THE COURAGE TO LEAD THE JOURNEY OF THE FIRST MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMAN COLLEGE PRESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES

Juliet García...6 Mexican American College Presidents...8 Pipelines for Leadership...9 Texas Southmost College TSC, The University of Texas Brownsville UTB, and the University of Texas R

THE COURAGE TO LEAD: THE JOURNEY OF THE FIRST MEXICAN

AMERICAN WOMAN COLLEGE PRESIDENT IN THE UNITED STATES

A dissertation submitted

byRegina D Biddings-Muro

toBenedictine University

in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Education

inHigher Education and Organizational Change

Benedictine UniversityAugust 2015

Copyright by Regina D Biddings-Muro, 2015

All rights reserved

Anita Elizabeth Murrell, my daughter and my driving inspiration Your

unyielding encouragement and belief in me kept me reading, writing, analyzing, and studying when everything inside of me told me to quit

My late parents, Hardesty and Elizabeth Biddings Your faith-filled, life-long example of dignity and grace continues to be a guiding force every day in my life

My late grandparents, Moses and Rosetta Biddings, Nelson and Emma Riddle, demonstrated a level of resilience that provided the foundation that seeded my ambitions

My siblings, Emma Peterson, Emery Biddings, and Vincent Biddings, for

cheering me on every step of the way

My Purdue Calumet colleagues, Chancellor Dr Thomas L Keon, Chancellor Emeritus Dr Howard Cohen, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Provost Dr

Chancellor of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs Dr Carmen Panlilio, your support anchored my journey.

I extend sincere and heartfelt gratitude to my new South Texas familia: Dr Juliet

V García, Mr Oscar E García, Mr Oscar David García, Mrs Angela McCauley, Mrs Mary Rose Cárdenas, Mrs Martie DiGregorio, Dr Olivia Rivas, Dr Wayne Moore, Dr Javier Martinez, Ms Milagro Hernandez, and Mr Michael Aldape

Also, I must acknowledge the outstanding members of my dissertation committee,

Dr Antonina Lukenchuk, Dr Kathleen Carlson, and Dr Margarita Benitez, your advice, guidance, and expertise have been invaluable

Finally, it has been a blessing to have the support from the Benedictine faculty and staff, in particular, Dr Eileen Kolich, Dr Sunil Chand, and Mr Kent Carrico

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

ABSTRACT vii

CHAPTER ONE: PRELUDE SETTING THE TABLE 1

Background of the Study 4

The Principal Participant: Dr Juliet García 6

Mexican American College Presidents 8

Pipelines for Leadership 9

Texas Southmost College (TSC), The University of Texas Brownsville (UTB), and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) 11

American College President: A Profile 13

Problem Statement 16

Research Purposes and Questions 18

Narrative Inquiry Process 19

Organization of the Study 22

CHAPTER TWO: ON THE QUEST TO KNOW: SELECTING CAMERAS AND LENSES 24

Outlining the Conceptual Discourse of the Study 27

Narrative Tradition 28

The Power of Story 30

Generational Theory 32

Generative Leadership Theory 32

Poststructuralist Feminist Theory 33

Research Design 35

Life [Hi]story 36

Portraiture 37

Autoethnography 38

Sources of Data and Collection Strategies 40

Interviews 42

Field Texts 46

Documents and Artifacts 47

Data Analysis and Interpretation: A Two-Way Mirror 48

Validation Criteria 52

CHAPTER THREE: JULIET VILLARREAL GARCÍA: RESTORYING GENERATIONAL HISTORY 55

The Villarreal Family: An Immigrant Story 56

Language, Culture, and Education: The Choices and the Challenges 61

Familia: An Unbroken Tradition of Perseverance 64

CHAPTER FOUR: RESTORYING LEADERSHIP: A CAMERA WITH BORROWED LENSES 66

Introduction 66

Inaugurating a Transformational Leader 68

Leadership as Transformation 69

Gendered Leadership Reconsidered 72

A Leader Who Stands Her Ground 76

Lessons of Independence: Enacting Leadership on Her Own Terms 81

A Leader Who is a State-of the-Art Listener 85

Leadership That Creates 87

The Leader in Service to the Institution 92

Leadership: Challenged and Deconstructed 95

Dr Juliet García’s “Signature” Brand of Leadership: “Chora” 97

CHAPTER FIVE: WHO IS JULIET GARCÍA: RE-STORIED IDENTITY 102

Dual Identities 102

Father’s Greatest Gift 104

Which Movement is This Anyway? Finding the Right Movement 106

Marriage and Family: The Citadel 109

Ascending to the Presidency—A Woman of Color in the Unspoken Boys’ Club 113

Our Mother, the President 118

“I Am My Mother’s Daughter” 123

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND INSIGHTS 127

Insights From the Study 127

Defining Moments That Helped Prepare Dr Juliet García for the Presidency at the University of Texas Brownsville 127

How Dr García Managed Challenging Experiences During Her Presidency at UTB 130

The Role of Dr García’s Generational History in Shaping Her as a Leader 131

Leadership Models That Define Dr García’s Approach to Her Role as a Leader 132

Poststructuralist Leadership 133

Transformational Leadership 135

Generative Leadership 135

Servant Leadership 136

Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Class-Related Contexts That Influenced Dr García’s Identity 137

Insights That Dr García Offered to Latinas and Women of Color Aspiring to the Highest Leadership Positions in Higher Education 141

To Aspiring Leaders: Insights From Dr García 142

To Aspiring Leaders: Insights From Study Participants 144

Final Reflections 147

EPILOGUE 151

REFERENCES 156

APPENDIX A: Interview Guide 168

APPENDIX B: Informed Consent Form: Primary Participant 172

APPENDIX C: Informed Consent Form: Additional Participants 175

APPENDIX D: Themes Identified as a Result of the 1st Cycle of Coding 178

ABSTRACTHigher education is challenged to find leaders who can meet the increasing and complex demands associated with leading the nation’s colleges and universities The American Council on Education reports that diversity among university CEOs has improved

slightly, but representation among Latino college presidents remains stagnant at

disproportionately low levels This study examined the lived experiences of the nation’s first Mexican American woman college president, Dr Juliet V García, who served more than 20 years as the head of the University of Texas Brownsville/Texas Southmost College Relatively few studies have been conducted on Latino college leaders in generaland even fewer have focused on their lived experiences as presidents This narrative study on one such exceptional leader observed the various facets of her leadership—and her life Narrative portraiture of Dr García captured the breadth of her life story, beyond existing biographical sketches and news briefs to provide significant insights to future leaders and a rare, well-developed picture of a woman pioneer Dr García’s journey to the university presidency offers an enlightening narrative of how leaders and leadership may be defined and developed in the academy in the 21st century

CHAPTER ONE: PRELUDE SETTING THE TABLE

I was raised by Chitterling eating Vegetarian cooking Cornbread so good you want to lie

Down and die baking

“Go on baby, get yo’self a plate”

Kind of Women Some Ph.D toting Poetry writing

“I’ll see you in court” World traveling

“Stand back, I’m creating”

Type of Queens.

