About this session

Thursday, 1:40 PM - 3:10 PM

Early Childhood Program Leadership Viewed from an Equity Lens

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) leaders play a pivotal role in ensuring high-quality services for children and families. Despite their importance, leadership within ECEC remains significantly understudied (Bloom & Abel, 2015; Douglass, 2019). The ongoing ECEC crisis—intensified by the global pandemic, socioeconomic upheaval, and systemic racism—underscores the urgent need for research on advancing leadership in this field. Notably, while approximately 40% of the workforce is comprised of women of color who face low wages and limited opportunities (McLean et al., 2021), little research has explored the diversity of ECEC program leaders and their lived experiences becoming leaders. This symposium presents three studies that examine the career trajectories of leaders of color and their perspectives on setting professional leadership standards.

The first paper explores the impact of race, culture, and language on the professional journeys of 65 ECEC leaders of color from 19 states, Washington, DC. and Puerto Rico, based on data from 13 virtual focus groups. Themes of empowerment, constraint, and self-advocacy emerge. The second paper presents in-depth narratives of four African American women who advanced up the ECEC career ladder with the help of mentoring and peer support. The third paper investigates the equity implications of professional standards (e.g., bachelor's degrees, program administration/leadership competencies, early childhood education competencies) on leaders of color. While participants broadly support higher professional standards, they advocate for greater resources and support.

Together, these studies illuminate ways to foster leadership development, professionalize the field, and enhance the quality of early childhood education and care.

Paper #1
Title	Impact of Race, Culture, and Language on the Leadership Journeys of ECE Leaders of Color
Presenting author	Melissa Casteel, Erikson Institute, United States

Paper #2
Title	Longing for a Seat at the Table
Presenting author	Dr. Alissa Mwenelupembe, NAEYC, United States

Paper #3
Title	Building a Unified and Equitable Professional Framework for Early Childhood Program Leadership
Presenting author	Dr. Xiaoli Wen, Ph.D., National Louis University, United States

View all paper details

Session chair
Dr. Teri Talan, McCormick Institute for Early Childhood, United States

Discussant
Dr. LaWanda O. Wesley, Child Care Resource Center, United States

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