Women and Educational Leadership

The authors present a new way of looking at leadership that is grounded in research on women leaders. They flesh out what this kind of leadership looks like in practice and offer suggestions and ideas for how such leadership can be developed. Introduction:  A New Leadership Model  Chapter 1:  Women in Educational Leadership This chapter provides information on current numbers and roles of women in educational leadership in the US.  It also discusses the obstacles and opportunities women face today.  Chapter 2:  Womens Ways of Leading This chapter looks at how the qualities that frequently characterize womens approaches to leadership differ from traditional approacheswhether the traditional leader is a woman or a man. Women leaders tend to be more collaborative in nature and more committed to social justice.  In addition, they bring an instructional focus to leadership, include spiritual dimensions in their work, and strive for balance between the personal and professional. Chapter 3:  From Hero to Collaborator This chapter argues that we need to shift from the heroic notion of leadership embodied in the individual to the collective account of leadership that focuses on leadership for specific purposes like social justice. It looks at the experiences of leaders here and elsewhere who have brought diverse groups to work toward common ground.  It also shows how leadership is a way to facilitate and support the work of organizational members.  Chapter 4: Creating a New Tradition of Leadership This chapter fleshes out what this kind of leaderships looks like, how it can be enacted, and offers suggestions and ideas for how it can be developed.  Conclusion:  The Next Generation of Women Leaders