I was raised by

Women.

— Kelly Norman Ellis (1994)

The gift of faith transmitted to me from generations of family members whom I have never met renews my courage My mother turned to prayer during the most anxioustimes in our lives to find strength and optimism in the face of trouble This resolute understanding that the Good Lord Almighty would never abandon us fueled a faith that moves mountains and strengthened our determination to push through limits

In his quiet, yet equally powerful way, my father demonstrated his faith by

refusing to surrender to barriers The son of a West Virginia coal miner, my father

became the primary breadwinner for the family when he was only 17 He was the born of 11 children, and by the time he left high school, he had a wealth of experiences

first-that tested his faith Yet, it would be difficult to detect first-that he had even the slightest worry about how to take care of 13 people, including his parents, who were counting on him to see that the ends met while his dad recuperated from a broken leg In the middle

of the Great Depression in 1937, a Black man with one good leg and 11 kids was worth less than a few head of livestock, so my father entered the coal mine to try to save my grandfather’s job until that leg healed

My mother was a genius who had determined the word “can’t” was a four-letter word that was uttered at the risk of a warning in our home “That word,” Mama would say, “means nothing After all, men are on the moon, so you just tell me right now what you CAN do!” With a high school diploma, Mama worked in northwest Indiana steel mills so that she and Daddy could pay Catholic school tuition for the four of us In the 1950s, women of color were outnumbered by White males by a ratio of at least 100 to 1 Whether it was 20 degrees below zero or 110 degrees in the shade, Mama and Daddy donned hard hats and steel-toed metatarsals to work in a place that looked like what might have been a playground for prehistoric robots Everything was huge, grimy, and dangerous

Our parish was a Hungarian Catholic church just around the corner, and ours was the only Black family in the congregation Our pastor, Father Skerl, celebrated the high mass in Hungarian Even though Father said mass in English, Daddy often needed help translating Father’s native, wonderfully curled Hungarian dialect that was unaltered even after 50 years living in Indiana The only other church members of color included my best friend and her family, who were Mexican Americans Until high school, I thought this was the quintessential American experience Wasn’t this what people were talking

about when we described our nation as a melting pot? Quickly, I discovered the answer was “no.” My childhood years showed me the enormous potential of people when they aren’t living with limits By high school, I learned a painful lesson: legacy regulates opportunity If your parents have access, so do you; if they don’t, expect to bloody your knuckles knocking on opportunity’s door That’s probably when I started to subdue my dreams Pretty good became good enough—for a dark-skinned girl who used a

straightening comb on her hair at least once a week My family encouraged my good grades and dedication to study Our truth was that family history, circumstances, and legacy set boundaries for the future Cultural and political legacy dictated the external worth of my “self” without regard for my hard work, God-given gifts, and talent That reality set the stage for my determination to spend my life pushing through limits

The life story of Dr Juliet García, the first Mexican American woman college president in the United States, provides incentives to stretch conventional thinking Her story offers insight about an individual who broke through limits—both real and

perceived—that stifle accomplishments For women of color, this task requires renewed effort Some seven years before Dr García was appointed to her first presidency at Texas Southmost College, Estrada’s (1985) doctoral dissertation identified the attitudes

of Texas Mexican American women toward higher education Estrada surveyed more than 400 Mexican American women from seven Texas cities Among the findings, the following is of particular interest in this study of Dr García: “One half of the respondentsreported encouragement to attend college from early home and school experiences The women also identify the mother as the most influential person in educational areas” (Estrada, 1985, p iv) Estrada (1985) saw no major differences in attitudes between

Chicanas based on whether they lived in urban or rural areas; however, her study did finddifferences based on age, income, and levels of educational attainment Estrada also learned from respondents that higher education was a critical gateway to improve their self-esteem, opportunities for employment, and their ability to establish educated role models Nearly 30 years later, the definitions of social and educational norms for womencontinue to play a part in defining our destinies

Background of the Study

A high level of scrutiny is appropriate when selecting the leader of a higher education institution because a university president is expected to be the most influential person on campus, even though he or she does not perform key campus functions According to Eckel and Kezar (2011), the president must coordinate critical strategies to move the institution forward She or he must also “develop and put into action both master and strategic plans, and are accountable for the institution’s future well-being” (p 281) In examining presidential selection processes, Valverde (2003) described it as “the sponsorship process” (p 46) because successful candidates in state universities need the endorsements of members of boards of regents who are generally appointees of state governors—most of whom are White males Muñoz’ (2010) study included in-depth interviews with 13 college presidents and concluded that more research is needed to better understand the factors that generate more diversity among the ranks of leadership

Due to the disproportionately small number of leaders of color, those who ascend

to the chief executive officer (CEO) level may be seen as extraordinary exceptions to a majority rule Could it instead be that the research has not yet addressed how it is that women of color may be uniquely suited for leadership roles? In essence, it may be time

to thoroughly examine and revise long-standing unspoken “rules” that define leaders and leadership Poststructuralist views of leadership theory challenge earlier suppositions by peering beneath the surface of commonly accepted leadership principles Dr García’s experiences deserve close examination because they may strengthen the case to revise leadership definitions as the academy discovers how to take advantage of what the American Council on Education (ACE) (2012) calls an “opportunity to diversify the leadership of American higher education” (p 50).

