Women of Color on the Rise: Leadership and Administration in Social Work Education and the Academy

by Halaevalu Vakalahi , Ph.D., Wilma Peebles-Wilkins , Ph.D.

Overview

Social workers have long fought to bring diversity, inclusiveness, and economic justice to the communities in which they serve, but for decades the internal practices of the profession have contradicted its public persona, perpetuating myths and misconceptions about women of color and their ability to teach and lead.

In these essays African American, Asian American, Latina, Pacific Islander, and Native American women share their experiences working within the field of social work, describing their rise to leadership and their efforts to maintain authority. Emphasizing themes of social change and justice, these narratives make visible the unique challenges faced by leaders and administrators of color, an issue that continues to affect women within the field today.

Trading on decades of experience, Halaevalu F. O. Vakalahi and Wilma Peebles-Wilkins choose essays that specifically examine concerns and techniques facilitating the development of women of color as leaders. Their lessons inform future research, policy, and practice and are sure to enhance scholarship on diversity within the profession. There is even a chapter written by a university vice president, who focuses entirely on working within the academy. Altogether, these contributors prove that culturally based paradigms of leadership, historically devalued and suppressed, are crucial to women on the rise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231144766
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	11/12/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Halaevalu F. Ofahengaue Vakalahi is director of the masters in social work program at George Mason University. Her areas of interest concern Pacific Islander culture and community and women of color in higher education. She has served in administration and leadership positions in several institutions of higher education and in professional social work organizations.

Wilma Peebles-Wilkins is dean emerita of the Boston University School of Social Work and a NASW Social Work Pioneer. She has worked as an administrator in public and private practice settings and in two major research institutions. Her leadership role in the national arena has been extensive. She has served on the board of directors of the National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work and on both the Council on Social Work Education and the Council on Contemporary Families.

What People are Saying About This

Gwat-Yong Lie

Women of Color on the Rise serves as a record of the personal experiences and career trajectories of a select group of women of color who are currently leaders and administrators in higher education. That these women were successful in negotiating appointments to positions of leadership serves as testimony to their respective abilities to effect change in the prevailing university, college, and department ethos to which they belong.

— Gwat-Yong Lie, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Elaine Congress

Women of Color on the Rise is not only for social work educators of color but for all who aspire to administrative positions. Women of color often face particular challenges because of current issues of discrimination and bias in academia, yet this book will appeal to all women social work educators in describing the challenges women confront in a male-dominated university environment. Reading the moving stories of these women, including their struggles and the lessons they have learned, is essential to advancing one's career in social work education.

— Elaine Congress, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service