Field Of Leadership Studies Research Articles

Seeking support through solidarity: female leader's experiences of workplace solidarity in male-dominated professions.

While there is a plethora of research that documents the numerous barriers affecting female leaders in the modern workplace, there is a lack of literature which focuses on strategies or motivating resources that women use to navigate the workplace environment. Despite facing significant barriers in their leadership journeys, there are female leaders who are able to overcome these barriers to achieve leadership positions. These women leaders draw on personal and external motivating factors to assist them in dealing with the challenges associated with being a female leader as a result, research on motivating strategies for women's career progression is a research topic that warrants immediate attention. Female solidarity as a motivating resource has been gaining traction in the field of leadership studies and can be seen as a supportive resource that can be used by current and aspiring female leaders to progress in underrepresented environments. Although female solidarity is but only one of the many strategies that can be implemented to motivate women in leadership positions, the increase of female solidarity in the workplace is expected to alleviate the conditions that reinforce essentialist notions of the "queen bee syndrome" in which women are seen as unsupportive of each other. A qualitative research approach was used for this study, following an interpretive descriptive design. A total of 13 semi-structured interviews were conducted with female leaders in male-dominated professions within South Africa. Data was analysed using thematic content analysis. Results of the study were analyzed in line with three primary content areas, i.e., barriers to female solidarity in the workplace, benefits of female solidarity in the workplace and workplace interventions to increase solidarity. In the context of the study the predominant barriers to female solidarity within male-dominated workplaces were identified as unfair workplace behaviours, generational beliefs, societal expectations, organisational cultures, stereotypes and stigmas. The benefits of female solidarity within male-dominated workplaces were identified as career shaping mentorship, female recognition, female representation and female support. Lastly, the interventions that can be implemented to increase female solidarity within male-dominated workplaces were conceptualised as networking, transforming the company culture, socialisation and mentorship.

Proposals for the future of leadership scholarship: Suggestions in Phronesis

“Phronesis” can be summarized as “wisdom in determining ends and the means of attaining them.” This unique article originated from comments made by scholars on a podcast hosted by Dr. Scott Allen titled “Phronesis: Practical Wisdom for Leaders.” Here, we propose 10 specific agendas focused on the future of scholarship in the field of leadership studies, authored by some of these scholars. Topics include how to think about effective leadership in “the age of emotion” where truth can seem up for debate; specific topical suggestions for expanded study—such as more comprehensively studying place and space, indigenous wisdom, equity issues, games that teach, and focusing more on lifespan perspectives; better integrating scholarship with professional settings where leading occurs; and more effectively framing what it even means to lead and follow.

Theoretical Assumptions of Transformational Leadership Styles on Psychological Empowerment and Psychological Well-Being in Leaders Vs. Subordinates

Transformational leadership style is the most studied concept of business psychology. The primary goal of the present research was to investigate the theoretical assumptions of transformational leadership style on psychological empowerment and psychological well-being in leaders vs. subordinates working in telecommunication sectors. The Sample comprised N=250 (Leaders=100; Subordinates=150) employees of the leading Telecommunication sectors with the age range of (25-60). The Sample was selected from different telecom organizations of Pakistan through a Purposive sampling strategy, and Sample was divided into two groups Leaders and subordinates. Impact of Transformational leadership style on Psychological empowerment and Psychological well-being was operationalized through Transformational leadership scale by Podsakoff (1990), Psychological Empowerment scale by Spreitzer (1995), and Psychological Wellbeing scale by Carol Ryff (1989), and a demographic information sheet was used to collect data. Prior to addressing the relationship between present study variables, the psychometric validity of measurement tools was analyzed, and internal consistency levels for all variables were evaluated. Correlational analysis of the study variables demonstrated a correlation between Transformational leadership style, psychological empowerment, and psychological well-being in employees. In addition, Regression analysis revealed that the Transformational Leadership style significantly predicted psychological empowerment and psychological well-being in employees. However, the effect of demographic variables such as gender indicated no significant gender differences on study variables; however, significant differences were found between family system groups regarding transformational leadership, psychological empowerment, and psychological well-being. From a theoretical perspective, present research contributes to the present form of facts in the field of leadership studies; the research endorses a theoretical model that incorporates different characteristics of psychological empowerment. The research recommends that the leaders should develop aware of the role of their empowerment level in creating a healthy environment that encourages psychological well-being among the subordinates. The research provides guidelines useful for leaders to enhance subordinates' psychological empowerment and psychological well-being.

