‘Let Us Roll Up Our Sleeves’: Amplifying Female Academic Leadership Through Collaboration and Mentorship

The strengths of female leadership are illustrated through the 400 year history of the Catholic Sisters of St. Joseph (CSSJ) and their commitment to their charism which focuses on unity, inclusion and relationship building. Within the colleges they established, the Sisters have demonstrated their commitment to collaboration in their many leadership positions - both formal and informal - within the academy. This article focuses on the leadership of the Sisters as demonstrable examples of female leadership within academia, and makes suggestions for carrying the charism of the CSSJ into the future, expanding their focus on inclusivity to incorporate a broad expanse of female leaders.

From Negotiator to Note-Taker: The Role of Women Leaders and Academic Technology Cultures

For years, there has been a perceived inaccessibility of the field of Information Technology, centering on an organizational culture of “men and their machines” (Clark, 2012). This paper examines the role of women who lead technology initiatives in higher education and presents the experiences of these women leaders and their collision of organizational cultures as part of a comparative case study of two public institutions. Findings suggest elements of culture within the IT field that contribute to the experiences of women leaders in IT, and illuminate that leading a technology project may add a layer of gender expectations and gender roles that are more entrenched in the IT world than in other areas of higher education.

Building Pathways: Nurturing a Female Generation of School Leaders in China

International feminist perspectives recognize the continuing inequalities of power between men and women across all classes (Adler & Israeli, 1988; Alston, 2000; De la Rey, 2005). In China’s male-dominant society, for example, women often have been inhibited from pursuing leadership positions (Wiseman, Obiakor & Bakken, 2009). Further, women’s access to leadership positions is constrained within many social sectors (Cooke, 2005). In school settings, there is no doubt that women have greatly contributed to the changing practice of educational management in China since 1980s ( Zhong & Ehrich, 2010). However, despite recent changes, women are still vastly underrepresented in educational leadership positions due to a variety of reasons, such as their adherence to traditional gender roles (Coleman, Qiang & Li, 1998). One particular reason that has been drawing increasing attention across the world is the lack of appropriate training and guidance in young women’s leadership (Su, Adams & Miniberg, 2000; Cooke, 2003; Barnett, 2004; Chen, 2005). This paper probes in greater depth one of the most important, yet largely overlooked aspects in the educational leadership of China – women’s leadership roles in education and young women’s leadership preparation.