Persistence, connection, and passion: A qualitative study of the career development of highly achieving African American–Black and White women.

Abstract

This article describes a qualitative study of the career development of 18 prominent, highly achieving African American-Black and White women in the United States across 8 occupational fields. Grounded theory methodology (B. G. Glaser & A. L. Strauss, 1967; A. L. Strauss & J. Corbin, 1990) was used to generate a theory of the career development of participants that was grounded in their experiences, as related in semistructured, in-depth interviews. The theoretical model generated from the data included 5 major components: (a) a core story consisting of participants' work behaviors and attitudes, which is enacted within (b) sociocultural, (c) personal background, and (d) current contextual conditions and leads to particular career (e) actions and consequences. The emergent model and illustrative quotations from participants are presented, and the implications of the study and the theoretical model for both research and practice are discussed.