A review of literature on the existing and ongoing relevant research and

background regarding Latina college and university presidents reveals that much awaits

to be discovered among this small yet formidable group of influential leaders

Resounding agreement endures regarding the relatively scarce information published regarding the lived experiences of Latina and Latino leaders in higher education A recent volume co-edited by León and Martinez (2013) confirms that this fact remains fairly uninterrupted well into the 21st century Relatively little has changed in the

literature since De los Santos and Vega (2008) lamented the small number of studies dedicated to Hispanic leaders: “Very little is known about the number of Hispanic

individuals who serve as president or chancellor, the type of institutions they serve, their gender and so forth” (p 156) This examination of the experiences of Dr Juliet García, acourageous and extraordinary Latina Texas college president, deepens insight into the challenges and triumphs of leading an institution of higher education This study expandsupon the profiles generated by the research conducted by others over the previous 10 years Valdata (2006) offer a profile of García discussing the difficulty and challenges women college presidents Carriulo, Rodgers, and Stout (2002) published a three-page

interview with García how her role as an Hispanic college president might help

underrepresented students improve academic achievement Turner (2007) included García in an article that presents biographical sketches of three women college presidents

of color who were firsts Turner (2007) primarily discusses García’s career path, factors that inspired her presidential ambitions, and some of her key accomplishments

The Principal Participant: Dr Juliet García

Juliet Villarreal García, Ph.D stepped down as president of the University of Texas Brownsville in fall 2014 after 23 years leading the institution Dr García reached

a level of leadership that had been previously inaccessible to Mexican women when she was appointed president of Texas Southmost College (TSC) in 1986 At that time, the community college offered only two-year degrees By 1992, García authored a

partnership agreement that stitched together TSC and the University of Texas

Brownsville (UTB), which had previously been an upper-division-only institution The two institutions are physically separated by just a narrow one-way street The pact allowed students of the new institution, UTB/TSC to seamlessly pursue associates and baccalaureate degrees through a single admissions and financial aid process This new creation, which García called a “community university,” expanded access to education for students along the southernmost border of Texas UTB began offering freshman- and sophomore-level courses in 1991; TSC students could continue study beyond the

associate degree at UTB Dr García has amassed a large collection of awards, including the American Council on Education’s Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement in Education She also has received the Ohtli award from the Mexican government, which recognizes Mexican

Americans who have opened pathways to opportunities for Mexicans in the United

States Further evidence of her luminary profile includes her citation in the 2009 Time

magazine list of the Top 10 College Presidents The Dr Juliet V García Middle School,

in Brownsville, Texas was named in her honor in August 2002

García earned a Ph.D in communications and linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin Her master’s degree is in classical rhetoric and public address and her bachelor’s degree is in English, both from the University of Houston The University of Notre Dame, Brown University, and Smith College have presented García with honorary degrees In October 2014, García received the Chair’s Medallion Award from the

Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington, D.C Brito (2014) indicates this event is the nation’s largest assembly of Latino leaders

After leaving the president’s office at UTB, García was appointed executive director of the University of Texas Institute of the Americas, also in Brownsville, Texas García was instrumental in working with others to establish the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Dr García’s legacy of contributions continues to capture national attention A few scholars have also turned a spotlight on Dr García based on what has been a distinguished career Turner (2007) provided biographical sketches of

Dr García and two other college presidents described as “women of color firsts” (p 1) who paved the way for other women to serve in top executive roles in higher education

In addition, there are two articles (Carriulo et al., 2002; Valdata, 2006) offering brief profiles that provide a glimpse into Dr García’s presidency at UTB The University library’s archives contain an abundant collection of articles and artifacts that chronicle

García’s numerous awards and recognitions, along with documentation of the positive institutional outcomes brought about during her tenure as president

García began her career in higher education as a teaching assistant at the

University of Houston in 1970 She continued teaching until 1981 when she was named the dean of arts and sciences at TSC Between 1979 and 1981, García directed the TSC Self-Study for Reaffirmation of Accreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools She married Oscar E García before her 20th birthday in 1969; they have two grown children and four grandchildren

Mexican American College Presidents

Even though the makeup of college campuses has changed significantly over the last 25 years, the ethnic and racial composition of university presidents has remained relatively unchanged The percentage of Hispanic presidents leading colleges and universities in 2011 was 3.8%, which is a decrease from the 4.6% reported by ACE in

2006 (ACE, 2012) The precise number of Mexican Americans included in this number

is impossible to discern because the definition of Hispanic in this case refers to a diverse group of individuals whose ancestry may be Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, or other Hispanic lineage With that in mind, it is abundantly clear that the number of Mexican American college presidents remains minute

According to the American Council on Education (ACE, 2012), racial diversity decreased between 2006 and 2011 Further, ACE (2012) is predicting that the

presidential office suite will become less diverse as the challenges become more complexwith institutions looking to fill the top job with individuals who have extensive senior leadership experiences

Twelve percent of recently hired presidents were minorities compared with 13 percent of all presidents in the study Further, the share of new appointees who are minorities has declined since 1998 If current hiring rates for minority presidents continue, minority representation among all presidents is unlikely to increase significantly (ACE, 2012, p 43)

Muñoz (2010) identified approximately 26 Latina community college presidents

in order to study their experiences on their way to the highest leadership position on campus This research sought to learn how these Latina leaders address career challengesand practices or policies that might serve to transform cultural barriers to greater

inclusivity on college campuses Finally, Muñoz (2010) hoped to discover whether Latinas in higher education administration had realized any changes in conditions over the past 10 years The study offered meaningful insight regarding their academic and professional preparation and mentorship In particular, the participants expressed

frustration about the small number of emerging Latina leaders

One president noted that in spite of a small number of formal and informal networking groups that exist in her state, Latinas are not entering the pipeline Further exacerbating this gap was the recent retirements of Latina presidents as well as apprehension regarding replacements (Muñoz, 2010, p 168)

Muñoz’ (2010) findings point out that leadership development efforts fall short when it comes to addressing the challenges experienced by minority women who must navigate higher education institutions that are dominated by White men