What Are Good Leaders Made Of? Finnish School Children’s Descriptions of Leadership

The purpose of this research was to analyze Finnish students’ descriptions of good leaders and leadership. The study had two research questions: (1) What kinds of characteristics does a good leader have according to Finnish students’ perceptions and (2) how do the students describe the emphases of leadership activities? This was a qualitative study that applied the narrative research approach. The data consisted of essays written by 38 sixth-graders from one Finnish school. The data collection method used empathy-based frame stories to prompt essays. The main characteristics of a good leader were friendliness, diligence and enthusiasm, and deliberation and determination. Three emphases in leadership activities could be found in the essays: decision-making and responsibility for results, caring, and enjoyment of the leader’s work. The study contributes new viewpoints to the authentic leadership theory and less studied perspectives in the field of leadership studies in general.

An overview of adult cognitive development research and its application in the field of leadership studies.

An overview of adult cognitive development research and its application in the field of leadership studies.

Ways of leading in non-Anglophone contexts: Representing, expressing and enacting authority beyond the English-speaking world

The English language has for some time dominated academia worldwide (Steyaert and Janssens, 2013) and become accepted and institutionally embedded as the international language of academia. This is illustrated within the field of leadership studies where, since its beginnings in the early part of the Twentieth Century, research into leadership has largely been pursued by scholars in the USA and the UK working in the English language. Consequently, the sub-discipline of ‘leadership studies’ has been developed and theorised within Western traditions of research, which have produced predominantly Anglo-centric linguistic interpretations of the concept (Jepson, 2010). This dominance of a culturally and linguistically ‘naturalised’ Anglo-centric view of leadership has heavily informed the development of leadership and management knowledge and practice. Such ethnocentricity, furthermore, has resulted in tacit assumptions regarding the general applicability and transferability of knowledge beyond English language speaking contexts. As a consequence, other culturally situated notions of leadership, leading and managing have been comparatively marginalised (Schedlitzki et al., 2016).

Peace leadership for youth leaders: a literature review

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review current literature on peace leadership and youth leadership. It aims to shed a light on the extent to which peace leadership can afford youth leaders and youth peace activists to engage in peace processes and peacebuilding initiatives. By understanding how notions of peace leadership are realized in youth leadership practices, the paper hopes to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on advancing the practice of peace leadership for present and future young leaders. Design/methodology/approach The literature review explored peace leadership from the approaches of peacebuilding processes, nonviolence, and an integral perspective; expanded the current understanding of youth leadership by presenting the theoretical foundations and the role of youth in leadership that align with an advanced view of youth leadership; and described the intersection of peace leadership and youth leadership by identifying how youth leadership is related to peace leadership within three overarching contexts: political systems, schools, and communities. Findings The literature review highlights the reciprocity between peace leadership and youth leadership. It identifies nonviolence, communication, dialogue, conflict resolution, mediation, building social capital, and relationship building as practices in which youth leaders engage in to promote peaceful and sustainable change in varying contexts. Originality/value This review of the literature presents the need for further research on the intersection of peace leadership with youth leadership to help advance both areas within the field of leadership studies and understand how peace leadership for youth informs leadership theory and practice across contexts and areas of discipline.

The Gulf: The Bush Presidencies and the Middle East. By Michael F. Cairo. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2012. 212 pp.

The Gulf: The Bush Presidencies and the Middle East. Michael F. Cairo. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2012. 212 pp. Do individuals matter? Does it really matter is president, or are larger forces at work shaping history? Are our presidents pawns of larger societal movements, institutional roles, mass expectations, or do they shape policy and bend issues to their advantage? In the field of leadership studies, leaders are thought to matter a great deal. In the field of international relations, many believe that it matters little which individual occupies an office, as they are compelled by larger forces (e.g., national interest, power relations, etc.) to behave in fairly predictable and similar ways. In presidential studies, we seem to be a bit more ecumenical, allowing for both individual agency in some instances and role or national interest as shapers of policy in other instances. Political scientist Michael F. Cairo confronts questions of agency and decision making in this outstanding study of the two Bush presidencies, as they relate to two wars in the Gulf. This comparison proves to be an especially fertile laboratory for exploring these complex questions, as both presidents staffed many of their top advisory positions with the same people, faced the same adversary (Saddam Hussein) in the same region (the Persian Gulf), with both resulting in wars (about a dozen years apart), and with both wars being initially successful in military terms (both accomplished short-term goals) but with the aftermath of these two wars taking vastly different turns. Cairo sees 41 and 43 as reflecting two contrasting views of foreign policy, with George H. W. Bush as an and George W. Bush as a representative of the school of thought. Cairo defines an Enlightened Realist as being guided by pragmatism and experience; flexibility and compromise; negotiation; and multilateral internationalism (p. 28). George W. Bush's Cowboy Liberalism is characterized by an emphasis on ideology and gut instinct; certainty and competition; messianic universalism; and unilateral nationalism (p. 28). These two contrasting world views/approaches shaped policies in both Bush administrations, and by following the logic of each, one can see how and why many decisions were made and why the two Bush presidencies were so very dissimilar in process and policy. The author goes on to explore deeply the connections between personality and policy, as well as those between ideology and policy, arguing that, indeed, individuals do matter, and who is in the White House matters greatly. …

