African American female college presidents represent a unique population within the leadership of higher education; however, their leadership, management styles and their contributions to higher education are understudied. A study of this population is particularly important for several reasons. First, it provides a framework for understanding the leadership potential and management style of African Americans in higher education. Second, it contributes to the limited knowledge base of African American women leaders in higher education from the early 19th and 20th centuries. Third, this research provides insight into an understudied aspect of Mary McLeod Bethune's life: her presidency of Bethune Cookman University.
This study is a historical analysis of Mary McLeod Bethune's leadership as a college president. It tests Jones' (1991) finding that African American female presidents exhibit the characteristics of transformational leadership. Jones' findings related to African American women presidents in early twentieth century society. The study explored Bethune's leadership in three major areas of her presidency: academic/curriculum, financial, and personnel management. The researcher sought to determine whether Bethune's leadership style reflected transformational or transactional leadership as defined by James MacGregor Burns, Bernard Bass, and Bruce Avolio. Avolio and Yammarino's four “I's,” and three factors of transactional leadership were used as the primary analytical framework for the interpretations of transformational or transactional leadership.