Pipelines for Leadership

Higher Education has traditionally built and cultivated its leaders from within its

own ranks (ACE, 2012) The 2012 ACE report, The American College President,

indicates more than 75% of all presidents previously served in other senior level higher education roles before becoming CEOs Even while the academy is facing mounting

depend largely on its internal community to select its leaders ACE (2012) reported less than 24% of leaders having been selected from sectors other than higher education This inside-the-academy preference, according to Valverde (2003), places women and people

of color at a distinct disadvantage precisely because of higher education’s fundamental practice of developing its future leaders from within its own ranks Succession planning that tends to be internally focused, therefore, perpetuates the preservation of a status quo that promotes a mostly homogeneous group of leaders:

The common and quietly spoken view in the academy is that persons of color are not as capable and not well prepared Their appointment is due mostly to

affirmative action, not “open” competition The short of it is, few are anticipated

to succeed, and many are expected to fail (Valverde, 2003, p 40)

A distorted history about racial and ethnic minorities, Valverde (2003) asserts, is

responsible for the mind-set of inferiority in higher education Valverde goes on to say that despite widespread knowledge of African enslavement in the Unites States, forced land annexations imposed upon Mexicans, Indian tribal conquests, and the exploitation ofChinese immigrants for labor, these histories seem subdued and less toxic decades later inthe 21st century Yet, Valverde (2003) maintains that higher education’s “mind-set of inferiority is especially acute and intense because of distorted history” (p 13)

The White House Project report (2009) made a number of recommendations related to the importance of women and women of color in leadership positions The report found that while the number of women earning college degrees continues to rise, the number of women in the top ranks of academia has remained stagnant for more than adecade The White House report suggests that institutions identify ways to support and promote women and women of color, diversify search committees, and look beyond

nontraditional career paths “A critical mass of women and women of color are needed inthese positions not only to serve as role models for women and men but also to insure that all voices are heard and all agendas considered” (The White House Project, 2009, p 25).

Texas Southmost College, The University of Texas Brownsville (UTB), and The

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV)

In 1986,Texas Southmost College (TSC), a community college in Brownsville, Texas with an enrollment of approximately 3,600 students, offered only the first two years of study This public open-admissions institution was created in 1926 as the Junior College of the Rio Grande Valley (Texas Southmost College, 2015) It was the first junior college to be accredited in the state of Texas TSC offered four associate degrees when Dr García was hired as president: accounting, aquaculture technology, automotive technology, and banking

The UTB, established in 1991 as an upper division university in Brownsville, had

an initial enrollment of 1,019 students Dr García stitched together TSC/UTB to create anew model—a "community university"—through a partnership agreement in 1992 This was a new concept for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)

because all institutions previously either had to be a community college or upper level university, but not both This SACS-designated “consolidated entity,” allowed the institution to award one-year certificates, two-year degrees, as well as bachelor’s,

master’s, and doctoral degrees This partnership was especially meaningful in South Texas because it allowed students to go through one admissions and financial aid process

at UTB/TSC then automatically matriculate into courses at both institutions

From Dr García’s biographical summary, “The Partnership,” as it became known,consolidated the fiscal, physical, and human resources of both institutions, eliminated redundancy in administrative structures, increased efficiency, and most importantly, eliminated all transfer barriers for students in the South Texas border region known as theRio Grande Valley When Dr García stepped down, UTB offered bachelor’s degrees in

68 majors, in addition to six online bachelor’s degree programs, 35 master’s degree programs, seven of which are online master’s programs, and two doctoral degree

programs UTB also offered certificate programs in eight areas, along with seven online certificate programs

Breaking a decades-old tradition of partnership agreements with nearby UTB and the University of Texas Pan American (UTPA) in Edinburg, Texas, TSC’s Board of Trustees voted for autonomy in February of 2011—a move expected to create

independence for TSC by August 2015

Starting fall 2015, UTB, which had approximately 8,500 students and UTPA, with approximately 20,053 students, about 64 miles apart from one another, will together re-emerge as the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) In an historic moment in June 2013, the governing boards of both institutions and state legislators approved a proposal to dissolve the two existing institutions Dr García was one of the designers of this major “reconstruction” of higher education in southern Texas The new UTRGV includes a medical school and is the second largest Hispanic-Serving Institution

in the United States The federal government designates institutions as Hispanic-Serving Institutions when their full-time student equivalent enrollment of Hispanics is 25% or more UTRGV will have a presence in each of the major Texas metropolitan areas of

Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen, and McAllen As a brand new institution, UTRGV is eligible to receive funding from a $12 billion Permanent University Fund established by the Texas Constitution in 1876 UTRGV will enroll its first students during the fall semester of 2015.

According to the 2012 U.S Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, Brownsville, Texas, is the nation’s most impoverished city The median annual

household income in Brownsville is $19,787, which is more than $20,000 below the median household income for the United States (U.S Census Bureau, 2012) This differentiating feature offers unique challenges to higher education leaders in South Texas who are working to improve access to high quality education in the Rio Grande Valley with the goal of reducing poverty and enriching the lives of the people in the Rio Grande Valley According to UTRGV president Guy Bailey, the institution “holds the promise to forever change the academic and economic landscape of South Texas”

(University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, n.d., para 1)

American College President: A Profile

The American College President (ACE, 2012) presents a comprehensive, in-depth

review of higher education presidents, including insight on personal characteristics such

as age, marital status, race, ethnicity, and religious affiliation The following are among its key findings from a survey of 1,662 participating presidents across the United States:

o The number of women presidents increased to 26% in 2011 compared to 23%

in 2006

o Presidents describing themselves as racial or ethnic minorities dropped to 13%

in 2011; the reported percentage had been 14% in 2006

o In 1986, the number of women leading colleges and universities was less than 10%, with the greatest number of female presidents heading bachelor’s degreeinstitutions

o The fewest number of women presidents were among doctorate-granting institutions

o Some 25 years later, the number of women in the top job has nearly tripled

In a profile of minority presidents, ACE (2012) reports the ranks of college presidents contained 8% minorities in 1986 and that the number had increased

to 12.6% in 2011

o The average age of college presidents increased from 60 to 61 years old, and the proportion of top leaders above the age of 61 climbed to 58% compared tothe 49% reported in the last survey in 2006 (ACE, 2012, p 8)