Leadership-as-Practice: Theory and Application

The overall purpose of this presenter symposium is to contribute to the development of a new movement in the field of leadership studies, referred to as “leadership-as-practice” (L-A-P). Its essence is its conception of leadership as occurring as a practice rather than residing in the traits or behaviors of particular individuals. It is thus concerned with how leadership emerges and unfolds through day-to-day experience. The social and material- discursive contingencies impacting leadership do not reside outside of leadership but are very much embedded within it. To find leadership, then, we must look to the practice within which it is occurring. The practice view may consequently upend our traditional views of leadership because it does not rely on the attributes of individuals nor need it focus on the dyadic relationship between leaders and followers, which historically has been the starting point for any discussion of leadership. Rather, it depicts immanent collective action emerging from mutual, discursive, sometimes recurring and sometimes evolving patterns in the moment and over time among those engaged. In the development of a movement, there are a number of conceptual themes that can characterize the building blocks to define the phenomenon in question. In this symposium our distinguished panelists have been handpicked to present on: the distinctiveness of L-A-P in comparison to other collective and relational perspectives and to other “as-practice” approaches, the nature of agency that mobilizes activity in L-A-P, and the methodologies needing to be adjusted to study leadership and leadership development under a L-A-P ontology. Methodologies to Discover and Challenge Leadership-as-Practice Presenter: Steve John Kempster; Lancaster U. Presenter: Brad Jackson; Victoria U. of Wellington Where's the Agency in Leadership-as-Practice? Presenter: Barbara Simpson; U. of Strathclyde Overview of Symposium: Introduction to Leadership-as-Practice Presenter: Joseph A Raelin; Northeastern U. Differentiating the Leadership-as-Practice Terrain Presenter: Nada Endrissat; Bern U. of Applied Sciences

Knowledge sharing in projects: does employment arrangement matter?

Purpose– The core of project management is the management of a temporary task, often with a high degree of uniqueness. The purpose of this paper is to address project management issues where another type of temporality also prevails; when external consultants on short-term contracts cooperate with the employees of the focal firm. The research question is: do external consultants and employees, working together on a project, engage in different or similar knowledge sharing behaviors? What are the impact of autonomous motivation, organizational support and trust on knowledge sharing?Design/methodology/approach– The empirical setting of the study is subsea activities, which is part the oil and gas industry in Norway. The respondents are regular employees with a permanent contract and external consultants employed by a third party; which is the most common external work arrangement in the industry. The sample consists of employees of a focal firm, external consultants of the focal firm and external consultants identified by their employer (two firms). The survey was administered by e-mail to 323 possible respondents. Of these, 268 were from the focal firm (194 employees and 74 external consultants), and 55 from the two consulting companies. After four weeks of collecting data, 138 responses had been registered. This is a response rate of 43 percent. The response rates were similar in the three categories. The survey was designed using Qualtrics, an online survey software tool and was administered by e-mail in the winter of 2012.Findings– The regression analysis found that there was no difference in knowledge sharing between employees and external consultants. Thus the empirical analysis supports the “project identity” hypothesis, rather than the “employment matters” hypothesis. Further, there were positive, significant impacts of autonomous motivation and perceived organizational support on knowledge sharing. The findings are similar across samples.R2 is quite high in models B (0.447) and D (0.458), indicating that a large share of the variation in knowledge sharing is explained by the full model.Research limitations/implications– Based on the empirical study here, the “employment arrangement” thesis was not supported. The authors believe, however, that combining the two types of temporality (work organization and employment arrangement) is a promising area of exploration and it is not given that further studies will provide similar empirical findings. Further research should explore under what conditions employment arrangements have an impact on knowledge sharing. The research may be extended along three dimensions. First, the study of knowledge sharing when employees and external consultants work together (on projects managed by the focal firm) should be extended to include other firms, other types of competence as well as economic sectors outside petroleum. Second, research on employment arrangements in projects, should consider project contexts that are different from the type emphasized here, such as development projects and projects that have a fundamental inter-organizational character characterized by dual responsibility. Third, a number of others issues, in addition to knowledge sharing, are relevant. Combining the two aspects of temporality may provide opportunities for exploring the impact of organizational context in the field of leadership studies.Practical implications– Management should strive to increase autonomous motivation and provide organizational support for both employees and external consultants. It is possible to use external consultants without negative effects on the level of knowledge sharing. Managers should be aware of the challenges related to both types of temporality.Social implications– Increased awareness of the relevance of both types of temporality in contemporary working life.Originality/value– In previous research, project organization and temporary employment relations are two distinct areas. This is one of the first empirical studies that have analyzed both aspects of temporality. The paper contributes to the literature on antecedents of knowledge sharing in organizations, and suggest avenues for further research in this issue. Further, in addressing both types of temporality, a number of other research themes are suggested.

