Summary

Aim: Black women have to overcome social and structural obstacles while advancing in their careers. They unjustly need additional attributes to navigate predominantly White environments that perceive Black women’s roles and responsibilities differently. This can be challenging when rising to leadership in rural organizations. Identifying discriminatory practices in social service organizations and the strategies that Black women use to rise to leadership positions could provide insight into finding empowerment strategies for professionals and pre-professionals alike. Our research attempts to understand experiences of Black women leaders in rural non-profit organizations using qualitative methods of inquiry and analysis.  Objectives: We will present research that analyzes the lived experiences of Black women in the Southern rural U.S. who hold leadership positions, exploring their roles, expectations, and hardships, in order to answer the question, what are the expectations and hardships that Black Women experience in leadership roles?  Outcomes: Our findings indicate Black women leaders in rural non-profit human service organizations face intersectional barriers related to both gender and age. These barriers result in discrimination and socially unjust workplaces that impact their leadership roles, their families, and their communities. Additionally, our study shows mentorship, commitment, and a strong faith-based support system help each participant build resilience throughout their careers in a service-driven leadership ideology grounded in faith, family, community support and collective Black identity. We will also explore the implications of these findings for creating human service organizations which empower minoritized women through mentoring programs, professional education, support, and building leadership networks. These should be done through training that encompasses collective identities of Black women, their rich social histories, faith, and family. Finally, we discuss how this research can assist human service agencies in building nondiscriminatory policies and practices that hinder leadership trajectories for minoritized women.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Black women, leadership, human service organizations, resilience, lived-experiences, challenges 

Summary

The leadership ladder is geared towards workers with no family responsibilities; however, this issue predominantly affects pregnant individuals and those who have recently given birth. Once the baby is born, families must choose the quality of care and education for their child, which often leads to a decrease in women's earnings during the child-rearing years. Furthermore, the work schedule is structured in such a way that it does not allow for adequate family time or the ability to fulfill dual responsibilities, as the workplace is inflexible and highly demanding. Therefore, the cost of having a family and working can exceed possible lifetime earnings and opportunities to ascend to a leadership position. As a result, women who have children can be hindered from obtaining a leadership position. In this study, we use qualitative secondary data from 34 women who rose to leadership positions. We analyze the data to determine how family development impacted their rise to leadership. The study implications suggest that family development depends on support systems, as relocation for a high salary was a major deterrent due to their children.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Women, Women in Leadership, Family Development, Leadership, Career Advancement, Motherhood

Summary

The voices of young people in State care who are pregnant or at risk of having their child removed are rarely heard. The young people are vulnerable and all have a history of trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were held with nine young people about their experiences using services from My Place, a trauma responsive therapeutic and health care service. The research found that the pregnancy outcomes varied for each young person and may have resulted in termination, parenting, and/or infant removal. The young people involved in the study self-reported the following outcomes: improved coping strategies, stabilised mental health, better relationships, healthier decision-making, connections, or reconnections to culture, learning parenting and life skills, greater access to health services, improved trust in services and decreased substance use. The young people reported that My Place program provided gentle and kind care which contributed to meaningful productive change in their lives.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Children and young people, child protection, pregnancy, infant removal, self-report outcomes, women, health, wellbeing, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Summary

\ Often, we, social workers, come into situations with minimal background information. We take with us our educational knowledge and our practicum experiences. In school, we learn how and when to apply various theories, modalities, and techniques. This application consists of understanding the biological, cultural, political, financial, and historical attributes that may be influencing the situation(s) impacting our clients. For this educational process to be effective, there is an expectation that our instructors have cutting-edge knowledge and/or experiences that will help shape our practice skills. For some educators, the consideration of gender expression and gender diversity may be new. Also new for these educators may be the national and international polices and cultural practices that confound gender expression.\ This workshop has two prongs. The first prong considers how a lack of gender expression and gender diversity knowledge may hinder educators when preparing practitioners. Considered is how the lack of knowledge for gender diversity may stifle students’ application of social work values to gender expressing and gender diverse client populations.\ \ The second prong of this workshop explores how one’s own gender expression impacts the teaching process. Highlighted are how external artifacts (clothes, jewelry, etc.) sometimes may misidentify one’s gender identity. Examined will be if, how, and when to use one’s personal gender story to support the educational process. Considered in this workshop is how the international expression and acceptance of gender identity varies. Also, instructors’ personal responsibility to students when discussing their own gender identity.\ Finally, emphasis will be placed on the importance of instructors educating our future social work practitioners, educators, and leaders to have a grasp of how national and international policies impact gender identity along with gender expression. These future social workers must be reminded of social work’s tenet of working with all who need our assistance.

Keywords (separate with commas)

gender, diversity, gender expression