Female Leadership Program Evaluation in Higher Education: A Strategy for Female Career

Abstract

This article explored female under-representation on leadership role and female career development in the context of higher education in the United Kingdom. Despite female participation continuously growing in global workforce and female leadership value being recognized, there was a disproportionately high rate of male on senior role and a scarcity of theoretical basis for female leadership building. Especially in higher education field, obstacles for women advancement have received less attention due to the perception of female dominance in this field. Organizations have delivered various training programs to develop female leadership capacity. However, the evaluations of such programs were generally unsatisfactory. The return on organization and impact on personal development still remain unclear. This study was based on interview results of 11 female leaders who have participated in leadership training program in a Russell group university. Kirkpatrick model was adopted in this study to evaluate program effectiveness. Findings presented that female leaders shared humble leadership style and they were benefited from leadership training program by enhancing professional skills, building network and motivating leadership aspiration. Results also suggested leadership program played a pivotal role in building confidence and developing female career. This paper additionally gave the suggestions about how to better design and evaluate female leadership program.