| Abstract
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This phenomenological research study explored the leadership experiences of immigrant women in the United States. A combination of criterion and snowball techniques was used to select 22 immigrant Nigerian women living in Texas. Data was gathered from three sources—one-on-one interviews, focus group interviews, and reviews of organizational diversity policies. Using hermeneutic data analysis, a total of 19 themes and two sub-themes emerged (a) leadership opportunities exist for immigrant women but immigrant women must work harder than non-immigrants to access these opportunities, (b) immigrant women have leadership skills, (c) immigrant women's leadership success depends on strong family support, (d) immigrant women experience a negative reaction to Nigerian accents, (e) immigrant women are sometimes treated differently, (f) networking is critical to immigrant women, (g) there are innumerable opportunities open to immigrant women in the U.S., (h) immigrant women stay in the same company for at least five years, (i) immigrant women are successful leaders, (j) immigrant women are not assisted in finding jobs, (k) family responsibilities are a deterrent for immigrant women, (l) immigrants must be assimilated into the American work culture, (m) the experiences of immigrant women are partially consistent with the espoused values and the elements of the organizational diversity policy elements, (n) diversity policies fair, (o) diversity policies promoted equal opportunities, (p) Jobs were not assigned by differences, (q) Nigerian immigrant women came to the United States to join their spouses, (r) Nigerian immigrant women immigrated to the United States more than a decade ago, and (s) Nigerian immigrant women had at least an associate degree before immigrating to the United States. Implications for leaders are discussed.
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