Leveraging Choice Architecture in Leadership Learning to Empower Women

• In Event: Interactive Roundtable Discussions & Member Community Information Tables
  In Interactive Roundtable: Leadership Education Interactive Roundtable Discussions

Short Description

Choice architecture is grounded in the idea that we can design environments that assist people in making choices. Traditionally females have been excluded from institutional decision-making processes. This discussion will focus on how choice architecture affects women and their pursuit of leadership positions.

Detailed Abstract

Traditionally women have been excluded from institutional decision-making processes, especially in developing contexts. Global patriarchal institutions often repress female perspectives to ensure sustainable political and economic control. However, the inclusion of matriarchal perspectives grounded in moral values and collective ideologies present these communities with opportunities for sustainability and growth well beyond that of the traditional culture.

Choice architecture is a tool that can be used to empower women in leadership, and specifically could be used to leverage the creative decision-making perspectives of women to address complex global issues. Choice architecture is a process grounded in the idea that we can design environments that assist people in making choices (Rockrohr, 2008). Thaler (2008) notes the essence of choice architecture lies in the creation of environments that influence decisions. This creates the foundation for influence, and when used morally, can become key piece of effective leadership.

Exceptional choice architects create good designs for errors that they expect humans to make. For example, leadership educators have the potential to lead the perceptions of their learners. Through this process they can increase the likelihood for a meaningful experience. This also creates opportunities for leadership educators to synthesize diverse perspectives across disciplines to encourage divergent thinking.

There is also an economic implication for this idea. Through the development of well-placed choice architecture with our learners, leadership educators can role model processes of influence that can be replicated by the learners in their diverse contexts (Johnson, Shu, Dellaert, Fox, Goldstein, Haubl & Weber, 2012). For instance, through the develop of choice architecture competence in female students, the potential exists for more female perspectives to shape the decision-making landscape in organizational practice. This diversity creates more holistic and sustainable solution for our most complex global and pressing global issues.

The results of this discussion will create a foundation for future dialogues about women and choice architecture within leadership learning contexts. It will also provide scholarly perspectives and create a trajectory for leadership research lines of inquiry.

Facilitators will have examples for using choice architecture in leadership learning contexts and anecdotal impact data. This will allow for the discussion to evolve naturalistically leading to collaborative scholarship and enhanced leadership learning in varied contexts. Following this conversation, the participants will come away with a better understanding about how choice architecture already affects their lives and can impact their learners, research, and organizations.

Questions:
• What is choice architecture?
• How is choice architecture used in leadership learning?
• How can this be used to impact leadership learners in diverse contexts?
• What are the implications for women in patriarchal cultures?

Participants

• Kayla Waldorff, University of Florida

• Anthony C. Andenoro, University of Florida