Perceptions of African American Women Project Managers on Managing Projects and Career Progression in the Aerospace and Defense Industry

Abstract

Organizations within the U.S. aerospace and defense industry are improving their efforts to implement diversity in the workplace. Still, the opportunity to increase the representation of African American women in leadership roles often needs to be improved. The general business problem is that the percentage of African American women in senior and executive project management roles in the U.S. aerospace and defense industry remains low, revealing a lack of diversity and inclusion among project teams, resulting in a high probability of project failure and reduced profit. A gap in practice was that leaders in the U.S. aerospace and defense industry are not implementing effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies or best practices to ensure African American women have opportunities to advance their careers in project management. The purpose of this qualitative inquiry research was to explore the perspectives of African American women project managers in the U.S. aerospace and defense industry regarding strategies and best practices that can increase African American women's representation, project success, and profitability. The framework for this study was an adapted representational intersectionality framework based on the Intersectional Theory of Kimberlé Crenshaw and Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill-Collins. The expert data collected through semi-structured interviews was analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes emerged from the analysis, including display an executive presence that exudes self-confidence, worth, and value to overcome barriers in the workplace, supportive and influential relationships are instrumental to career advancement, purposeful visibility increases opportunities for career progression, and inclusive hiring practices and processes when selecting diverse leaders.