Thu, Jul 10, 2025
[Archive]
Volume 6, Issue 2 (JUNE: Special Issue 2025)
johepal 2025, 6(2): 68-91 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Teig T, Grosman I, Cozzi N. (2025). The (White) Elephant in the Room: A Qualitative Critical Whiteness Study of Two Inclusive Leadership Programs. johepal. 6(2), 68-91. doi:10.61186/johepal.6.2.68
URL: http://johepal.com/article-1-1256-en.html
URL: http://johepal.com/article-1-1256-en.html
Abstract: (148 Views)
Leadership education has taken an important turn towards inclusive leadership learning and practice (Chunoo & Guthrie, 2021; Dugan & Humbles, 2018). Yet, understanding how Whiteness influences these spaces still requires exploration (Mahoney, 2016; Irwin, 2021; Wiborg, 2020). In this study, we examined two leadership programs at the same institution through an exploratory qualitative approach framed in Critical Whiteness (Applebaum, 2016; Nichols, 2010). We sought to understand how students’ inclusive leader identity was developed in relationship with their racial identity and Whiteness. Our findings indicated imperatives for tackling Whiteness and White Supremacy in the context of inclusive leadership learning. Additionally, we emphasized the need of centering social justice metacognition as a crucial factor in the development of student leadership identities. We noted a continuing necessity for educators to consider students’ previous and current environments of socialization in power systems (particularly Whiteness and White Supremacy). We identified the relevance of creating a learning container cognizant of these environmental factors that addresses the distinct needs of students (van Montfrans, 2017). Lastly, we clarified the importance of creating a humanizing learning space by building a collective embodied understanding of the social impacts on society and how to nourish social justice thinking.
Keywords: Whiteness, Inclusive Leadership, Critical Pedagogy, Social Justice, Leadership Identity Development
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/01/15 | Accepted: 2025/05/1 | Published: 2025/06/30
Received: 2025/01/15 | Accepted: 2025/05/1 | Published: 2025/06/30
References
1. Anderson, C. (2016). White Rage: The unspoken truth of our racial divide. Bloomsbury.
2. Ansley, F. L. (1997). White supremacy (and what we should do about it). In R. Delgado, & J. Stefancic (Eds.), Critical white studies: Looking behind the mirror (pp. 592-595). Temple University Press.
3. Applebaum, B. (2016). Critical whiteness studies. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. [DOI]
4. Arminio, J. L., Carter, S., Jones, S. E., Kruger, K., Lucas, N., Washington, J., Young, N., & Scott, A. (2000). Leadership experiences of students of color. NASPA Journal, 37(3), 496-510. [DOI]
5. Avolio, B. J., & Hannah, S. T. (2008). Developmental readiness: Accelerating leader development. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 60(4), 331-347. [DOI]
6. Beatty, C. C., & Guthrie, K. L. (2021). Operationalizing culturally relevant leadership learning. Information Age Publishing, Inc.
7. Beatty, C. C., & Lima, A. (2022). Normalcy, avoidance, consciousness raising: Exploring how student leaders navigate racial battle fatigue. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 59(4), 371-384. [DOI]
8. Beatty, C. C., & Manning-Ouellette, A. (2018). The role of liberatory pedagogy in socially just leadership education. In K. L. Guthrie, & V. S. Chunoo (Eds.), Changing the narrative: Socially just leadership education (pp. 229-243). Information Age Publishing, Inc.
9. Beatty, C. C., Irwin, L., Owen, J. E., Tapia‐Fuselier, N., Guthrie, K. L., Cohen‐Derr, E., Hassell-Goodman, S., Rocco, M. L., & Yamanaka, A. (2020). A call for centering social identities: Priority 1 of the National Leadership Education Research Agenda 2020–2025. Journal of Leadership Studies, 14(3), 39-44. [DOI]
10. Beatty, C., Manning-Ouellette, A., & Wilborg, E. (2021). Addressing white fragility in leadership education. In K. L. Guthrie, & V. S. Chunoo (Eds.), Shifting the mindset: Socially just leadership education (pp. 244-268). Information Age Publishing, Inc.
11. Bertrand Jones, T., Guthrie, K. L., & Osteen, L. (2016). Critical domains of culturally relevant leadership learning: A call to transform leadership programs. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2016(152), 9-21. [DOI]
12. Bitton, A. L., & Jones, S. R. (2021). Apply the lens of intersectionality to leadership learning. In K. L. Guthrie, & V. S. Chunoo (Eds.), Shifting the mindset: Socially just leadership education (pp. 110-133). Information Age Publishing, Inc.
