Applied Doctoral Project by Jack Darnell Givens
Research before conclusions.
Developing a Strategic Advisory Framework to Advance Black Senior Leadership in the Technology Industry: The BeVISIBLE™ Alliance Model.
Research journey
The current stage is proposal development and refinement.
Recruitment, data collection, analysis, findings, final framework refinement, committee review, and defense remain future stages and will follow required approvals.
Selected stage
Study design
Planned qualitative inquiry.
After committee and Institutional Review Board approval, the study plans interviews with Black leaders who currently hold, or held within the previous five years, Director-level or higher technology leadership roles in the United States. Eligible participants may work in technology companies or lead technology functions in other industries. Interview accounts will be examined using reflexive thematic analysis.
The literature synthesis examines leadership advancement, sponsorship, visibility, opportunity allocation, developmental feedback, organizational systems, retention, psychological safety, networks, and related constructs relevant to senior leadership mobility.
The planned analysis will first develop themes from interview accounts without assigning them to the proposed BeVISIBLE™ dimensions. The themes will then be compared with the proposed model to identify overlap, gaps, and needed revisions.
Waterfall and a work breakdown structure organize the applied project around required approval and consent gates. Permitted tasks may overlap after authorization. The project plan manages the work; it does not predetermine interview themes or the final model.
This public site distinguishes the research problem, developing framework, scholarly literature, methodology, and work underway. It does not present future interview data or unpublished findings.
No participant findings, empirical validation, causal claims, final conclusions, or demonstrated framework effectiveness are asserted at the proposal stage. This qualitative design will not test whether use of the framework changes promotion or retention outcomes.
Research discipline
The framework must remain open to change.
Evidence may support, reshape, combine, or remove proposed dimensions. That uncertainty is part of the research design, not a defect.