Questionning Progress and Innocence: An Inconvenient Analysis of the Field of Leadership Studies

The commonly offered narrative of developments in the field of leadership studies is a story featuring the apolitical pursuit of the truth and of past struggles which have now been overcome. This paper intentionally muddies that narrative by highlighting matters that are ignored in how the field typically accounts for its past and how it characterises its’ present. The issues addressed here are inconvenient to aspirations to portray the collective endeavour of leadership scholars over the last century or so as simply the politically innocent yet increasingly scientifically robust and successful search for the truth about leadership. The proposition that the field has overcome its past struggles such that ongoing scientific progress now constitutes its defining characteristic is also challenged. However, the paper argues that paying heed to this inconvenient account of developments in leadership knowledge can serve to foster greater reflexivity by leadership researchers and theorists in respect of the cond...

Leadership-as-Practice: A New Move-ment in Leadership

This symposium has been carefully designed to advance a new paradigm in the field of leadership studies, referred to as the “leadership-as-practice” (L-A-P) movement. Accordingly it seeks to review what we currently know about L-A-P and proceed from there to extend its conceptualization through a number of critical themes that have not been sufficiently explored. The hyphen in the title word, “move-ment,” is meant to signify that leadership constitutes immanent social activity and that we are also attempting a “move” in the discourse of leadership. The panelists, who have been strategically chosen because of their prior exploration of various facets of the L-A-P movement, will explore together with the audience some of the founding parameters of the movement, such as its constitutive elements, heritage, preferred methodological and developmental approaches, ideology, and comparison to other more longstanding leadership traditions. Currently, we conceive of leadership-as-practice as a movement in leadership that sees it occurring as a practice rather than residing in the traits or behaviors of particular individuals. It is thus concerned with how leadership emerges and unfolds through day-to-day experience. The social and material contingencies impacting leadership do not reside outside of it but are very much embedded within. To find leadership, then, we look to the practice within which it is occurring rather to the attributes of particular influencing agents. In sum, we see leadership as immanent often non-deliberative collective action emerging from mutual, discursive, recurring patterns in the moment and over time among those engaged in a practice. Mapping the Leadership-as-Practice Terrain: Comparative Elements Presenter: Nada Endrissat; Bern U. of Applied Sciences Presenter: Lucia Crevani; Mälardalen U. Leading as Dialogic Practice Presenter: Kenneth Gergen; Swarthmore College

The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership: A Critical Perspective

Most research into leadership has presented leaders as heroic, charismatic and transformational ‘visionaries’. The leader, whether in business, politics or any other field, is the most important factor in determining whether organizations succeed or fail. Indeed, despite the fundamental mistakes which have, arguably, directly led to global economic recession, it is often still taken for granted that transformational leadership is a good thing, and that leaders should have much more power than followers to decide what needs to be done. The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership confronts this orthodoxy by illustrating how such approaches can encourage narcissism, megalomania and poor decision-making on the part of leaders, at great expense to those organizations they are there to serve. Written in a lively and engaging style, the book uses a number of case studies to illustrate the perils of transformational leadership, from the Jonestown tragedy in 1978 when over 900 people were either murdered or committed suicide at the urging of their leader, to an analysis of how banking executives tried to explain away their role in the 2008 financial crisis This provocative and hugely important book offers a rare critical perspective in the field of leadership studies. Concluding with a new approach that offers an alternative to the dominant transformational model, The Dark Side of Transformational Leadership will be an invaluable text for academics interested in leadership, students on leadership courses requiring a more critical perspective, and anyone concerned with how people lead people, and the lessons we can learn.

