, Leinbaugh, Bradley,& Hazler, 2005). This qualitative investigation explored the socialization process of 8 female leaders in counselor education from throughout the United States utilizing grounded theory methods. The primary theme of socialization was organized into three main categories, (a) childhood socialization, (b) anticipatory socialization (Van Mannen, 1976), and (c) organizational socialization (Van Mannen, 1976). Leaders\u27 socialization experiences highlighted sub-themes of balancing work and family, satisfaction level of professional obligations and inequalities. The inequalities highlighted participants\u27 experiences of exclusion in departments with counselor education and counseling psychology programs, as well as gender and race discrimination around issues such as salary, tenure and promotion. The results from this investigation provided a theoretical framework of the interrelated influences of their socialization process from childhood across the span of their careers to full professor and department chairs. Implications and recommendations for female doctoral students, counselor educators, professional development in higher education, mentoring relationships, supervision and leadership development are included