Young women and the co‐construction of leadership

Abstract

PurposeYoung women's leadership is an area frequently overlooked in educational leadership development. This paper aims to bring young women's voices into educational leadership conversations and illustrate an alternative approach to young women's leadership development.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative action research study was located in an urban girls' high school in New Zealand. The researcher worked in partnership with 12 young women and used a process of co‐construction to design a leadership development programme. The young women then participated in, evaluated and modified the programme before teaching it to another group of students.FindingsCo‐construction was an effective way to develop a relevant and authentic leadership programme that met the needs of the young women, however, the process was extremely complex. The findings indicated that this approach challenged existing views of teaching and learning and was an active process that required significant efforts to balance input and share ownership between the researcher and the young women.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings highlighted the importance of including young women in decision‐making processes related to their leadership learning. Future consideration in this area could relate to creating a sustainable leadership culture in schools by engaging this process across year levels.Originality/valueThis paper outlines an alternative approach to leadership development in high schools that could be used in a number of contexts as these findings related to women's youth leadership development have implications on leadership development for women at all levels.

Adolescent Leadership

“…In conjunction with this, is also the absence of a student voice (Dempster et al, 2010;McGregor, 2007;Rudduck and Flutter, 2000) and in particular the female adolescent voice is virtually non-existent in such studies (Denner et al, 2005;McNae, 2010).…”

Student leadership development in Australian and New Zealand secondary girls’ schools: a staff perspective

“…In contrast to this, other authors have argued that leadership development, particularly for female students, is not just about teaching theory in order for girls to fill prescribed societal roles but rather the development of skills for leadership across all contexts (Mullen and Tuten 2004). The role that female students play in their own construction of leadership programmes has also been explored (McNae 2010, Saunders 2005. This concept is of particular importance to female students who are reported to have a greater need for student voice with regard to their learning outcomes (Rudduck and Flutter 2000).…”

Barriers to women’s access to decision-making positions in sport organizations: the case of establishing a girls’ volleyball academy in Israel

“…As M was the only female on the Board, she thought that she had to fit in with the male-dominated board to change the existing gendered discourse. However, M had to maintain her self-identity, values, dedication, assertiveness, and persistence to preserve her female voice (e.g., Fine 2009;McNae, 2010). To avoid being steered into an unwelcome environment in the volleyball political arena, M tried to keep the target she was struggling to achieve and the reasons for it, within her sights.…”