Women and Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities

1
Women and Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities
Dissertation Proposal
School of Education
in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

2
by
Donna M. Segree-Lawson
San Diego, California
May 2018

3
Chapter 1: Introduction
Studies have shown that women are prevented from securing influential positions in the
formal leadership system (Rhode, 2003). This is a fact that needs the attention of all that women
are equally skilled like men. It is for this reason that they can work in good leadership positions.
equal importance considering that women have the temperament to succeed in leadership
positions. Women are subjected to biases and obstacles to making their mark in leadership
positions. Historical documents are evidence of the fact that women are not incapable of working
in leadership positions. One very luminous example of such a woman is Harriet Tubman who
was an abolitionist and is revered as a legend in American history for her fearless personality.
Despite such illustrations, it is found that the concentration of women in the leadership is limited
compared to their male counterparts.
Male exclusionary tendencies, male practices, and the leadership model, male versus
female leadership, inhibit the mobility of women in the influential positions in the
organizational, institutional and the political seats(Dunn, Gerlach & Hyle, 2014). Some of the
harsh male practices are taking the undue advantage of the female sex, abusing them physically
and mentally. They think that women are weaker so they often dominate the females. They also
support the idea of getting higher pay than their female co-workers for the same kind of work.
According to Dunn, Gerlach, & Hyle, (2014), there is a limited number of women who
serve in the high-ranking managerial roles.Even if there are women applicants who are interested
in applying for higher managerial or leadership positions, they are not accepted by the
recruitment processes.It is seen that even in the educational sectors like the schools and colleges,

4
research centers and many other prestigious institutions, the number of women workers are
limited. A woman in a leadership position needs to prove her credibility in terms of her
leadership skills, understanding, and dispositions that would enable her to attain a leadership
position and contribute to the existing gap in gendered leadership(Katuna, 2014). There is
another aspect to this phenomenon. Women are judged and scrutinized for their feminine
features that are deemed incompatible with the administrative male standard of aggression,
confidence, competence, and arduousness(Riger, Ahrens & Blickenstaff, 2015). This leads to the
woman being perceived as subordinate and inferior to men, and women who perform the
administrative roles are deemed as "too manly" and thereby flouting their gendered norms and
rules (Fitzgerald, 2014).
The persistent underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, evident through the
consistent male representation, is, therefore, a social problem that needs to change (Fitzgerald,
201). Women are judged for their purportedly feminine features that do not match the male
standard of competitiveness and confidence (Cahn, 2015). The society also largely contributes to
the gender leadership gap due to the gender roles and responsibilities that are given or
areassociated with women. The objective of this phenomenological study is to explore and
ascertain the lived experience of women who are in a higher educational leadership position. The
focus will be emphasized on their perceptions about the dearth of women in key leadership and
influential positions.
Leadership is about working with people simply because you cannot lead alone. Women
leaders usually perceive leadership as a mutual process and are more likely to focus on
partnering, collaboration, and networks as significant scopes of leadership (Longman & Madsen,
2014). Much research about women leaders shows how they are likely to lead groups by using a