African American women have made tremendous progress in higher education. However, despite increases in enrollment and graduation, research regarding African American women's experiences in midlevel or senior-level positions in the student affairs field is limited. African American women have not seen the same success as their counterparts and are affected by their experience in higher education, and face greater challenges than their colleagues within predominantly white institutions of higher education (PWIs) because institutional and systemic oppression encourages ideologies that promote white supremacy culture. Although some research has been conducted on African American women in leadership positions, most studies have generally focused on barriers to equal opportunity and a lack of career advancement. As such, African American women remain severely underrepresented in positions of senior-level leadership in PWIs. African American women's inequities in their advancement into leadership roles continue to exist compared to Caucasian peers. Therefore, the problem that was addressed by this study was the experience of African American women in midlevel leadership positions who continue running into barriers and challenges when seeking senior-level positions in PWI of higher. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore lived experiences and perceptions of African American women leaders in midlevel leaders working in Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). The population for this study consists of 10 current and previous African American women leaders in PWIs. Data collection was conducted through open-ended interviews with all participants. It was analyzed by the NVivo software program to gain insight into why African American women can contribute to institution policies, curriculum development, and changes but are not being hired for senior-level leadership positions for which they qualified (Jones et al., 2012). Future research can continue by exploring the role of negative stereotypes depictions, university perceptions, marginalization, and how senior level management uses their title power on African American women administrators' professional growth and identity development. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]