13. Black, H., Soto, L., & Spurlin, S. (2016). Thinking About Thinking About Leadership: Metacognitive Ability and Leader Developmental Readiness. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2016(149), 85-95. [DOI]
14. Bohmer, S., & Briggs, J. L. (1991). Teaching privileged students about gender, race, and class oppression. Teaching Sociology, 19(2), 154-163. [DOI]
15. Brunsma, D. L., Brown, E. S., & Placier, P. (2013). Teaching race at historically white colleges and universities: Identifying and dismantling the walls of whiteness. Critical Sociology, 39(5), 717-738. [DOI]
16. Campbell, B. (2016). Utilizing an African American studies course to garner critical consciousness among students: Considerations for improving campus climate. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, 9(8), 26-42. [Article]
17. Chapman, N. H., & Gruver, M. D. (2014). Inclusive leadership framework workshop curriculum. Purdue University.
18. Chesler, M. A., Peet, M., & Sevig, T. (2003). Blinded by whiteness: The development of white college students’ racial awareness. In A. W. Doane, & E. Bonilla-Silva, (Eds.), White out: The continuing significance of racism (pp. 215-230). Routledge.
19. Chunoo, V. S., & French, G. (2021). Socially just leadership education in action: Applying the culturally relevant leadership learning model. In K. L. Guthrie, & V. S. Chunoo (Eds.), Shifting the mindset: Socially just leadership education (pp. 207-219). Information Age Publishing, Inc.
20. Contreras, L. R., Teig, T., & Tyson, M. (2025). A space to breathe & grow: A women & leadership program operates as a counterspace at a predominantly white institution for first-generation women of color. Journal of First-generation Student Success, 5(1), 17-34. [DOI]
21. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publishers.
22. Danowitz, M. A., & Tuitt, F. (2011). Enacting inclusivity through engaged pedagogy: A higher education perspective. Equity & Excellence in Education, 44(1), 40-56. [DOI]
23. Deaux, K. (1993). Reconstructing social identity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 19(1), 4-12. [DOI]
24. del Carmen Salazar, M. (2013). A humanizing pedagogy: Reinventing the principles and practice of education as a journey toward liberation. Review of Research in Education, 37(1), 121-148. [DOI]
25. DeRue, D. S., & Ashford, S. J. (2010). Who will lead and who will follow? A social process of leadership identity construction in organizations. The Academy of Management Review, 35(4), 627-647. [DOI]
26. DiAngelo, R. (2018). White fragility: Why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism. Beacon Press.
27. Diemer, M. A., Rapa, L. J., Voight, A. M., & McWhirter, E. H. (2016). Critical Consciousness: A Developmental Approach to Addressing Marginalization and Oppression. Child Development Perspectives, 10(4), 216-221. [DOI]
28. Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. Jossey-Bass.
29. Dugan, J. P., & Humbles, A. D. (2018). A paradigm shift in leadership education: Integrating critical perspectives into leadership development. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2018(159), 9-26. [DOI]
30. Dugan, J. P., & Leonette, H. (2021). The complicit omission: Leadership development’s radical silence on equity. Journal of College Student Development, 62(3), 379-382. [DOI]
31. Dugan, J. P., Kodama, C. M., & Gebhardt, M. C. (2012). Race and leadership development among college students: The additive value of collective racial esteem. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 5(3), 174-189. [DOI]
32. Dugan, J. P., Komives, S. R., & Segar, T.C. (2008). College student capacity for socially responsible leadership: Understanding norms and influences of race, gender, and sexual orientation. NASPA Journal, 45, 475-500. [DOI]
33. Eagly, A. H., & Chin, J. L. (2010). Diversity and leadership in a changing world. American Psychologist, 65(3), 216-224. [DOI]
34. Edwards, K. E. (2006). Aspiring social justice ally identity development: A conceptual model. NASPA Journal, 43(4), 39-60. [DOI]
35. Evans, N. J. (2010). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
36. Fine, M., Weis, L., Powell, L.C. and Wong, L.M., (1997). Preface, In M. Fine, L. Weis, L. C. Powell, & L. M. Wong (Eds.), Off white: Readings on race, power, and society (pp. vii-xii). Routledge.
37. Foste, Z. (2020). The enlightenment narrative: White student leaders’ preoccupation with racial innocence. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 13(1), 33-43. [DOI]
38. Foste, Z. (2024). How White undergraduates experience and make meaning of parental messages about race. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 61(5), 695-707. [DOI]
39. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.
