BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 2
Background and Literature Review
The purpose of this literature review is to explore the existing research that offers insight
into the patterns of African American women entrepreneurs in the world of business. “At the
dawn of the 20th century, successful black businesswomen in general were infrequently
discussed, even in national African American periodicals (Scott, 2016, Gendered Roles and
Respectability in Vaudeville section, para. 11).” the different properties that go into the
background of why these patterns exist feed into the necessity of the new research that is being
proposed. This research includes the success and failure rates from this demographic, a closer
look at the cultural barriers that are in the way, the historical aspect of general ethnic and gender
trends in different parts of leadership, etc. All of these forms of research give the backbone of
what is either missing or needs more of to come to a result that will be beneficial to African
American women entrepreneurs in the future.
Research Strategies
There are a few different research strategies that will be explored through this research.
When accessing information regarding ethnographic research through a narrative approach,
surveys and interviews are the primary forms of method that will be used. These methods are the
best for use of numerical data and in order to aid visual learners through graphs and charts. The
use of interviews gives a deeper understanding as to why African American women have the
mindsets that they have adapted through their entrepreneurial journey to success. There are
certain factors that can change the quality of the research and the validity of results. These
factors include limitations on the type of businesses that the African American women are
leaders in and how this affects the chances they have for success. If the research does not include
a wide enough scope and variations of business types, it has the opportunity to provide less than
BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 3
accurate results. In order to remedy this dilemma, this research will delve into a multitude of
diverse fields with surveys and interviews with African American women who are going through
the process of becoming entrepreneurs, women that have reached a point of success, as well as
women who have failed at their goal. Integrating biblical principles will also offer a perspective
from a societal norm when it comes to leadership in the world. This will offer advice for the
future, knowledge from the past, as well as a comparison.
Identifying Gaps in Past Studies
One of the foremost issues in regard to gaps that have been identified in past studies is a
lack of specificity. While some studies are focused on ethnic struggles in successful
entrepreneurial leadership, other studies focus solely on obstacles that are gender specific to
women and their overall issue with being in leadership positions. The gap falls in pinpointing the
struggles of African American women specifically. Studies that do not overlap can miss specific
issues that affect a demographic such as African American women. For example, research
focused on minority nursing students states, “research regarding minority retention programs in
nursing is scant (Snowden et al., 2018, Mentorship Programs in Nursing section, para. 3)”.
Combining separate research can lead to inaccurate results just by assumptions that the
generalized results of two minorities can be accepted for this mixed minority.
Another gap that comes from past studies is a lack of interviews based specifically on
success rates in leadership. Interviews provide detailed experiences that general data from
surveys and experiment-based research would lack simply because of the missing narrative
quality of the method of research. Ensuring that the right research method is integral in
performing useful research. Although these gaps exist, the fact that they have been identified
helps future research such as this to fill in where there are unanswered questions or not enough
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information. Research from the past has done its’ job in starting down the path of asking
important questions and creating a space for the research that is to come.
Mapping Research Ideas
When starting the process of research, it is pertinent to know a good extent of the
research that has been previously sought out and found. This is a good way to truly map out the
research ideas that you have and refine them according to the needs of the subject matter and
people who will benefit from the work. This is not to dissuade from the original topic, but it does
offer guidance on how to proceed and get a good idea of what has already been found and
reported. Using a literature review is a sound, organized way to proceed with the research and
ensure there are not any unnecessarily repetitious information and to also fill in the gaps that are
previously mentioned.
In this research, there will be surveys and interviews conducted in order to grasp an
understanding of how and why African American women either succeed or fail in business as
entrepreneurs. The literature review will consist of the former research done using all methods
concerning the research topic of African American entrepreneurial women as successful business
leaders. There will be a prevalence of information that is portrayed using surveys and interviews,
however in order to not limit the information found, all methods will be considered.
The keywords used for seeking out information regarding the topic at hand includes
business leadership, diversity, success, cultural barriers, gender equality, entrepreneurs, mental
health of leaders, imposter syndrome, African American women in business, advantages of
demographics, discrimination, and life after failure.
