Constructions of Leadership Identities via Narratives of African Women School Leaders

Pontso Moorosi

doi:10.3389/feduc.2020.00086

Abstract

The paper explores African women school leaders' constructions of their leadership identity. Using self-perception theory which sees changes in self-perceived leadership skills and dispositions as being related to changes in perceived leader identity, constructions of African women's leadership identity are mapped over a life-long career. Leader identity is, in this sense, inextricably linked to gender and an attempt is therefore made to understand these leader identities as gendered. The paper presents an analysis of the interviews of three women selected from a bigger study of 89 school leaders from four countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The three narratives of women leader identity construction are drawn from three of the four case study countries. The narrative approach to data analysis reflecting women school leaders' experiences of leader identity construction involved reading transcripts and coding them with themes characterizing the processes of becoming a leader and being identified as one. Findings suggest that processes of becoming a leader are influenced by women leaders' experiences of early socialization that gave them ways of doing leadership as well as values and attributes that shape their approach to leadership. These women grew up with a strong perception of who they are, and this instilled a sense of agency that facilitates leaderful actions. These actions were then affirmed through their different stages of growth and career development, thus strengthening their leader identity. It is concluded that understanding women leaders' experiences of leader identity is an important ingredient of leadership development.

Highlights

The purpose of this paper is to explore the process by which female school leaders in African contexts experience the development of a leadership identity
This paper has provided an analysis of women’s narratives of leader-identity construction as a sub- area of broader leadership development
The analysis has built on work that acknowledges the absence or limited availability of knowledge on how and the extent to which women self-perceive as leaders, against the backdrop of limited formal leadership development programmes in most African contexts

Summary

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to explore the process by which female school leaders in African contexts experience the development of a leadership identity. Nkomo and Ngambi (2009) have argued that gender stereotyping rooted in cultural and traditional norms on the role of women potentially influences the perception of African women as being incompetent and this affects, in turn, their being accepted as leaders and managers These factors affect women’s choice of career and their progression in their chosen career paths. Ely et al (2011) have suggested that leader identity construction is fraught with difficulties since it is more challenging for women to find the most powerful mentors and sponsors because of the lack of role models with whom women identify, gendered career paths that still favor men, and gendered organizations that reflect men’s lives and men’s situations This makes pursuing leadership a gendered career path and leadership development a gendered process (Ely et al, 2011; Moorosi, 2014)

Objectives

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion