"You Can't Change Anything If You Don't Become a Leader": Exploring Leadership Aspirations and Strategies Among Early-Career Chinese Women Academics

• In Event: Transforming the Role of Educational Leader

Abstract

This paper focuses on three women academics who expressed a strong desire for leadership, employing the case study approach. Borrowing Butler’s concept of agency, this study reveals the multifaceted nature of these women's desires for leadership roles. For instance, Huang sees leadership as a channel for top-down influence to enact change. Liang, inspired by role models, views it as an embodiment of social responsibility. Sun, on the other hand, sees leadership as a strategic means to challenge seniority and reshape the academic landscape. Furthermore, we also demonstrated that these women employed resilient and individual strategies to achieve their goals. Collectively, these cases suggest that women must make greater sacrifices and exert more effort than their male counterparts to become leaders.

Authors

• Boya Yuan, Beijing Normal University

• Xiying Wang, Beijing Normal University