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Literature Review
This literature review will focus on the process of African American women and their
encounters as entrepreneurs seeking and finding success in business as leaders. Literature
reviews are important in research in order to provide the researcher with prior knowledge from
previous peer-reviewed articles on the same or similar subjects. This gives a wider perspective
for the researcher to approach their own personal research with and the opportunity to have
research to compare with. This literature review will peruse different sources of research to
provide increased knowledge on African American women and their varying experiences with
pursuing business leadership and entrepreneurship.
Ethnic Diversity in Leadership
The research done is based on how the elites play a major part in both gender and ethnic
diversity in leadership roles. It focuses on the beliefs of the Norwegian elite when it comes to
what causes the inequalities of gender and ethnic minorities in their positions of power.
Based on a comprehensive survey among the entire Norwegian elite, this article has
investigated what the elites believe are the main causes of enduring white male
dominance in leadership and whether such beliefs have any bearing on their willingness
to implement measures to promote gender balance and ethnic diversity. (Teigen et al.,
2022, Discussion section, para. 1)
The results found that these beliefs of the elite strongly affect how willing they are to invoke
change in diversity. This is important because of how heavy the elites’ opinions and decision
weigh in society and can make or break the change that is possible.
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“Insight into elite perceptions of how categorical inequalities are produced and remedied
is consequently of crucial importance to understanding the persistence of gender and ethnic
inequality in the top positions of society (Teigen et al., 2022, Discussion section, para. 1)”. This
research has momentous importance that will allow immense change all over the world for
minority groups such as women and African Americans. The research is helpful regardless of the
timeline, because there is not a lot of peer-reviewed research to add to the conversation in this
area. Therefore, this in addition to the other research in the same field will prove useful in this
applied research project.
Gender Equality in Leadership
There is a plethora of research towards the study of gender equality in leadership. The
study from Dr. Virginia Fisher is based on the book Overcoming Challenges to Gender Equality
in the Workplace. Leadership and Innovation. It takes a detailed look into the rhetoric used and
the political backlash regarding women’s rights. The author notes that the book notes a listing in
the text of the seven ‘Women’s Empowerment Principles’ and shows a concerned interest in the
subtitling ‘Equality Means Business’ while the principles are not directly mentioning neither
gender nor equality (Fisher, 2017). This is common in the corporate world for there to be claims
of equality with no action or true meaning behind it.
This peer-reviewed article is important to show the lack of true forward movement in the
sector of gender equality. However, the author does mention the book having four separate parts
that delve further into gender equality including case studies proving the ability to overcome
diminished gender equality, leaders’ roles in confronting instances of inequality in the
workplace, external factors involvement with increasing a better form of gender equality as well
as the purpose of going against cultural traditions that may prevent gender equality.
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“Notwithstanding a few reservations indicated earlier, this book should be a rich resource for any
organisation wishing to tackle gender inequality (Fisher, 2017, para. 5)”. The book gives hope
for future research by joining the conversation and research that exists in the fight against gender
inequality in the workplace.
African American Women as Entrepreneurs
The article by author Kendra D. Boyd is about the Detroit Housewives League and their
contributions to the community and their organization as businesswomen. The article is focused
primarily on the Detroit Housewives League with their immense amount of businesswomen who
are entrepreneurs. “By conducting business research, forging community networks, and,
significantly, establishing commercial colleges and other forms of business education in the city,
DHL members’ work was vital for the black business community as a whole and for women
entrepreneurs in particular (Boyd, 2022, Abstract section, para. 1)”. The article highlights the
importance of the work performed by the Detroit Housewives League in relation to reclaiming
historical research that is vital for African American women in business and entrepreneurship.
This peer-reviewed article is important to this applied research project, because of two
reasons: it shows how other businesswomen used their joint knowledge to continue the cycle of
helping more African American women and men become entrepreneurs and shows how the
collaboration with a men’s organization causes for inaccuracy in reporting what the group stands
for.
