Upward Mobility—A Study of Barriers Encountered and Strategies Employed by Minority Assistant Principals Aspiring to be Principals in Urban School Districts

Abstract

American social culture had a long-prevailing ideology that minorities (Non-White men and women) were inferior to their White counterparts. This study uses Marshall’s understanding of the plateaued assistant principal, the shafted assistant principal, and the assistant principal who considers leaving to determine if there are significant differences in the barriers to upward mobility and strategies used between aspiring minorities and their White counterparts. The findings of this research indicate that some minority assistant principals still meet barriers to their ascendancy to the principalship in an urban school district. Promisingly, this study indicated that barriers based solely on race are minimal.

Keywords

urban education teacher education < urban education educational leadership HBCU teacher leadership teacher preparation programs

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