On March 30, Lehigh\u2019s Library and Technology Services hosted Crystal Chambers, a professor of educational leadership at East Carolina University, for a discussion titled \u201cClimbing Ladders: The Meritocracy Myth in Academia.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chambers\u2019 work focuses on race, gender and intersectionality. During the talk, she shared insights from her latest book, \u201cBlack Women\u2019s Pathways to Executive Academic Leadership: Lessons from Lived Experiences<\/a>,\u201d which documents the journeys of Black women in higher education.<\/p>\n She discussed the persistent barriers Black women face in advancing their careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chambers said despite strong leadership ambitions, Black women are less likely to be promoted, supported by managers or given access to senior leadership. She also said racial and gender bias continue to limit opportunities and reduce representation at higher levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf we truly believe in merit, then when a woman is clearly qualified, give her the chance,\u201d Chambers said. \u201cDon\u2019t let bias or informal dynamics block her.\u201d<\/p>\n During the talk, Chambers said real progress will require more than \u201csurface-level allyship,\u201d calling for structural change to create equitable pathways for Black women in leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chambers also discussed the \u201cglass ceiling,\u201d a sociological phenomenon in which invisible barriers prevent minority populations from advancing. She said these obstacles are often reinforced by persistent stereotypes about Black women that shape how their leadership and abilities are perceived.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even when demonstrating strong leadership qualities, Chambers said Black women are often judged differently than their peers.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI speak with confidence and intensity,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s my natural way of communicating. Yet that style is often misread as intimidating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n She said these interpretations lead to fewer promotions, less advocacy from managers and a continued lack of representation in higher-level positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vera Fennell, a political science professor at Lehigh, shared her own career journey and the challenges she\u2019s faced as an African American woman.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs a professor, I\u2019ve experienced some of the things (Chambers) talked about \u2014 at different points in the trajectory: as an undergraduate, a graduate student, a postdoc, and now as the faculty,\u201d Fennell said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty common. It\u2019s a real thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Fennell said she was particularly struck by one of the more unexpected ideas raised during the discussion: the importance of including dissenting voices in conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion, noting she\u2019d never considered the value of having anti-DEI perspectives involved in shaping those ideas and found the concept surprising.<\/p>\n Chambers also discussed the gap between perceived and actual allyship in the workplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to a survey conducted by Lean In,<\/a> more than 80% of white employees<\/a> identify themselves as allies to people of color. However, according to the same survey, fewer than half of African American women report having strong allies at work.<\/p>\n In a slideshow, Chambers said this disconnect highlights a critical issue: support is often claimed but not consistently experienced. Without active advocacy, mentorship and inclusion in the leadership network, allyship remains largely symbolic rather than impactful.<\/p>\n For some students in attendance, Chambers\u2019 discussion resonated across racial and cultural lines, particularly for young women navigating male-dominated spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n Emily Lin, \u201829, a business analytics major who attended the lecture, said she related to some of the experiences Chambers described, despite not being a Black woman. She said although the experiences of all women of color aren\u2019t identical, many of the struggles Chambers describes felt familiar.<\/p>\n As an Asian woman, Lin said bias can appear in different ways. She said although Asian women are often seen as hardworking and capable, they\u2019re also viewed as \u201cnot necessarily leaders,\u201d which can make advancement more difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of women of color share similar struggles in male-dominated fields like feeling underrepresented, judged differently as leaders or not having the same access to mentorship,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n While other women of color may face more direct bias that questions their abilities, Lin said these experiences point to a broader issue \u2014 the challenges women of color continue to face in accessing leadership roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chambers ultimately called for a reimagining of traditional leadership structures, emphasizing that progress will require intentional change. By addressing bias, increasing access to leadership and prioritizing meaningful allyship, she said institutions can begin to create pathways where women of color aren\u2019t only included but also able to lead on their own terms.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s more than one way to lead,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve built my own model \u2014 finding alternative paths to influence and outcomes, even when the door to formal titles isn\u2019t open.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On March 30, Lehigh\u2019s Library and Technology Services hosted Crystal Chambers, a professor of educational leadership at East…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3946,119,121,120,1756,1197,523,1198],"class_list":{"0":"post-158726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-4-min-read","9":"tag-allentown","10":"tag-allentown-headlines","11":"tag-allentown-news","12":"tag-events","13":"tag-feature","14":"tag-people","15":"tag-student-and-campus-life"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}