40. Freire, P. (2001). Pedagogy of freedom: Ethics, democracy, and civic courage. Rowman & Littlefield.
41. Gillborn, D. (2005). Education policy as an act of White supremacy: Whiteness, critical race theory and education reform. Journal of Education Policy, 20(4), 485-505. [DOI]
42. Giroux, H. (1997). Re-writing the discourse of racial identity: towards a pedagogy and politics of whiteness. Harvard Educational Review Summer, 67(2), 285-321. [DOI]
43. Gretzinger, E., Hicks, M., Dutton, C., & Smith, J. (2025, June 20). Tracking higher ed’s dismantling of DEI. The Chronicle of Higher Education. [Article]
44. Gusa, D. L. (2010). White institutional presence: The impact of Whiteness on campus climate. Harvard Educational Review, 80(4), 464-489. [DOI]
45. Guthrie, K. L., & Jenkins, D. M. (2018). The role of leadership educators: Transforming learning. Information Age Publishing, Inc.
46. Harper, J., & Kezar, A. (2021). Leadership for liberation: A leadership framework and guide for student affairs professionals. USC Pullias Center for Higher Education. [Article]
47. Hassell‐Goodman, S., Yamanaka, A., Athanasiou, J., & Arminio, J. (2024). Students encouraging other students' learning: Leadership shared metacognition in practice. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2024(183), 131-143. [DOI]
48. Hooks, B. (1994). Transgress. Paragraph, 17(3), 270-271. [DOI]
49. Hytten, K. (2009). Deweyan democracy in a globalized world. Educational Theory, 59(4), 395-408. [DOI]
50. Irwin, L. N. (2021). Student affairs leadership educators’ negotiations of racialized legitimacy. Journal of Leadership Education, 20(4), 133-153. [DOI]
51. Jackson, K. (2011). Approaching participation in school-based mathematics as across-setting phenomenon. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 20(1). 111-150. [DOI]
52. Jones, A. H. (2019). Embodying justice: Situating college student articulations of social justice in critical consciousness. International Journal of Christianity & Education, 23(1), 49-68. [DOI]
53. Kaarbo, J., & Beasley, R. K. (1999). A practical guide to the comparative case study method in political psychology. Political Psychology, 20(2), 369-391. [DOI]
54. Kezar, A., Acuña Avilez, A., Drivalas, Y., Wheaton, M. (2017). Building social change-oriented leadership capacity among student organizations: Developing students and campuses simultaneously. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2017(155), 45-57. [DOI]
55. Komives, S. R., Owen, J. E., Longerbeam, S. D., Mainella, F. C., & Osteen, L. (2005). Developing a leadership identity: A grounded theory. Journal of College Student Development, 46(6), 593-611. [DOI]
56. Ladkin, D. (2021). Sensing the system: How aesthetic sensibility can enhance leaders’ capacity to navigate complex systems. Journal of Leadership Studies, 15(2), 49-52. [DOI]
57. Leonardo, Z. (2002). The souls of White folk: Critical pedagogy, Whiteness studies, and globalization discourse. Race Ethnicity and Education, 5(1), 29-50. [DOI]
58. Liu, H. (2020). Redeeming leadership: An anti-racist, feminist intervention. Bristol University Press.
59. Love, B. J. (2000). Developing a liberatory consciousness. In M. Adams, W. J. Blumenfeld, R. Castañeda, H. W. Hackman, M. L. Peters, and X. Zúñiga (Eds.), Readings for Diversity and Social Justice (pp. 470-474). Routledge.
60. Mahoney, A. D. (2016). Culturally responsive integrative learning environments: A critical displacement approach. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2016(152), 47-59. [DOI]
61. Maia, A. C., Contreras, L., & Teig, T. (2024). Integrating culturally relevant leadership learning into the leadership learning framework. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2024(183), 145-156. [DOI]
62. Manning‐Ouellette, A. (2018). Fostering the unification of academic leadership outcomes through democracy education. Journal of Leadership Studies,12(2), 75-78. [DOI]
63. Matias, C. E., & Boucher, C. (2023). From critical whiteness studies to a critical study of whiteness: Restoring criticality in critical whiteness studies. Whiteness and Education, 8(1), 64-81. [DOI]
64. McLaughin, C. P., & Colquitt Jr., K. (2023). Okay, you “Get it…” whiteness, masculinity, and the development of critical consciousness in leadership development. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2023(177), 41-48. [DOI]
65. Neville, H. A., Awad, G. H., Brooks, J. E., Flores, M. P., & Bluemet, J. (2013). Color-blind racial ideology: Theory, training, and measurement implications in psychology. American Psychologist, 68(6), 455-466. [DOI]
66. Nichols, D. (2010). Teaching critical whiteness theory: What college and university teachers need to know. Understanding and Dismantling Privilege, 1(1), 1-12. [Article]
67. Okun, T. (2021, May). White supremacy culture—Still here. White Supremacy Culture. [Article]
68. Ospina, S., & Su, C. (2009). Weaving color lines: Race, ethnicity, and the work of leadership in social change organizations. Leadership, 5(2), 131-170. [DOI]
69. Owen, J. E., Pacheco, D. R., & Yamanaka, A. (2024). Decolonizing leadership knowledge: Context, culture, and complexity. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2024(183), 23-32. [DOI]
70. Parker, P. S., & Grimes, D. S. (2009). ‘Race’ and management communication. In F. Bargiela-Chiappini (Ed.), The handbook of business discourse (pp. 292-304). Edinburgh University Press.
