| This study reports perceptions black women managers describe in the context of their workplace. It organizes those perceptions into gratifying and non-gratifying experiences. Black women managers found the following experiences gratifying: clearly defined tasks, nurturing, networking, and the availability of organizational rewards. Black women managers found the following experiences non-gratifying: undefined tasks, the burden of nurturing, tokenism, homoracial jealousy, conflicting values, and all experiences related to the Glass Ceiling.; In order to accomplish this task, data were collected from primary and secondary sources, emerging themes were identified and a thematic analysis approach was applied. This study contributes to the understanding of the unique contexts in which black women managers work and demonstrates the need to avoid grouping them either with all women or all minorities. In so doing, it gives voice to this growing group and suggests actions by organizations and individual black women to facilitate communication and understanding. Finally, this study formulates ways by which communication theory can be applied to the context studied. |