Historians have not depicted the Detroit Housewives League as a business organization,
and previous scholarship has not emphasized the centrality of black women entrepreneurs
to the DHL and the success of Detroit’s black business community. One reason for this
BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 8
omission is that most historical discussions uncouple the Detroit Housewives League
from its partner organization, the Booker T. Washington Trade Association. (Boyd, 2022,
Introduction section, para. 3)
This is not a negative view, but it is a realistic view of how true purposes can be misunderstood
or misconstrued. My prediction is that this work has the potential to lead to more uncovering of
African American women’s contributions to society as entrepreneurs and in the business world.
Mentorship in African American Communities of Women
There is research that is done based on African American women who are employed by
the federal government. This research focuses on what African American women feel have
helped lead them into success in their respective fields. The consensus of the findings was that
these participants in the study generally found that mentorship, hard work, and education all
contributed immensely to their success of landing leadership positions. “This study may serve to
fill the gap in scholarly studies, as it focused specifically on AAW's perceptions of the success
factors that enabled or would enable them to achieve SES-level careers (Jackson & Bouchard,
2019, Purpose of the Study section, para. 1)”. This is important for this applied research project
as it has similar goals of pinpointing its’ research for African American women specifically.
This research of African American women and their keys to success is imperative to
provide foundational research about success for African American women seeking to advance
their careers into leadership positions. It also offers more peer-reviewed research within the
article that is specialized in the same field of research.
Based on case studies, the researchers suggested that minority managers whose careers
peaked at the management level had received basic mentoring to help develop their skills.
BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 9
On the other hand, minorities who reached the executive levels had experienced closer
bonds with their mentors who helped them build "confidence, credibility, and
competence. (Jackson & Bouchard, 2019, Mentoring as a Key Success Factor section,
para. 5)
This research pushes the experience of the participants in the study to prove their findings and
share with the readers. The research study presents information about the leading majority,
Caucasian men, and the difference in the paths that they take to finalize their success. “However,
this important factor was not among the most prevalent factors that study participants perceived
as the top three responsible for their own career success (Jackson & Bouchard, 2019, Summary
and Conclusions section, para. 2).” This quotation from the text of the article is important to
include, because although mentoring was seen as an important and necessary part of the process
to achieve success in leadership for these African American women, there were other more
important factors that are solely controlled by the individual.
Psychological and Emotional Aspects of Crossing Cultural Barriers
There are many different factors that make it difficult for African American women to
cross cultural barriers in all areas but especially in the workforce in attempts to advance in
leadership. This does not include starting businesses on their own and venturing out into
entrepreneurship which is another struggle. The research found on this topic states, “We discuss
three challenges that proponents of methodological pluralism have to address if their practice is
to be seen as credible: the paradigm problem; psychological resistance; and lack of cultural
readiness to accept pluralism (Midgley et al., 2017, Abstract section, para. 1)”. The
psychological resistance is the primary focus of what is important for this applied research
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project from this research. This research allows the importance to be shown that psychological
factors play a huge role in the struggle against cultural barriers.
This research uses outside research to gather the ideas and results to understand and
discuss the challenges mentioned beforehand. The portion of the research that focuses on the
psychological challenges faced is based on research done by Mingers and Brocklesby in 1996.
This research states, “If people have different skills and personalities that affect their paradigm
allegiances, then it will no doubt take a great effort for them to learn new methods outside the set
they feel comfortable with (Midgely et al., 2017, 3.3 The psychological challenge section, para.
3).” This is included in learning how to be a leader regardless of the field or position the African
American woman is currently in. Having a starting point or base is necessary, but it can be a part
of that cultural barrier if there is difficulty in attaining the beginning knowledge necessary. The
author’s answer to this psychological problem is stated in the text as the following:
Our answer to the psychological problem of resistance to methodological pluralism,
which occurs largely because of the wide span of knowledge it appears to require from a
marketing researcher, is to emphasize learning over time, starting from the knowledge
base the researcher has at the point at which he or she realizes the value of mixing
methods. (Midgely et al., 2017, 5.2 Minimizing the psychological problem section, para.
1)
Using this research is only relevant for the psychological portion of the article seeing as the other
information will not be useful and therefore has the ability to confuse the reader by adding
unnecessary information in the literature review and applied research project.