This nationwide picture also reveals that among women presidents, 72% have children, compared to 90% of their male counterparts The average length of service for U.S college presidents, according to ACE’s (2012) latest report, was seven years as compared to the average of 8.5 years found in the 2006 survey The findings indicate a slight increase in the percentage of women appointed as new presidential hires—nearly one-third in ACE’s (2012) report—compared to 26% reported in 2006 “Among women,the share of new appointees from racial/ethnic minority groups is relatively unchanged since 1998” (ACE, 2012, p xi)

A series of biographical sketches of six women community college presidents developed by Campbell, Mueller, and Souza (2010) describe a number of common leadership traits that emerge from their study An abbreviated list of attributes includes effective communication, active listening, diplomatic abilities, collaborative problem solving, and the need to have a sense of humor The participants in the study also cited a number of technical skills to support effective leadership, such as an understanding of finance and budgets, the ability to establish professional networks and business

partnerships, and the need to maintain a balance between their lives at work and at home All of the presidents in Campbell et al.’s (2010) sample placed particular emphasis on communication skills A series of verbatim quotes highlights this observation The

following is one such example: “The most important skill for me is not the technical skill that’s related to that particular position or job, but it’s the people skills, allowing anybodyand everybody to be able to work well in a collective people organization” (Campbell et al., 2010, p 26)

Leòn and Martinez (2013) investigated the lived experiences of four Latina presidents In each autobiographical profile, the leaders cover their unique paths to the presidency, their educational experiences, and their drive to balance work and family life.These first-hand accounts provide a rare glimpse into the emotional, psychological, and practical challenges that these women have encountered In a sample of Latino

presidents surveyed by Leòn and Martinez (2013), the majority of respondents were male, between 61 and 70 years old, had children, and were Roman Catholic In addition, more than 97% of the Latino college president respondents were born in the United Statesand spoke more than one language, most commonly English and Spanish

Sandberg (2013) presents a convincing array of data to uncover cultural biases that guide women away from the pursuit of leadership Starting at young ages, Sandberg (2013) asserts that young girls are tagged with the unflattering label “bossy” when they try to lead, but not boys “because a boy taking the role of a boss does not surprise or offend” (p 19) Sandberg (2013) refers to studies conducted from 1982 to 2006 that demonstrate teachers in the classroom call on boys more than girls

Sandberg (2013) described an all-women’s award ceremony she attended in college where the title of the featured speaker’s presentation was titled “Feeling like a Fraud.” The presenter indicated that women feel ashamed when they are celebrated for their achievements:

Instead of feeling worthy of recognition, they feel undeserving and guilty, as if a mistake has been made Despite being high achievers, even experts in their fields,women can’t seem to shake the sense that it is only a matter of time until they are found out for who they really are—imposters with limited skills or abilities (Sandberg, 2013, p 28)

Barsh and Yee (2012) surveyed more than 4 thousand employees in leading companies and found that 18% of women aspired to reach the top-ranking positions in thecompany; however, that number was double for male respondents

Problem Statement

The most current ACE (2012) report, the American College President 2012,

indicates that the number of college presidents who were women of color was 10.6% in

1986, and some 25 years later in 2011, the number of minority women in higher

education’s top post was 13.4% Hispanic women comprised 5.1% of college presidents

in 1986; in 2011, this number was 5.6% (ACE, 2012) Ace (2012) also reports that the number of African American women college presidents in 1986 was 3.9%, and in 2011, that number had grown to 7.7% Clearly there is much to explore regarding the stalled growth in the number of women of color leading institutions of higher education

Given the sparse literature on Latino college presidents, it was exciting to learn of

the 2013 publication by León and Martinez, Latino College Presidents: In Their Own Words In this publication, the authors, who have spent years researching the topic,

lament the dearth of attention that the subject has attracted The book includes a

collection of autobiographical essays written by 11 previous or current Latino college presidents Four of those featured are women: Dr Erlinda Martinez, formerly of Santa Ana Community College in Santa Ana, California; Dr Herlinda Martinez Glasscock, formerly of North Lake Community College in Irving, Texas; Dr Leslie Anne Navarro,

formerly of Morton Community College in Cicero, Illinois; and Dr Mildred García, currently serving at California State University Fullerton and previously was CEO of California State-Dominguez Hills.

According to León and Martinez (2013), their compilation proves that there is no singular path to the presidency Further, the authors emphasize that the presidents who submitted essays for the book hope to encourage more Latinos to seek positions of leadership in higher education My interest in engaging in a narrative study of Dr García’s life story proves that the encouragement goes beyond aspiring Latino leaders Mexican Americans were completely invisible in higher education leadership before

1977 (León & Martinez, 2013), in spite of the fact that this largest subgroup of Latinos has been part of the United States since 1848 More than 150 years later, Latino leaders remain significantly underrepresented, according to León and Martinez (2013) León andMartinez (2013) credit the Civil Rights movement and Chicano movements of the 1960s and 1970s, which demanded inclusion at all levels, for the presence of Mexican

Americans in higher education administrative roles In sum, “Latino leadership in higher education has escaped serious study” (León & Martinez, 2013, p 3)

Several researchers agree that a number of “invisible” roadblocks, or a so-called

“glass ceiling,” persist in holding down the number of Latino leaders in higher education (Ballenger, 2010; Campbell et al., 2010; Fong-Batkin, 2011) Some women of color in Ballenger’s (2010) study credit affirmative action policies for creating opportunities for them to advance in their careers Even though they acknowledged the potential “politicalincorrectness” of this admission, respondents in the study insisted that their presence wouldn’t have been welcomed by university administrators in the early 1970s One of

the Ballenger (2010) study participates stated: “Affirmative action laws and awareness of the importance of a diverse workforce have been helpful in my advancement from facultymember to administrator” (p 13) Although community colleges are recognized as the educational vehicle for Latino/as to pursue their dreams through higher education

(Gutierrez, Castaneda & Katsinas, 2002), most colleges have not systematically

encouraged Latinos to pursue leadership positions at community colleges Therefore, thisinertia has made advancement for Latinos more difficult (Muñoz, 2010) In light of the stagnant growth among college presidents of color reported by ACE (2012), new

narratives may serve to offer additional perspectives and interest in attracting diverse leaders to serve in the academy

Research Purposes and Questions

The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of the nation’s firstMexican American woman college president, Dr Juliet García Relatively few studies have been conducted on Latino college leaders in general and even fewer have focused

on their lived experiences as presidents or chancellors This narrative study on one such exceptional leader examined the various facets of her leadership—and her life The

central question guiding this study was: What are the defining moments in Dr Juliet García’s life that helped to prepare her for the highest position of leadership at UTB?

