First Cracks: Reflections of a Pioneer

• In Event: Cracking the Glass Ceiling

Short Description

What cracks can one woman make? What progress has been made over the last fifty years? Using a conceptual, autoethnographic approach, this pioneering female leader will share learnings about the roles of situations, culture, family, organizations and the people in them, and about herself as she reflects on her lifetime leadership journey.

Detailed Abstract

Among the reasons provided for the disproportionately small number of women in leadership roles have been women’s lower aspirations for leadership (Ross-Smith & Chesterman, 2009; Singer,1989) relative to men’s aspirations and the many barriers women encounter while climbing the leadership ladder (Lyness & Thompson, 2000) that lead some women to reduce their aspirations or no longer see themselves as leaders. Wanting to be a leader (having aspirations to lead) and seeing herself as a leader (having a leader identity) are interrelated and both are dynamic. Women’s leadership aspirations and leader identity development often travel twisting paths (Le Ber, et al., 2017).

This researcher currently self-identifies as a leader in the women and leadership community and previously self-identified as a pioneering woman in leadership within corporations and volunteer organizations. As she reflected on her own twisting leadership aspirations path and changing leader identity over more than sixty years, she saw relationships to the current literature and gained new insight into the influence of personal characteristics, family, culture, organizations, and the people in those organizations, opportunities and challenges, and the interrelationships among these on her changing aspirations and identity. The relevance of the feedback loop and her acceptance or rejection of that feedback (Le Ber, et al., 2017) were evident in these recollections. These recollection and reflections led to conducting this autoethnographic study of one woman’s twisting leadership identity path and the changes in her leadership aspirations throughout the years. The study seeks to answer the research question: “Why did my aspirations to be a leader and my identity as a leader follow such a twisting path?” with the anticipation that this exploration might contribute to current research and theory. As Denzin (2014) noted, autoethnographies are written to make a difference in the world.

The study was framed by existing literature related to women’s leadership aspirations and women’s development of leader identities. To aspire to lead, the literature advises involves a woman’s understanding of what it is like to be a leader and her implicit leadership theory (Eden & Leviatan, 1975). Her understanding of what it is like to be a leader and how a leader behaves must be consistent with how she sees herself or would like to be seen (Devnew, Austin, Le Ber, & Shapiro, in press). She must also believe the benefits of being a leader, whether to herself or to others, would outweigh the costs of being a leader, whether to herself or to others (Singer, 1989). These benefits might include the potential for implementing visions, or power, prestige, and financial gain. Costs might include the time demanded or how others might see her, and how either of these might negatively influence relationships with family and friends.
The leader identity literature framing the study is focused on the research of Le Ber et al. (2017) identifying finding her voice; experiential learning, particularly self-efficacy; resilience; and reinforced personal attributes as important for developing and maintaining a leader identity.

The study is a conceptual autoethnography and thus will use personal stories to convey and critique the researcher’s cultural experiences (Adams et al., 2015) to examine and share stories of her leadership aspirations and leader identity development and maintenance. The stories have been gathered by recalling narratives in response to these prompts:
• Share stories of times when I aspired to be or to grow as a leader
• Share stories of times when I questioned whether I wanted to be a leader
• Share stories of times when I self-identified as a leader
• Share stories of times when I questioned my identity as a leader

The data is being analyzed for themes, which will be illustrated in the presentation using selected stories. The themes will also be discussed using relevant literature. The researcher anticipates the influences on the downturns along the twisting path will be varied and the resilience needed to return to a forward path will be strongly influenced by other people and circumstances intervening, either simultaneously or soon after the downturn.

It is anticipated the stories will allow the reader to share and participate in the experiences (Bochner & Ellis, 2016) and thus contribute to the understanding that, even as opportunities for women leaders grow, challenges to women’s aspirations and leader identity are inevitable. The presentation will demonstrate how building resiliency and surrounding herself with supporters who can help her get back on an upward path can help minimize the backsliding along the twisting trail. The research will identify ways organizational systems provide support along this pathway.

Participant

• Lynne E. Devnew, University of Phoenix