Glass ceilings and glass walls: historical impasses affecting the professional attainments of Africana Female Naval Officers

摘要

This study examined the history of Africana Female Naval Officers to determine what human or institutional forces have affected their professional attainments. This study was based on the premise that some unique factors, institutional and human, constituted professional systemic obstacles, which made it more difficult for this population to achieve any sustained professional progress. A secondary premise suggested that Africana Female Officers had to employ some type of coping behaviors in order to survive in their workplace, the United States Navy. Content analysis was used to analyze data extracted from historical and current documents, as well as in depth oral interviews. An interview questionnaire, and interview coding and analysis system was developed. The conclusions drawn from the findings indicated that multiple variables constructed the systemic obstacles which have historically affected the professional attainments of Africana Female Officers. The results clearly identified that Glass Ceilings and Glass Walls, which peculiarly impact Africana Female Officers, have been erected and maintained by the Navyu27s hierarchy. The afflicting components that configured the Glass Ceilings and Glass Walls rest fundamentally on entrenched and well preserved columns of racism and sexism.