Norwegian and French Women in high Leadership Positions

1993 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Apfelbaum
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Gender Consciousness ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Different Cultures

This analysis of 50 French and Norwegian women in high positions of leadership stresses how gendered relations structuring private and professional lives will vary in different cultures according to their socio-historical contexts. The specific contexts of two Western European democracies, France and Norway, reveal a number of differences impacting on the careers and the construction of the personal and social identities of women leaders. Interviews were held with French women who (a) assumed pioneering leadership positions in the 1970s ( n = 10) and (b) who followed in the 1980s ( n = 20) and with Norwegian women leaders ( n = 20). Sixty percent of the total sample had held posts as cabinet or subcabinet ministers. Illustrations from their narratives, collected through semistructured interviews about their personal and professional itineraries, are used to discuss a number of questions from a comparative cultural perspective: the sense of double marginality, extraneity, lack of entitlement and vulnerability; role-model legitimation; feminism and the women's movement; political parity/mixity; gender consciousness and solidarity; and family and female—male interactions.

scholarly journals The Lived Experiences of Female Leaders in Two University Settings: Perceived Supports, Barriers, and Challenges

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Ashley Eugenia Jakubiec
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Development ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Phenomenological Research Design ◽  
University Leaders ◽  
Over Time

The dearth of women in higher education both as full professors and senior administrators is alarming, and the factors impeding their entrance and limiting their advancement are relatively unknown. The purpose of this research was to document the lived experiences of women leaders who were full professors or who held senior leadership positions in two universities in Atlantic Canada. I researched the perceived supports, challenges, and barriers that women leaders faced in their professional lives, as well as the influence of gender in their leadership positions. I approached the research from a social constructivism standpoint and utilized a phenomenological research design. I used standpoint theory to analyze the data. Data sources included two interviews with each participant and a seven-day leadership journal from each participant. Women noted multiple supports, challenges, and barriers in their personal and professional lives. Supports include husbands, mentors, workshops, and networking. Challenges and barriers included children, colleagues, work/life conflicts, invisibility, and a lack of leadership development programs. Findings indicated that gender equality has not been achieved in the postsecondary setting, and gendered expectations, sexism, and discrimination remain strong barriers for women. Applying standpoint theory, the social location of the participants impacted their lives, opinions, and views of leadership in postsecondary institutions. Their lived realities and experiences changed over time as the academic and institutional culture changed over time, and, as such, their views about women and leadership were altered. Implications of this work are that university leaders need to create supports for women and make them easily accessible, and create a women-friendly environment that will increase the ease with which women can enter, advance, and succeed in the institution.

Mentoring, Sponsorship, and Gender

2020 ◽  
pp. 198-207
Author(s):  
Karen P. Burke ◽  
Lori E. Ciccomascolo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Women In Leadership ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
College And University ◽  
Education Careers ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Gender

The lack of women in leadership roles is a systemic problem in the United States and is not unique to the field of education; however, it is important to continue to challenge the status quo and provide a path for women to achieve equality and equity in the workplace. The following chapter will identify and discuss the importance of mentoring and sponsorship so that women pursuing education careers, novice women teachers, and women college, and university faculty and staff can actively and better position themselves to move into leadership positions and/or ensure a “seat at the table” in situations where decisions are made that affect their personal and professional lives.

Successful Women Leaders

2021 ◽  
pp. 620-639
Author(s):  
Freda R. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Transformational Learning ◽  
Work Teams ◽  
Institutional Culture ◽  
Peer Networks ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Personal Mastery ◽  
Successful Women ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Institutional Challenges

This chapter examines research from the lens of women who are in mid-level and senior-level positions in their organizations. Using Mezirow's framework for transformational learning, these inspiring women leaders shared perceptions of organizational practices, work-family interface, institutional culture, issues of equity and diversity, institutional challenges, and personal mastery; they also defined their actions that contributed to their successes as well as the successes of the organizations they identified with. Additionally, within this chapter, the author compares and contrasts the barriers that limit women's ability to aspire to top leadership positions and examine the roles of their primary and secondary supports (i.e., sponsors, family, mentors, work teams, and peer networks).