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Imposter Syndrome within African American Women
“Imposter syndrome is when a person is unsure of themselves, doesn’t feel “good
enough,” and expresses ideas that they’re not living to the expectations of others (Lee & Morfitt,
2020, Literature Review section, para. 1)”. The feeling of imposter syndrome has the ability to
prevent people from even attempting to reach goals that they are interested in reaching simply
because they mentally feel that they may be underqualified or unworthy to exist in that space.
This research is based on the author’s personal experience in her career as an African American
woman with accomplishments. It follows her from childhood into adulthood and focuses on the
various things from family, friends, colleagues, and others that made an impact on her mentally
and added to the eventual feelings of imposter syndrome. The author also speaks through her
autoethnography in order to provide readers with knowledge of how she overcame these feelings
of being an imposter and accept that she was a qualified scholar.
This peer-reviewed research is important to the applied research project, because
imposter syndrome is an obstacle that African American women face that has the potential to
prevent qualified individuals from even attempting to seek out entrepreneurship and leadership in
business. This is an example of the advice and information African American women can use to
gain understanding of how to navigate the same or similar channels as the author. She provides a
list of three recommendations and states:
My second recommendation for women of color is to take time to seek out, utilize, and, if
needed, develop a community. Sometimes the community is already created for you, such
as a support group, and all you need to do is seek it out and utilize it. Other times, the
community is not apparent, and you must do the labor of developing your own
community. (Edwards, 2019, Recommendations section, para. 2)
BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 12
Using this research shows a good concept of how the interviews for the applied research project
could potentially go.
Risk of Discrimination to African American Women
The risk of discrimination to African American women is constantly present in the
workplace regardless of the position of the woman. “Women face a number of institutional
barriers in the workplace, including, most notably, gender discrimination and unequal pay
(Dickens & Chavez, 2017, Introduction section, para. 1)”. The largest form of this discrimination
comes from the stereotypes and assumptions made about African American women. This
research speaks on the way that African American women attempt to prevent this discrimination
from happening to them in order to be able to be accepted in their workplaces and have the
opportunity to grow with the organization into leadership positions. The peer-reviewed article
focuses primarily on identity shifting in the workplace by African American women, including
the benefits, costs, feelings of inauthenticity, stereotypes, etc.
This is an important notion to the applied research project because it addresses one of the
major themes that exist for African American women in the workplace. Identity shifting can also
be known as “code switching” in which the African American woman tends to tone down her
personality, changes her way of speaking and choice of words, as well as other various things
depending on the situation. This research looks for an answer in leadership to support African
American women by being accepting and approving of their identities and pursuing stronger
relationships with their employees which would lead to African American women deeming
identity shifting to be unnecessary. The results of this research came with suggestions from the
author on how to proceed and make changes on larger scales.
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Leadership identity development programs should be designed by Black women to assist
with positive identity development of young Black women to foster an authentic self in
the workplace, to encourage positive professional and social relationships, and to
promote economic and political commitment to the Black community. (Dickens &
Chavez, 2017, Practice Implications section, para. 4)
This research is useful throughout time and for the applied research project to understand the
issues that African American women face when attempting to reach their goals of
entrepreneurship and leadership in business organizations.
Transition and Summary
This literature review provides an in-depth look at various peer-reviewed sources that all
contribute to the research topic of African American women seeking success in entrepreneurship
and business leadership. This topic for the applied research project has references that are in a
smaller supply than a lot of other topics due to specificity, misconstrued historical information,
and other factors. Therefore, most of the peer-reviewed articles that have provided research for
this literature review is useful for the entire history of the field of African American women in
business leadership and entrepreneurship. The biblical perspective is also imperative for
Christian leaders to be able to apply the same principles that are mentioned in this research and
has similar examples of leadership problems in the Bible. “Remember your leaders, who spoke
the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith (New
International Version, 1978/2011, Hebrew 13:7).” It is necessary to keep God in all endeavors in
order to allow Him to be in control and allow His plan to be enacted.
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760-774.Nhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0844-x
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BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 15
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