Additional questions included:

 How did Dr García manage and overcome challenging experiences during herleadership as president of UTB/TSC?

 What role, if any, has Dr García’s generational history played in shaping her

as a leader?

 What are the leadership models that define Dr García’s approach to her role

as a leader?

 What are the gender, ethnicity, and social class-related contexts that might have shaped Dr García’s identity?

 What are the insights that Dr García would offer to women of color aspiring

to serve in the highest positions of leadership in higher education?

Narrative Inquiry Process

This study was conceived within the interpretive paradigm of research that

focuses on the “social meaning people attribute to their experiences, circumstances, and situations, as well as the meanings that people embed into texts and other objects”

(Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2011, p 4) Interpretive, or qualitative (used interchangeably) research, is an “interdisciplinary landscape comprising diverse perspectives and practices for generating knowledge” and it addresses a “vast range of possible research topics and questions” (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2011, pp 4–5) This diverse paradigmatic landscape encompasses narrative inquiry, which this study fully embraces

Riessman (2008) suggested that researchers in diverse disciplines within the human sciences took a so-called “narrative turn” based on challenges to realism and positivism The origins of this turn to narrative can be found in the early 20th century, the 1960s, and in the late 20th century According to Riessman (2008), in the early 1900s, a woman named Susan Chase indicated that Chicago School sociology used a narrative study to examine the experiences of groups in the study of tenant farm women, Polish peasants, and males in inner cities Riessman (2008) supports Kristin Lagellier’s 1960s assertion that the “emancipation efforts of people of color, women, gays and

lesbians, and other marginalized groups” (p 14) shaped a gradual shift toward the

application of narrative methods The purpose of narrative, Riessman (2008) proclaims, may be to convince, explain, persuade, or convert an audience Narrative stories have also served to move communities to political action, such as feminist, civil rights, lesbian and gay movements for progressive change Riessman (2008) indicates the social and political impact of storytelling:

Groups use stories to mobilize others, and to foster a sense of belonging

Narratives do political work The social role of stories—how they are connected

to the flow of power in the wider world—is an important facet of narrative theory [And] stories must always be considered in context, for storytelling occurs at ahistorical moment with its circulating discourses and power relations (p 8)Creswell (2012) points to a defining characteristic of narrative research, which is its ability to “explore an educational research problem by understanding the experiences

of an individual” (p 505) The emphasis is on the importance of learning through the stories that individuals tell The stories are data typically collected through interviews or informal conversations (Creswell, 2012)

In writing qualitative inquiry, researchers include their own unique perspectives

in order to permit readers the opportunity to critically interpret the study (Goodall, 2008)

When restorying (a term used specifically in narrative inquiry) the lived experiences of

the participants, narrative researchers become co-participants and co-constructors of knowledge This process provides the opportunity for multi-layered discoveries within the social, political, and cultural contexts in which they take place “Given its

interactional bases, narrative becomes a collaborative enterprise—the joint product of narrator and listener” (p 7) Goodall (2008) further acknowledges a full range of options

to accomplish this, from direct declarations about the researcher’s gender, race, age, ability, class, etc to weaving into the story line the researcher’s own personal elements:

These reflexive moves help the reader evaluate the interpretations of the author more fully If we know “who” is writing an account and fully understand her or his position in the world in relation to the subject matter, we are better able to judge the plausibility, utility, and accountability of that interpretation (p 25)

In Varieties of Narrative Analysis, Holstein and Gubrium (2012) attempt to

“adjust the methodological balance” (p 3) by placing under a common heading, the various ways to analyze the texts of personal stories Holstein and Gubrium (2012) indicate the increasing complexity and rigor of narrative research, as they compiled the work of 12 scholars to articulate the investigation, navigation, and depth of effort in the varying levels of narrative analysis For example, McAdams (2012) describes narrative research as a pathway to discovery to develop new ways of understanding or describing experience:

The phenomenon might be a particular psychological process, a psychologically significant situation or experience, or even a noteworthy individual life The research process is largely inductive—that is, the researcher begins with concrete observations of the phenomenon itself and attempts to develop a more abstract description of or theory about the phenomenon (p 17)

The selection of narrative inquiry as the scaffolding for this study is based on my desire to explore the multi-layered dimensions of the social, cultural, political, and leadership contexts of Dr García’s life story As a co-participant in this study, I had to actively and regularly examine my own biases in relation to the research questions through reflexive writing that asks questions as Hesse-Biber and Leavy (2011) suggest:

“How much of my own voice is represented? In what sense have I not let others speak for themselves?” (p 348) As an interpretive and critical researcher, I kept close track of

the three “I’s”—“insight, intuition, and impression”—when immersing myself in the dataanalysis (Creswell, 2013).

Conducting the study using narrative inquiry also presented the opportunity to usewhat Goodall (2008) calls evocative language to show rather than tell readers through storytelling “Don’t lecture the reader Develop scenes, describe details, give voice to characters and let actions speak instead of marking arguments about them” (Goodall,

2008, p 30) Goodall offered a compelling list of authors who successfully engage in narrative scholarship: Barbara Kingsolver, Lewis Thomas, Juliet Chorr, Don Johanson, and Loren Eisley, to name a few Through our natural tendencies to identify with a character that may be going through similar challenges, stories have the power to change

lives and possibly imagine our lives better: “The best we can do is, first, accept that our

representations—however richly imagined and imaginatively rendered—are always partial and never complete” (Goodall, 2008, p 24) This work is no exception

Organization of the Study

Given the unique nature of narrative inquiry, the findings of this study are

intentionally presented alongside the relevant research uncovered during the literature review This study has, therefore, been structured in a somewhat unconventional manner.Chapter two will center on the conceptualization of the study and its research design Chapters three, four, and five represent the analysis and interpretation of the data/findings

of the study embedded in the analysis of the academic sources that relate directly to the purposes of this study

