Sawubona (I See You): Black Women Principals in Urban Schools, Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS), and Well-being

Abstract

Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is an understudied topic in the education field (Luciw, 2024; Ormiston et al., 2022; Simon et al., 2022; Walker, 2019). This qualitative, grounded theory, methodological study hypothesized that STS negatively influences the professional and personal well-being of Black women principals in urban schools. Four research questions sought to understand: 1) STS experiences, 2) coping, 3) intersectionality, and 4) retention, attrition, and district-level support. The intersectionality framework undergirds this study to offer insight into the dual historical experiences of being Black and a woman and how the roots of gendered racism make Black women more vulnerable to the symptoms of STS than other groups. In three phases, data was collected from twelve Black women, current and former principals, in urban schools in the United States through the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) survey, semi-structured interviews, and a post-reflection activity. Ten themes emerged in the study, and four core findings surfaced: 1) The experiences of Black women principals in urban schools in this study have more in common negative experiences with STS than different. 2) Left unsupported, STS may result in a health crisis for Black women principals in urban schools. 3) Urban school districts have a social justice responsibility to create a healthy workplace with culturally responsive supports; self-care alone is insufficient to address STS. 4) This study suggests that STS negatively influences the retention and attrition of Black women principals in urban schools and that short reassignments to other responsibilities could offer some promise. The researcher introduced the R.E.A.C.T. conceptual framework to address STS in urban schools. Given the documented positive impact of Black women principals on the academic success of Black students (Jang & Alexander, 2022) and the rapidly declining rate of the current 7% of Black women principals in the nation (Lomotey, 2019), absent attention to STS will result in long-lasting physical and mental effects for Black women principals’ well-being, a negative impact on student achievement, and a decline in schools and communities overall. Keywords: Black women principals, burnout, compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, gendered racism, intersectionality, leadership, mental health, attrition, retention, ProQOL, secondary traumatic stress (STS), trauma-informed, urban schools, well-being