Feminist Psychology and Sociocultural Precipitants to Women’s Leadership

Abstract

This chapter will address the feminist underpinnings that frame our study of STEM women in the academy and their respective journeys. There will be a review of sociocultural antecedents for feminist psychology and an accounting of the different waves of feminism with contributors from differing identities. Feminist psychology has given space to differentiate the socialization and psychological development of women across the lifespan and how women’s knowledge and ways of knowing emerge from different perspectives and experiences, often marginalized as described in standpoint theory. Women’s intersecting identities and the impact of historic sociopolitical and sociocultural events and socialization processes on how women perceive their multiple identities, intersectionality, and positionality will be examined. Additionally, concepts such as impostorism, stereotype threat, self-esteem, and self-efficacy will be discussed as psychological threats to women’s sense of competence in education and the workplace. Women leaders and women’s leadership continue to emerge in different contexts, affirming activism, and resistance to societal and institutional status quo.