Therefore, chapter two, “On the Quest to Know: Selecting Cameras and Lenses,” addresses the data collection process and introduces readers to the study participants

Here I discuss each participant’s relationship to Dr García and how the participants were selected for the study This chapter also describes the process of data analysis and outlines themes that emerged from the data Chapter three, “Restorying Generational

History,” offers the findings that reconstruct the chronology of Dr García’s family

history, the significant epiphanies that were instrumental in shaping her core values, perspectives related to her sense of community, and the foundations for her leadership so

as to provide a contextual setting as well as linkages to generational theories

Chapter four, “Restorying Leadership: Using a Camera with Borrowed Lenses,”

continues the data analysis process In this chapter, readers will find the interactions, both professional and social, that serve to define Dr García’s leadership styles Readers will meet eight individuals who each bring their own unique perspectives of Dr García, along with the situational challenges that shed light on her leadership during the 22 years she served as president of Texas Southmost College and the University of Texas

Brownsville Chapter five, “Dr Juliet García: Re-storied Identity,” explores the internal

layers of Dr García’s identity as a woman, wife, mother, grandmother, and Latina leader.And finally, chapter six, “Conclusions and Insights,” presents the conclusions of the study, in addition to implications of the study This chapter also makes recommendationsfor future leaders based on the wisdom shared by Dr García herself and includes the impressions she made on colleagues and family This final chapter focuses on specific advice that may be useful to individuals, and women of color in particular, who aspire to lead in the academy Finally, the study offers a final word based on my own

interpretations of Dr García’s life and work and the impression that she left on me as a researcher

CHAPTER TWO

ON THE QUEST TO KNOW: SELECTING CAMERAS AND LENSES

Someday the Awakening will come, when the pent up vigor of ten million souls shall sweep irresistibly toward the Goal, out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, where all that makes life worth living—

Liberty, Justice and Right—

is marked “For White People Only.”

— W E B DuBois (1868–1963)

Leadership is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that provides opportunities for personal and professional growth, and under the best of circumstances, maybe even an opportunity to make a meaningful difference At the same time, the responsibility of leading is fraught with risks and can present enormous challenges to the human spirit, which may be part of the reason that some people shy away from it But that’s not the whole story Facebook chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg (2013) insists that there

is a social and cultural predisposition or bias that steers women away from positions of

leadership and authority Sandberg (2013), author of Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, described a message she shared with the graduates of an all-women’s

college In her commencement address, Sandberg (2013) suggested that the women answer the following question, “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?” (p 26)

In Sandberg’s book, the Ivy League graduate recalled her grandmother’s smarts and resourcefulness during the Great Depression, which she credits for her family’s

earned a bachelor’s degree at a time when social norms dictated that home life should be every woman’s occupation and preoccupation Immediately, this story invoked images

of my own grandmother, Emma Dee—a woman with ten children, a hard-working and dedicated husband, and a ninth grade education Although clearly limited in her pursuit

of education, Emma Dee’s schooling was considered to be quite advanced for a Negro woman from “Jim Crow” Mississippi whose caste in society was someplace between that

of a slave and a sharecropper Her ancestors risked death by secretly learning to read Born at the turn of the 20th century in 1900, Emma Dee and my grandfather, Nelson, suppressed their anxieties and moved the family North to find a better life Why did they believe they would find the life they sought—or at least one more tolerable than the one they knew? My grandmother answered this question when I was about 10 years old in one word: faith Had he been alive, I have to assume based on my mother’s fond

depiction of her “Papa,” that my grandfather would have had the same response I never met Papa He died seven months before I was born He and Emma Dee passed that faith

on to my parents; and they, in turn, bequeathed it—as a family treasure—to my siblings and me In spite of significant academic preparation, professional experience, and

respectable grooming, I will always be just like my grandmother and mother—an AfricanAmerican, black, Negro woman In life and, yes even in higher education, this affords

me the same double consciousness that W E B Dubois describes in his seminal work,

The Souls of Black Folk DuBois (1903/2003) painstakingly sketches the sensation of

“looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity” (p 9) Using a meticulously labored prose, DuBois (1903/2003) argues the critical importance of keeping the identities of

both his Americanism and his blackness while denouncing the accompanying curse derived from their political and social incompatibility Do my skin color and/or gender

overshadow my potential as a leader? My faith insists otherwise It is precisely because

of my skin color and gender that my contributions as a leader will be unique and

meaningful

This inquiry has emerged from the generational stories within my own family The challenges and triumphs among my own ancestors lead me to consider the historical, sociocultural, and personal narratives that capture and define the life and work of Dr Juliet García

Dr García’s leadership profile may help the academy to close gaps in informationand better understand how it can diversify the ranks of leadership in higher education Even though Dr García’s lived experiences may have limited ability to directly affect thedecisions of governing boards, search committees, and hiring supervisors, they offer empowering and motivating messages to women of color who remain significantly underrepresented in chief executive roles The words she spoke and the actions she took are reflections of a composite of historical occurrences reflected through a prism seldom observed A prism may be used to reflect light into various spatial characteristics,

frequencies, or phases This study revealed similar elements of Dr García’s persona because various characteristics were revealed when elements of her life were viewed in different lights This project presents a multifaceted image whose textures, shapes, and dimensions rely heavily on the relative proximity of each light source

Outlining the Conceptual Discourse of the Study

This study is positioned within an overarching interpretive paradigm of

educational research and the narrative inquiry specifically (Lukenchuk, 2013)

Interpretive paradigm of research has its origins in the philosophical hermeneutics as the theory of text interpretation, including written, verbal, and nonverbal communication The list of scholars, philosophers, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists who have contributed to this field is substantial and extensive: Carriere, 2013; Squire, 2008; Kostera, 2006; Denzin & Lincoln, 2003; Moules, 2002 Interpretive research permits the researcher access to insight regarding the meaning ascribed to the experiences (Muñoz, 2010)

Moules (2002) describes interpretive inquiry as a tradition of theory, philosophy, and practice that is manifested in numerous versions This exploration attends primarily

to the classical works of Schleiermacher (1768–1834) and Gadamer (1992)

