Project Abstract
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have a storied and highly successful history in the landscape of modern higher education, yet part of this history includes disproportionate success in the face of well-documented and chronic underfunding. Disparities persist in occupational and employment outcomes advantaging elite university graduates from predominantly white institutions (PWIs). This discrepancy is exacerbated by the “hidden curriculum” at elite PWIs, including access to social networks with high status leaders and informal opportunities to develop leadership skills. The research described in this proposal aims to directly address this problem.
The proposed work will engage HBCU undergraduates in a multi-method, participatory research project. We leverage an existing, successful personalized leadership development program—”The X-Factor”—that is individually tailored and empirically grounded in personality assessment. This 10-week intervention is designed to deepen HBCU students’ own self-knowledge, enhance their ability to leverage personality strengths, and sharpen the most powerful tool HBCU students have at their disposal: themselves. Participants include 15 students engaged with “HBCU First,” a nonprofit organization dedicated to professional development and academic success of HBCU undergraduate students. Results will inform the efficacy, scalability, and value of the X-Factor intervention among HBCU students while simultaneously offering innovative insights regarding the construct of Black leadership. Ultimately, the proposed project represents a critical step towards expanding the pipeline of diverse leaders and reducing well-documented disparities in leadership roles.