Mentoring and Supervision for Women of Color Leaders in North American Higher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-45
Author(s):  
Elena Sandoval-Lucero ◽  
Tamara D. White ◽  
Judi Diaz Bonacquisti
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Supervisor Training ◽  
Cultural Wealth ◽  
Black Women Leaders ◽  
Mutual Empowerment

Reflecting on their mentoring and supervision experiences as Latina and Black women leaders in higher education, this article proposes that Women of Color employees are more effective when supervisors give them space to draw upon their own rich histories and cultural wealth in their professional lives. Viewed through the lens of Relational Cultural Theory, which grew out of the work of Jean Baker Miller and colleagues providing culturally relevant, affirmative supervision is a growth-fostering experience for both employee and supervisor. The tenants of RCT include authenticity, growth-fostering relationships, mutual empathy, and mutual empowerment as aspects of supervision that are particularly effective for employees with multiple intersected identities working in higher education spaces. The authors make recommendations for supervisor training that would allow supervisors to draw upon the cultural capital of their diverse employees to provide healing from oppression and build resilience through validation of cultural assets and approaches to leadership.

scholarly journals Gender Segregation and Trajectories of Organizational Change: The Underrepresentation of Women in Sports Leadership

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine Pape
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
Sports Organizations ◽  
Underrepresentation Of Women ◽  
Integrated Leadership ◽  
Gender Similarity

This article offers an account of organizational change to explain why women leaders are underrepresented compared to women athletes in many sports organizations. I distinguish between accommodation and transformation as forms of change: the former includes women without challenging binary constructions of gender, the latter transforms an organization’s gendered logic. Through a case study of the International Olympic Committee from 1967-1995, I trace how the organization came to define gender equity primarily in terms of accommodating women’s segregated athletic participation. Key to this was the construction of women’s bodies as athletically able but inferior to men, an arrangement formalized in codified rules and procedures and legitimized by external stakeholders. Defined in these terms, gender equity did little to transform the organization’s binary and hierarchically gendered logic, which continued to shape the informal norms and procedures associated with the organization’s allegedly gender-neutral and meritocratic yet male-dominated leadership. I argue that the exclusion of women from ostensibly gender-integrated leadership positions allows organizations to avoid revealing gender similarity between men and women. This maintains a logic underpinned by notions of binary gender difference and masculine superiority.

Technology visibility and consumer adoption of virtual fitting rooms (VFRs): a cross-cultural comparison of Chinese and Korean consumers

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-194
Author(s):  
Hanna Lee ◽  
Yingjiao Xu ◽  
Ailin Li
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Comparison ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Intention To Adopt ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Different Cultures

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to determine the influence of technology visibility and subsequent perceptions of VFRs on consumers' intention to adopt VFRs in the online shopping context. A cross-cultural comparison was conducted to examine the different relationships among technology visibility, consumer perceptions and adoption intentions between the Chinese and Korean consumers.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 306 Chinese and 324 Korean consumers. The data were empirically analysed using structural equation modelling as well as multi-group comparisons.FindingsEmpirical results suggest significant influence of technology visibility on consumers' experiential and functional perceptions towards VFRs and accordingly on their adoption intention towards VFRs. Significant differences were also revealed between the Chinese and Korean consumers in their adoption behaviours towards VFRs.Research limitations/implicationsThe comparison was only conducted between the Chinese and Korean consumers. If two countries from two dramatically different cultures were compared, the results might be more significant.Practical implicationsAn important implication is that enhancement of visibility is crucial for technology adoption considering its importance in shaping consumers' perceptions towards the technology.Originality/valueThe paper empirically tested the importance of technology visibility in consumers' new technology adoption in the VFR context from a cross-cultural perspective.

