aProfessional Black Women and Men: An Exploratory Study of Their Personal and Career Development

To explicate the conditions under which black men and women have achieved success, using blacks as a legitimate population rather than as deviants from a majority group, factors related to academic and professional achievement by black men and women were explored. Sixty-four black professionals with doctoral degrees, including college professors, dentists, lawyers, psychologists, physicians, secondary school teachers, and scientists, were asked about personal, family background, career development, and personality factors. Results indicated that parental education was an important or in the black professionals ' family background. Black women came from middle class, well-educated families more often than did black men. They were also more likely to be unmarried, to be childless, and to express no religious affiliation. Family members were most often the influential persons who assisted in the blac