scholarly journals Women Leaders as Containers: Systems Psychodynamic Insights into their Unconscious Roles

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Hélène Mayer ◽  
Rudolf Oosthuizen ◽  
Louise Tonelli ◽  
Sabie Surtee
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Black Women ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
South African ◽  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Projective Identification ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Women Leadership ◽  
Black Women Leaders

The purpose of this article is to explore the self-defined roles of women leaders working in higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa. The aim is to explore women leadership roles in the context of systems psychodynamics to increase the understanding of unconscious dynamics in HEIs from the perspective of women leaders. The article reports on a qualitative study based on the research paradigm of Dilthey's modern hermeneutics. Interviews were conducted with 23 women leaders from the HERS-SA (Higher Education Research Services) network across eight institutions. Observations were made in one organization to support the data analysis and interpretation. Data was analysed through content analysis. Women leaders are containers of anxieties in South African HEIs, while they also act out defense mechanisms, such as splitting, projection, projective identification, introjection, idealization, simplification and rationalization. Splitting seems to be one important defense mechanism in terms of mother/professional, mother/daughter, women/men leaders and White/Black women leaders. Women leaders further seem to have introjected the roles of their mothers and female family members from their past and childhood. They do not seem to embrace the full authority and agency of their leadership positions, and they explore their own difficulties and negative emotions in others through projective identification. The findings create awareness of the roles of women leaders, strengthen women leadership and emphasise the need for leadership training taking the systems psychodynamic perspective into account.

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.

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

2021 ◽  
pp. 358-381
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.

Review of research for two decades for women leadership in higher education around the world and in Vietnam: a comparative analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Greeni Maheshwari ◽  
Rajkishore Nayak ◽  
Tu Ngyyen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Women Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Leadership In Higher Education ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find the studies conducted on women leadership in higher education (WLHE) in the past 20 years to understand as to how the trend has changed over the past two decades around the world and particularly in Vietnam for women leaders in higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach This paper used a systematic review of 93 articles published in the past 20 years in WLHE. The articles were classified based on the country of research and the research methods used. Findings The study concluded that most of the research in WLHE had been done in the USA and Canada, with a dearth of literature on WLHE in Asia, and only six studies so far have been done in Vietnam, with only two studies being done before 2017. Vietnam is gaining importance in research in WLHE may be because of the increased female labour participation rate and growth in the gross domestic product. Practical implications This study provided some recommendations at the societal, institutional and individual levels, which can help in women empowerment and help women take up the leadership roles. Originality/value Although a variety of reviews have been conducted focusing on different areas in higher education, there is a small number of literature review studies in the field of women leaders in higher education, especially in Vietnam and Asia. Hence, the current study will add this missing part to the growing body of literature in WLHE.

Black Women: Perceptions and Enactments of Leadership

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-165
Author(s):  
Tiffany S. Aaron
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Women Principals ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Black Women Leaders ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Black Women Principals ◽  
Perceptions Of Leadership ◽  
Principals Perceptions

This critical in-depth interview study examined four Black women principals’ perceptions, descriptions, and enactments of school leadership as it relates to their intersectional identities as being both Black and women. The tenets of Black feminist epistemology and the theory of intersectionality form the conceptual framework of this study. Research demonstrates that Black women leaders’ multiplicative identity as Black and women influences their experiences and perceptions of leadership. The principals’ perceptions of school leadership developed into several categories and two themes: student-centered leadership and perceptions of racial stereotypes and deconstructing perceptions about Black women.

scholarly journals ‘You have to keep your head on your shoulders’: A systems psychodynamic perspective on women leaders

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude-Helene Mayer ◽  
Louise Tonelli ◽  
Rudolf M. Oosthuizen ◽  
Sabie Surtee
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Women Leadership ◽  
Tongue Position ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Education Resource ◽  
Role Confusion

Background:Women leaders within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in South Africa have increased in numbers over the past years and they have changed the dynamics in these institutions. Yet, it is a subject that has hardly been explored from the perspective of women leaders.Aim:The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of women leaders in HEIs from a systems psychodynamic perspective using the conflict, identity, boundaries, authority, roles, task (CIBART) model, a well-researched model to analyse systems psychodynamics and to gain a deeper understanding of (un)conscious dynamics within organisations.Methods:This qualitative study is based on Dilthey‘s modern hermeneutics. Interviews were conducted with 23 women leaders from the Higher Education Resource Services South Africa, network across 8 HEIs. Observations were conducted in one organisation to support the data analysis and interpretation. Data were analysed through content analysis.Findings:Findings show that women leaders re-evaluate and reconstruct themselves constantly within organisations. This continuous re-evaluation and reconstruction become visible through the constructs of the CIBART model. The findings reveal deeper insights into systems psychodynamics, which considers anxiety within the system where women leaders seem to contain such anxiety by mobilising specific defence mechanisms. Certain diversity markers, such as race, gender, mother tongue, position within the organisation and generational belonging play a role in creating the dynamics. Women leaders’ experience of de-authorisation and role confusion impacts significantly on women leadership and their action towards ownership.Practical implications: The study provides new, valuable and context-specific insights into women leadership seen through the lens of the CIBART model, highlighting unconscious dynamics that need practical attention in the HEIs to empower women leaders for gender-specific leadership training.Originality or value: Findings provide a foundation for future research on women leaders and applied solutions to empower women leaders, whilst reducing anxiety within the system. The study provides complex insights, which should create increasing awareness in women leaders towards being containers of anxiety and creating new ways of empowered women leadership.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document