Perspectives from African American Male Rural School Leaders Regarding Targeted Recruitment Strategies for Future African American Male Rural School Leaders

African American male educators are becoming extinct in our current United States School system. Representing less than 2% of the teaching force, our recruitment efforts will need adjustments to increase this population of educators in schools (Bristol & Mentor, 2018; Goings & Bianco, 2016; Wallace & Gagen, 2019). To address this concern, our study explores the perspective of African American male rural school leaders on the need to recruit more African American males into educational professions. Through three semi-structured interviews, 60-90 minutes, we identified the lack of opportunities and targeted recruitment strategies for this population into the field of education. Our findings underscore the importance of expanding opportunities and implementing creative recruitment strategies that can help bring more African American male educators into the profession. Additionally, we recommend that principal preparation programs be examined to ensure they are effectively preparing African American males for leadership roles in education