Women Leaders in Higher Education: Organizational Cultures and Personal Resilience

Authors

  • Vivienne Griffiths Canterbury Christ Church University

https://doi.org/10.4471/generos.2012.04

Keywords:


Downloads

Abstract

In this article, findings are presented from a study of women leaders in higher education, carried out in two universities in England, focusing particularly on the perspectives of women in a range of leadership roles in a new university. 18 women leaders were interviewed about their experiences of leadership, including day to day and strategic work, relationships with colleagues and forms of support. The analysis draws on a feminist theoretical framework in a changing global context for women in higher education. As in Airini et al. (2011), findings show a close interaction between personal, professional and organizational factors. The new university provided a positive context in terms of numbers of women in senior positions, as well as leadership training, mentoring and female role models, in contrast to the old university where women leaders were still in the minority. The women leaders demonstrated highly skilful, principled leadership styles and a blend of inclusive, collegial approaches with direction and vision. It is argued that a balance was maintained at the new university between new managerialism and a caring ethos, which provided a supportive context for women leaders.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Vivienne Griffiths, Canterbury Christ Church University

Professor of Education

Director of Research, Faculty of Education

References

Author’s references removed for reviewing purposes.

Google Scholar Crossref

Acker, S. & Armenti, C. (2004). Sleepless in academia. Gender and Education, 16 (1), 3-24.

Google Scholar Crossref

Airini, S.C., Conner, L., McPherson, K., Midson, B. & Wilson, C. (2011). Learning to be leaders in higher education: what helps or hinders women's advancement as leaders in universities. Educational Management, Administration and Leadership, 39 (1), 44-62.

Google Scholar Crossref

Bakhtin M. (1994). Double-voiced discourse in Dostoevsky. In P. Morris (Ed.), The Bakhtin reader: Selected writings (pp. 102–111). London: Edward Arnold.

Google Scholar Crossref

Baxter, J. (2011). Survival or success? A critical exploration of the use of double-voiced discourse by women business leaders in the UK. Discourse and Communication, 5 (3), 231-245.

Google Scholar Crossref

Becher, T. & Trowler, P.R. (2001). Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual enquiry and the culture of disciplines. 2nd edition. Buckingham, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Blackmore, J. & Sachs, J. (2001). Women leaders in the restructured university. In A. Brooks & A. Mackinnon (Eds.), Gender and the restructured university (pp. 45-66). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Caplan, P. (1993). Lifting a ton of feathers: A woman's guide to surviving in the academic world. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Cotterill, P., Jackson, S. & Letherby, G. (Eds.) (2007). Challenges and negotiations for women in higher education. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.

Google Scholar Crossref

David, M. & Woodward D. (Eds.) (1998). Negotiating the glass ceiling: Careers of senior women in the academic world. London: Falmer Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Davies, S., Lubelska, D. & Quinn, J. (Eds.) (1994). Changing the subject: Women in higher education. London: Taylor & Francis.

Google Scholar Crossref

Deem, R. (2003). Gender, organizational cultures and the practices of manager-academics in UK universities. Gender, Work and Organization, 10 (2), 239-259.

Google Scholar Crossref

Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.) (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research, 3rd edition. London: Sage.

Google Scholar Crossref

Equality Challenge Unit (2009). The experience of black and minority ethnic staff working in higher education. London: Equality Challenge Unit.

Google Scholar Crossref

Equality Challenge Unit (2010). Equality in higher education: Statistical report 2010. London: Equality Challenge Unit.

Google Scholar Crossref

Fisher, G. (2007). ‘You need tits to get on round here’: Gender and sexuality in the entrepreneurial university of the 21st century. Ethnography 8 (4), 503-517.

Google Scholar Crossref

Gerdes, E.P. (2010). We did it our way: motivations, satisfactions and accomplishments of senior women academics. Advancing Women in Leadership, 30 (1), 1-21.

Google Scholar Crossref

Higher Education Statistics Agency (2010). Staff at higher education institutions in the UK 2009-10. Statistical first release 154. London: HESA.

Google Scholar Crossref

Ion, G. & Folch, M.T. (2009). Leadership, gender and organizational culture at Catalonian universities: case studies. The International Journal of Learning, 16 (9), 331-342.

Google Scholar Crossref

Maguire, M. (2008). Retiring Women: reflections about continuities and discontinuities in women’s academic working lives. Paper presented at the British Educational Research Association annual conference, University of Warwick, 1-4 September.

Google Scholar Crossref

McNamara, O., Howson, J., Gunter, H. & Fryers, A. (2010). The leadership aspirations and careers of black and minority ethnic teachers. London: NASUWT and National College for Leadership.

Google Scholar Crossref

Moosa, Z. (2009). Lifts and ladders: Resolving ethnic minority women’s exclusion from power. London: Fawcett Society.

Google Scholar Crossref

Morley, L. (1999). Organizing feminisms: The micropolitics of the academy. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Google Scholar Crossref

Morley, L. (2003). Quality and power in higher education. Maidenhead, UK: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Morley, L. (2005). Opportunity or exploitation? Women and quality assurance in higher education. Gender and Education, 17 (4), 411-429.

Google Scholar Crossref

Morley, L. & Walsh, V. (Eds) (1995). Feminist academics: Creative agents for change. London: Taylor & Francis.

Google Scholar Crossref

Newman, D.M. (2008). Sociology: Exploring the architecture of everyday life. London: Sage.

Google Scholar Crossref

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2007). Education at a glance 2007: OECD indicators. OECD.

Google Scholar Crossref

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2010). Education at a glance 2010: OECD indicators. OECD.

Google Scholar Crossref

Raddon, A. (2002). Mothers in the academy. Studies in Higher Education, 27 (4), 387–403.

Google Scholar Crossref

Rosser, V.J., Johnsrud, L.K. & Heck, R.H. (2003). Academic deans and directors: Assessing their effectiveness from individual and institutional perspectives. Journal of Higher Education, 74 (1), 1-25.

Google Scholar Crossref

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2002). Women and management in higher education: A good practice handbook. Paris: UNESCO.

Google Scholar Crossref

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2011). Female tertiary graduates by field of education. Paris: UNESCO.

Google Scholar Crossref

Wepner, S.B., D’Onofrio, A. & Wilhite, S.C. (2008). The leadership dimension of education deans. Journal of Teacher Education, 59(2), 153-169.

Google Scholar Crossref

Wyn, J., Acker, S. & Richards, E. (2000). Making a difference: women in management in Australian and Canadian faculties of education. Gender and Education, 12 (4), 435-447.

Google Scholar Crossref

Yanez, J.L. & Moreno, M.S. (2008). Women leaders as agents of change in higher education organisations. Gender and Management, 23 (2), 86-102.

Google Scholar Crossref

Downloads

Published

2012-02-24

Almetric

Dimensions

How to Cite

Griffiths, V. (2012). Women Leaders in Higher Education: Organizational Cultures and Personal Resilience. Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies, 1(1), 70–94. https://doi.org/10.4471/generos.2012.04

Issue

Section

Articles