Schleiermacher is credited with exploring the nature of understanding beyond the exact words and objective meanings of texts to a broader understanding of an author’s

perspective and character In particular, Schleiermacher’s work distinguished between psychological and grammatical interpretations Gadamer (1992) explained that

hermeneutics is the skill to “let things speak which come to us in a fixed, petrified form, that of the text And things have to be written so that they can help us in this” (p 65) Gadamer (1992) asserted that the nature of individual understanding is the most

important thing Schleiermacher challenged the thinking of his time to insist that face communication deserved the same hermeneutic analysis as did written, ancient, foreign, or difficult texts do (Margolis, 1987) In fact, Margolis (1987) argued that

face-to-Schleiermacher was distinctive in his belief that all elements of human life whether behavioral, social, written, or oral are worthy of such interpretive study because they all

manifest themselves in languages Interpretive practice “engages both the hows and the whats of social reality; it is centered both in how people methodically construct their

experiences and their worlds and in the configurations of meaning and institutional life that inform and shape their reality-constituting activity” (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003, p 215)

This study explored the hows and whats of Dr García’s lived experiences that

offer new ways of thinking about leaders and leadership By exploring the accessible elements of her life through interpretive and narrative study, it is possible to sharpen the focus on the blurred picture regarding opportunities for women to serve as leaders in higher education It is with this in mind that a narrative approach was selected as the most suitable for the study

Narrative Tradition

Squire’s (2008) characterization of narrative research indicates that the

framework provides no rules—with no specific ending or beginning place Narrative research includes a particular topic to study and/or a process to interpret told stories (Creswell, 2013) Clandinin and Connelly (2000) reveal an element of narrative inquiry that speaks directly to this study of the first Mexican American woman college president

In articulating research questions or problems, Clandinin and Connelly (2000) suggest that narrative inquiry “carries more of a sense of a search, a ‘re-search,’ a searching again Narrative inquiry carries more of a sense of a continual reformulation of an inquiry than it does a sense of problem definition and solution” (p 124)

This narrative exploration revolves around Dr García’s lived experiences told in her own words, as well as the stories told by her colleagues, friends, and members of her family Through narrative research, the emphasis is “on studying one or two individuals, gathering data through the collection of their stories, reporting individual experiences, and chronologically ordering the meaning of those experiences” (Creswell, 2013, p 70) Narrative research forms include, but are not limited to, testimonies, biographies,

personal accounts, documents of life, narrative interviews, oral histories, life stories, and life histories (Creswell, 2013) Narrative approach therefore represents a variety of interconnected genres that allow for an in-depth exploration of the participants’ lives Subsequently, this study is fittingly positioned within a broad scope of the narrative tradition that allows for an in-depth exploration of individual lived experience

Experience is “what we study, and we study it narratively because narrative thinking is a key form of experience and a key way of writing and thinking about it” (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000, p 18)

In conducting the study, my work followed closely the advice of Clandinin and Connelly (2000) to avoid what they call “the dangers of narcissism and solipsism” (p 181), which lead critics to view narrative as overly subjective and personal Examples of these include the “Hollywood plot” and “narrative smoothing” (p 181) This certainly can be a danger when the main participant has a glowing public profile One strategy I used to avoid such clichés was a practice that Clandinin and Connelly (2000) call

“wakefulness” (p 182) This term refers to the conscientious effort on the part of the researcher to maintain a critical perspective that eschews overly simplified plots and poorly defined characters For example, I found myself writing in my field notes, what is

the participant leaving out of the story? Doing so served as an important reminder of the limitations of research Although perspectives gathered from individuals based on their experiences may be the best source of authentic knowledge, it deserves ongoing scrutiny because of the opportunity for diverse interpretations That said, stories continue to wieldsignificant power.

The Power of Story

Without stories, how does one participate in discourse about history, sociology, politics, religion, love, or war? It seems that human beings are “hard-wired” with a common expectation of receiving information within a sequential context that includes a beginning, middle, and end Good movies, good books, and good articles seem to have these features in common Even when a story is told out of sequence, the audience or listener may mentally adjust events to make chronological sense of the story Clandinin and Connelly (2000) offer the most unflinching definition of narrative inquiry: “Narrative

inquiry is stories lived and told” (p 20).

Describing narrative as an academic movement, Goodall (2008) believes many scholars hope to have a positive impact on the world The 21st century scholar,

according to Goodall, must operate in a new structure of business models that places a high value on reaching intelligent readers and hearers beyond higher education

The power of story is its ability to change your life And not just yours, but other people’s lives as well Perhaps you identify with a character, or share a similar challenge Perhaps you learned how to imagine your life differently, and better (Goodall, 2008, p 13)

Stories serve as the foundation for historical documentation, cultural processes, aswell as critical political and social movements (Riessman, 2008) Citing examples that

sponsored violence, Riessman (2008) calls to mind the proliferation of stories that have a fixed place in history and in the daily lives of millions In addition, Riessman (2008) credits the technological advances in the 21st century for increased access to inexpensive cameras and video recorders that create visual narratives to capture and replay events thatwould otherwise remain a mystery Creswell (2013) outlines the features of narrative stories as highlighting the way individuals see themselves World religions rely heavily

on the narrative story to proselytize and connect with followers Readers who turn to the Old Testament and New Testament of the Holy Bible will find stories that convey moral lessons Stories designed to provide religious guidance also have prominent placements

in the Torah, Quran, and Bhagavad Gita

Among its most powerful applications is the story’s ability to teach Clandinin and Connelly (2000) provide a powerful illustration through the work of psychiatrist Robert Coles, who used stories to learn about life lessons from his patients and students Clandinin and Connelly (2000) quote Coles’ written work as follows: “I was urged to let each patient be a teacher: ‘Hearing themselves teach you, through their narration, the patients will learn the lessons a good instructor learns only when he becomes a willing student, eager to be taught’” (p 12)

The multiple layers of Dr García’s powerful life story necessitated an inquiry thatjuxtaposed and reflected the complexity of gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, and identity constructs With this in mind, a number of theoretical perspectives that are closely aligned with the narrative inquiry have special relevance to this study, namely: generational theory, generative leadership theory, and a poststructuralist feminist theory

At the same time, it is important to return here to magnify the importance of keeping