Traditional Chinese Views on Education as Perceived by International Students in China: International Student Attitudes and Understandings

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junju Wang ◽  
Jia Lin
Keyword(s):  
International Students ◽  
Student Attitudes ◽  
International Student ◽  
Heritage Culture ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Chinese Learning ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Target Culture

For decades, the Confucian heritage culture (CHC) learner phenomenon has aroused the interest of researchers in different areas. However, few studies have focused on the attitudes of international students who study in the Chinese context. This article, therefore, explores how international students perceive traditional Chinese views on education, which are mostly embedded in Confucianism. Using questionnaires and semistructured interviews, the study investigated student attitudes and their recognition of specific educational viewpoints and factors, which act to produce such perceptions. Results show that international students studying in China had positive responses to most traditional Chinese views on education and that the traditional concepts of learning were respected and understood. However, it was the role of teachers within CHC that was the least favorably received. In addition, student attitudes and understandings were in response to individual, contextual, and cultural factors, and positively correlated with their home country, major, and level of education. This article concludes that positive attitudes and perceptions of traditional Chinese views on education by international students occur when the core values of educational philosophies from different cultures are shared also by CHC and that there is a strong influence from the source culture on views of the target culture. By implication, a good knowledge of Chinese learning culture and mutual communication are significant factors for both teachers and students.

The lives and identities of UK Black and South Asian head teachers

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 842-862 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri Johnson
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Head Teachers ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
History Approach ◽  
Changing Attitudes ◽  
Minority Ethnic

This article reports on the preliminary findings from a national UK study of the life histories of 28 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) educators who led schools across a 47-year period (1968–2015). BAME head teachers were grouped by generations (i.e. pioneer, experienced, and novice) and questioned about the critical life experiences that influenced their path to leadership, the intersection of their professional and social identities, and their metaphors for leadership. Participants claimed leadership metaphors which included the head teacher as parent, ambassador, moral steward, role model, and community advocate. Pioneer Black and South Asian headteachers narrated more collectivist identities as community leaders and race equality activists, while current BAME headteachers appear more individually focused on raising attainment for students who have been marginalized. A life history approach across generations emphasizes the influence of changing attitudes toward race and the shifting policy context on professional identities.

Our transformational leader might be replaced, we are extremely stressed out!

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 625-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorine Maurice Mattar
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Transformational Leader ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Presentation ◽  
Research Propositions ◽  
Different Cultures

Purpose This study aims to tackle employees’ stress and emotions in periods of changes in leadership positions, especially if the leader to be replaced is previously found to be transformational. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data are collected from WhatsApp conversations between different subordinates, hours around the declaration of the appointment decision. Data presentation includes messages exchanged, as well as photos, emojis and voice notes. Findings The participants’ messages reflected their stress. They are drained, desperate and praying God so their transformational leader is reappointed. Fear and sadness are the two types of emotion experienced by employees during the anticipation and confirmation stages of the change process, respectively. The emotional contagion among subordinates is revealed in the way the messages and the replies are very close in content. Research limitations/implications The low number of participants makes the results obtained specific to the case itself. However, this study triggers future research addressing same research propositions under different leadership styles and in different cultures. Originality/value The value of this research lies in the topic addressed, as no literature is found discussing employees stress in periods of change in a transformational leadership position, specifically. Moreover, its originality lies in the method of data collection which depicts the participants’ live and real feelings and emotions on that moment.

A case study of the experiences of women leaders in senior leadership positions in the education district offices

2020 ◽  
pp. 174114322094032
Author(s):  
Kishan N Bodalina ◽  
Raj Mestry
Keyword(s):  
Women Leaders ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Senior Leadership ◽  
Leadership Positions ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Feminist Theories ◽  
Experiences Of Women ◽  
District Offices

This research was inspired by two critical factors relating to women leaders in senior positions in education district offices. Firstly, women leaders are continually plagued with stereotyping, and secondly, women are repeatedly undermined by male colleagues. Although the South African Constitution and other related legislation prohibits any form of gender discrimination, inequalities and injustices against women still prevail. Women are subjected to a false notion that they lack the resilience and experience desired when faced with hard-hitting or threatening situations. The primary focus of this study was to explore the experiences of women leaders in senior positions in the Gauteng East Education District office. To underpin this study, intersectionality and feminist theories were selected. Using a qualitative case study, one of the main findings of this study revealed that women in senior leadership positions in education districts persistently struggled to balance their work and family life amidst rooted patriarchal systems and cultural traditions. These women primarily lacked the aspiration to apply for senior leadership positions, but through formal mentorship, dedication and resilience took up senior leadership positions in education district offices.

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