March 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 61

Member Spotlight: Sonya Shaw
By Vitisia Paynich

onya Shaw is a trailblazer, but she didn't know it. At least not while she was
working on her college dissertation. Shaw, director of Garner Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources in North Carolina, has worked her way up the
ladder to a leadership position, but has no intention of shirking her commitment to higher learning. In fact, it's that continual thirst for knowledge that prompted
her to pursue a doctorate degree and to study the pathways for female park and recreation leaders - particularly among African-American women.

Parks & Recreation magazine recently
spoke to Shaw about what it means to be
a catalyst in her profession, what her research reveals about the barriers female
African-American leaders face in the
workplace and what she calls the " Triple 'I' Threat " for achieving a leadership
role in parks and rec. A portion of that
conversation follows:
Parks & Recreation: Did it surprise
you to learn you are the first AfricanAmerican female to earn a doctorate
degree from the Parks, Recreation
and Tourism Management Program at
North Carolina State University? What
did that mean to you?
Sonya Shaw: I talked with a few colleagues, and I said, 'I know we've
had some African-American males
who had come through the program,
but I want to know if there have been
any African-American women.' We
couldn't identify anyone, and then one
of my colleagues said, 'I think you're
the first.' I was certainly shocked and
amazed to discover that in 2017, I was
the first.
P&R: Tell us about the focus of your
dissertation.
Shaw: My dissertation was a qualitative
study, focusing on the career expanses
of African-American women leaders in
parks and recreation. I was particularly
interested in studying African-American

women leaders because, to date, there
are not a lot of African-American women leaders across the country in the profession. In fact, there are currently only
18 African-American women who hold
the title of director. I wanted to learn
why there are so few African-American
women directors. For me, it was an opportunity to examine the career pathway
for women in parks and recreation and
really look at those barriers that keep
women from progressing or from considering leadership positions.
P&R: What were the challenges that
you identified from your research?
Shaw: All the women in my study hold
executive-level positions such as director,
deputy or assistant director. So, many
have already worked through those barriers at some point during their career, and
some continue working through those
barriers, serving in leadership positions
today. The study identified common
themes that exist between these women
and their experiences. Race and gender,
for example, still rear their ugly heads by
creating barriers for women in the workplace. Some of the women in the study
talked about having to be seen and not
necessarily heard at meetings. These
women cited a lack of respect among
male colleagues that exists because they
are serving in a traditionally male-dominant profession.
They also discussed having to always

prove themselves seemingly above and
beyond others. Then, there were women who talked about being denied a promotion because they felt that race and
gender created issues for them. Negative
perceptions of African-American women in the workplace were also covered in
the study. For example, the 'angry' black
woman and the perception that because
someone is passionate about what she
does and is very direct in speaking, she
is considered an angry person. A lot of
the women talked about having to be
conscious of their verbal and non-verbal communication styles and how it
plays out in meetings. Some also talked
about natural hair versus straight hair
in the workplace. In workplaces, some
people perceive natural hair as not being
professional. Other African-American
women said they were judged by their
style of clothing. So, between hair and
clothing, challenges exist for AfricanAmerican women due to those negative
perceptions.
Read the interview in its entirety online
at www.parksandrecreation.org/2018/
March/member-spotlight-sonya-shaw.

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