Scholarly Speaking

As both a practitioner and lecturer, I have a deep appreciation for research and writing. I am a researcher, writer, storyteller and creator. I am a communication practitioner and academician, exploring the intersection of gender, stereotypes and leadership roles within the popular culture of sport and entertainment. I have written for both academic journals, popular culture and digital media publications, and have published several book chapters.

Research Statement

Research Interests

Through my research interests that include gender, stereotypes, organizational leadership, sport and popular culture, I am able to show students the connections between empirical research and its relevance to working in the communications industry while contributing to the existing body of scholarly research. Conducting such research while serving as an academic facilitator and practitioner allows me to use this opportunity to contribute thought leadership through innovative practices, ultimately strengthening the communications field and emerging leaders. My primary area of research is centric to women’s issues. I have long been interested in this area, as a result of working in the male dominated industry of sports. I’ve been studying these themes for twenty years. My master’s thesis: An Assessment of Gender Communication Styles in Athletic Administration at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association used the survey method to evaluate beliefs in order to find if a relationship exists between gender communication styles and stereotypes and the lack of gender equity in athletic administration. Through a textual analysis of eight films, my dissertation: Reel Women: Depictions of Females in the Sports Film Genre analyzed the roles of women in sports fiction films, determining if film producers construct female characters that depict stereotypes. Findings from my master’s thesis led me to study the role that media play in creating perspectives, scenarios and amplifying stereotypes about women in sports in the workplace.

Contributing to Industry and the Academy

From my own practical experiences, I have encountered a myriad of challenges in the workplace based on gender and have found through conducting research I have been able to offer practical solutions to solving problems in the sports media and communication industry. Studying trends to include the role that media (both traditional and new) play in developing gender archetypes and stereotypes and how they impact hiring practices and communication in the workplace have allowed me to work with organizations to better streamline their organizational communications and operations. This ultimately contributes to not only filling avoid of the body of scholarly work in this area but also amending practices in the field of communication.

Research Agenda

These two research studies have created a baseline for my work that have included book chapters and lecture and training series on women’s representation in sports. I have successfully contributed to multiple books spearheaded and edited by colleagues across the academy. However, I am now interested in taking some of the work I have produced and expounding upon it to develop articles and target submissions to journals and conference presentations that cover pop culture and sports. A new area of interest is exploring how I can tailor some of these ideas to better contribute to the development of scholars and practitioners from the HBCU community. While I believe my work has been instrumental in streamlining overall practices in gender equityin the business of sports, I believe that Black women are still not benefitting at the same rate as their counterparts. Subsequently, I am also interested in writing a book that features a collection of research based narratives about Black women’s experiences in the sports industry. In the future, my hope is to develop both text books and nonfiction career self-help books as well as organizational communication training manuals that offer best practices for emerging communicators in the areas of sports, public relations and leadership.