71. Pendakur, V., & Furr, S. C. (2016). Critical leadership pedagogy: Engaging power, identity, and culture in leadership education for college students of color. New Directions for Higher Education, 2016(174), 45-55. [DOI]
72. Riad, S. (2011). Invoking Cleopatra to examine the shifting ground of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(5), 831-850. [DOI]
73. Rocco, M. L., & Davis, K. R. (2024). Expanding the boundaries of leadership development: Propositions for leadership educators. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2024(183), 51-58. [DOI]
74. Rocco, M. L., & Priest, K. L. (2023). Extending the scope of leadership identity development. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2023(178), 107-117. [DOI]
75. Rosch, D. M., Collier, D., & Thompson, S. E. (2015). An exploration of students' motivation to lead: An analysis by race, gender, and student leadership behaviors. Journal of College Student Development, 56(3), 286-291. [DOI]
76. Rose, G. (1997). Situating knowledges: Positionality, reflexivities and other tactics. Progress in Human Geography, 21(3), 305-320. [DOI]
77. Rossetti, A. M. (2022). “I want to bring other people with me”: Leadership self-efficacy as a moderator of stereotype threat for college students of color at historically White institutions (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania).
78. Runnels, A. (2023, December 28). Diversity offices on college campuses will soon be illegal in Texas, as 30 new laws go into effect. The Texas Tribune. [Article]
79. Saldaña, J. (2012). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications Inc.
80. Schwartz, H. L. (2019). Connected teaching: Relationship, power, and mattering in higher education. Stylus Publishing, LLC.
81. Steyn, M. (2007). As the postcolonial moment deepens: A response to Green, Sonn, and Matsebula. South African Journal of Psychology, 37(3), 420-424. [DOI]
82. Tarlau, R. (2014). From a language to a theory of resistance: Critical pedagogy, the limits of “framing,” and social change. Educational Theory, 64(4), 369-392. [DOI]
83. Tatum, B. D. (2003). “Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” And other conversations about race (1st ed.). Basic Books.
84. Taylor, J. K. (2023). Lenses for leadership: How White student leaders make meaning of the intersection of race and leadership (Doctoral dissertation, Oklahoma State University).
85. Taylor, J. K., & Manning-Ouellette, A. (2022). Finding growth zones: Socially just leadership learning, developmental readiness, and zones of proximal development. Journal of Leadership Studies, 16(3), 33-37. [DOI]
86. Turman, N. T. (2017). Centering the margins: Elevating the voices of women of color to critically examine college student leadership (Doctoral dissertation, Loyola University Chicago).
87. Turman, N., Alcozer Garcia, K. C., & Howes, S. (2018). Deepening attention to social location in building leader and leadership efficacy. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2018(159), 65-76. [DOI]
88. Vaccaro, A., & Camba-Kelsay, M. J. (2016). Centering Women of Color in academic counterspaces: A critical race analysis of teaching, learning, and classroom dynamics. Lexington Books.
89. van Montfrans, V. (2017). Defining, exploring, and measuring metacognitive social justice (Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University).
90. Vlope White, J. M., Guthrie, K. L., & Torres, M. (2019). Thinking to transform: Reflection in leadership learning. Information Age Publishing, Inc.
91. Volpe‐White, J. (2024). “I know what I don't know”: Metacognition in leadership learning. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2024(183), 121-130. [DOI]
92. Walker, M. (2019). When getting along is not enough: Reconstructing race in our lives and relationships. Teachers College Press.
93. Wallin-Ruschman, J. (2018). “I thought it was just knowledge but it’s definitely a lot of guts”: Exploring emotional and relational dimensions of critical consciousness development. The Urban Review, 50(1), 3-22. [DOI]
94. Wargo, A. M. (2025). Embracing the both/and: Learning from the lived experiences of White facilitators of racial equity workshops (Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University).
95. Watts, R. J., Diemer, M. A., & Voight, A. M. (2011). Critical consciousness: Current status and future directions. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2011(134), 43-57. [DOI]
96. Weaver, K. E., Lange, A. C., & Linley, J. L. (2023). White student leaders’ deflections of diversity conversations. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 36(6), 1092-1108. [DOI]
97. Wiborg, E. R. (2020). A critical discourse analysis of leadership learning (Doctoral dissertation, The Florida State University).
98. Wiborg, E. R., Manning‐Ouellette, A., & Roland, E. (2023). Emerging from critique towards liberation: A Framework in leadership education. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2023(180), 97-106. [DOI]
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
