Pathways of Black Male Full Professors in Counseling Education.

Although research has been conducted on minoritized faculty members’experiences in counselor education, there is a paucity of research addressing theexperiences of Black male faculty in pursuit of the full professorship. Given theminuscule number of Black male counselor educators who are full professors, thecurrent study explored the lived experiences of Black male educators who achievedthe rank of full professor. We conducted focus groups with eight participants usinga narrative design. Participants responded to eight open-ended questions centeredon advancement to full professor. Using the Saldana thematic analysis method, fivesalient themes emerged from participants: a) mentorship, b) isolation, c)understanding the system, d) getting organized, and e) imposter syndrome. Theresults of this study validated the experiences of Black male counselor educatorsand illuminated effective strategies for navigating the unfamiliar path to becominga full professor.