Leveraging Women's Leadership Talent to Promote a Social Justice Agenda in Ethiopian Schools

• In Event: Women in Leadership: Stories of Negotiation, Leverage, and Social Justice

Abstract

This qualitative study utilized critical feminist and transformative leadership theories to investigate how female Ethiopian educational leaders conceptualized leadership, as it relates to promoting a social justice agenda in the country. We found that as a traditionally marginalized group in the Ethiopian society, women educational leaders displayed equity-oriented leadership styles through different filters of experiences, advancing educational access for females and other marginalized students in the country. These findings suggest that policymakers should prioritize women’s empowerment not only as a matter of human rights but also as an effective strategy to expand educational access for other vulnerable populations in Ethiopia.

Authors

• Abebayehu Aemero Tekleselassie, The George Washington University

• Virginia Roach, Johns Hopkins University – Baltimore