The Invisible Labor for Emerging Women Leaders: A Critical Analysis of Literature in Higher Education

• In Event: The Consortium of State and Regional Educational Research Associations Distinguished Paper Session 2

Abstract

North Carolina Association for Research in Education - In this article, we review literature on women and leadership in higher education, critically analyzing the predominant themes that are presented to emerging leaders: (a) institutional change; (b) identity work; and (c) professional development. We argue that the problematic framings within each of these themes reinforce the notion that women, individually, are responsible for additional, often invisible, labor in order to be successful and that alternative solutions are left unimagined and unaddressed. Our analysis provides a critical disruption to common assumptions and framings about the “work” of women and leadership in higher education and a departure point for discussing viable alternative framings and questions for future research.

Authors

• Stephanie Norander, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

• Leslie R. Zenk, University of North Carolina - Charlotte