ABSTRACT

This volume brings together research from leading scholars with stories from women leaders in diverse sectors to provide insights from their leadership journeys. The book begins with personal stories of women’s leadership journeys by chief executive officers, a former U.S. ambassador, a college president, and others. The stories enable readers to make sense of their own leadership journeys by learning about the varied paths to leadership and taking note of key elements such as role transitions, defining moments, identity development, and growth mindsets. Next, scholars discuss novel research that can guide women in navigating their journeys to leadership, including on followership, competition, representation of women in politics, and the role of biology in leadership. This must-have volume offers cutting-edge perspectives and a guide for women to navigate their own journeys to impactful leadership.

chapter 1|13 pages

Introduction

part I|63 pages

Women’s Leadership Journeys

chapter 2|20 pages

Expanding Possibilities

Matrilineal Stories of Leadership

chapter 3|9 pages

Life Is What We Make It

chapter 4|15 pages

The Right Kind of Girl

Resistance Faced and Support Offered to Women on the Journey to Board Chair

chapter 5|11 pages

Searching for a Presidency

Lessons for Women in American Higher Education

part II|113 pages

Navigating the Journey

chapter 7|16 pages

Entrepreneurial Transitions

Meeting the Need for Balance and Challenge in Navigating the Leadership Journey

chapter 8|22 pages

Navigating Leadership

How Diverse Women Learn and Progress Toward Their Leadership Aspirations and Goals

chapter 9|21 pages

Courage

Mapping the Leadership Journey

chapter 10|22 pages

Defining Moments

Aspects of a Four-Day Women’s Leadership Development Institute That Changed Participants’ Self-Perceptions of Leadership Capacity

chapter 11|16 pages

Women’s Leader Identity Development

Building a Team for the Journey

part III|78 pages

Looking at Women’s Leadership Journeys Ahead

chapter 13|16 pages

The Leader-Follower Cycle

Using Followership as a Means to Empower Women

chapter 14|15 pages

Leadership and Lactation

chapter 16|11 pages

Looking Forward

The Contours of Women’s Representation in U.S. Politics