In Forbes, the article “Beyond Glass Ceilings and Glass Cliffs, Black Women Professors in Higher Education Offer Leadership Lessons” explores the deep structural barriers Black women faculty and leaders face in academia. It describes how Black women are celebrated for breaking glass ceilings only to find themselves on “glass cliffs”—leadership roles with heightened risk and limited support. These inequities encompass biased promotion criteria, invisible labor and systemic stressors that undermine well-being and advancement.
Kimberly Griffin, dean of the College of Education, emphasizes the importance of recognizing relational work as leadership: “What Black women often do is called service—but it’s actually leadership. And until institutions recognize it as such, burnout will remain built into the system…Advising students, mentoring colleagues, supporting departments—these are the very skills institutions say they want in leaders. But because if we don’t recognize that work as leadership, it's unlikely to translate into advancement.”