Towards a Spirituality of Public Leadership: Engaging Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Abstract This article is a reflective answer to the growing interest in the ‘spirituality’ of a leader found both among active leaders and in the field of Leadership Studies. The term ‘spirituality’ is so complex, however, it requires a more thorough theological reflection than (secular) Leadership Studies can offer, especially considering the more specific matter of how a Christian leader embodies his/her spirituality in his/her leadership. This article discusses four components of leadership: the leader’s sense of reality, the sense of a higher calling, the sense of belonging and the sense of morality. Further, the thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer provides each of these components with not only a Christian but an explicitly Christocentric content.

What Lies Behind Transformational Leadership Progress? Thinking Critically about Leadership Studies

Transformational leadership theory has dominated the field of leadership studies for over two decades. Given its significant influence, and the increasing ‘body of evidence’ that has been accumulat...

A Biographical Approach to Researching Leadership and Entrepreneurship Development Processes in a Small Business Context

This paper proposes a strategy for the research of leadership and entrepreneurial learning and development processes in a small business context. It is relevant to wide ranging local, national and European policies to develop SME entrepreneurial leadership practice and SME growth. Leadership is probably the most important factor to business success (Analoui and Karami 2003). Yet, as Rae and Carswell (2000) point out, a greater understanding is needed of the nature and the process of entrepreneurship in terms of how people learn to start and grow businesses, especially those that become high performing businesses. The authors argue that the life story approach is an industrious and valid method of researching entrepreneurial learning. It is noted elsewhere that empirical understanding of the informal processes of leadership learning of entrepreneurs is limited (Kempster and Cope 2010). Offering a solution in the field of leadership studies, Kuhnert and Russel (1990) propose biographical data can illuminate the development processes involved in life events. Biography as a methodology teaches us about life and human behaviour; it can help us to understand individual motives, personality, the people and conditions that influenced an individual in a way that brings their life and work to life. “Biography adds flesh to the bones of achievement; it adds human form to the spirit of ideas and emotions” (Jones 1998 p. 161). Howe (1982) suggests biographical data can draw out a person’s uniqueness and provide insights into individual human development that reveal the relationship between earlier experience and later achievements. It has been argued that biographical research is equal to more traditional approaches adopted in the field of small medium enterprise, and can tap into the intangible nature of creativity, whilst also introducing creativity and imagination into the research process (Fillis 2006). Methodologically, biographical research can involve a range of data-collection methods and analytical approaches. This research involves biographic narrative interpretive method interviews. These begin with a single initial narrative-inducing question. ‘Minimalist-passive’ (Wengraf 2000) interview techniques facilitate uninterrupted narration. Thematic questioning follows and finally non-narrative questions can be posed (Wengraf 2004). The sample is drawn from owners of small medium enterprises (SMEs) registered on a leadership and development programme known as ‘LEAD Wales’. The programme is backed by funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) and Welsh Assembly Government. The study forms part of a larger research agenda that will track the longer term effects of the intervention. A sample of 17 biographical interviews will form part of the initial study but this target will remain fluid. Despite its scope, limited contributions to the literature on biography emerge from this field. This paper will explore the feasibility of biographical research in the context of LEAD Wales by critically reflecting on this work in progress and the potential contribution of biography as a means of exploring the temporal nature of the lived experience, and an appreciation in the self and representations of the self as an entrepreneur and leader.

Leadership takes time: Some implications of (not) taking time seriously in leadership research

Most theories and studies of leadership simply ignore the dimension of time. This paper discusses some of the implications of neglecting time in the field of leadership studies, argues that potentially important leadership phenomena are overlooked due this neglect, and calls for more attention to time-related considerations in theory development and empirical studies of leadership.

Grounded theory and leadership research: A critical realist perspective

The methodology of grounded theory has great potential to contribute to our understanding of leadership within particular substantive contexts. However, our notions of good science might constrain these contributions. We argue that for grounded theorists a tension might exist between a desire to create a contextualised theory of leadership and a desire for scientifically justified issues of validity and generalizable theory. We also explore how the outcome of grounded theory research can create a dissonance between theories that resonate with the reality they are designed to explore, and the theories that resonate with a particular yet dominant ‘scientific’ approach in the field of leadership studies – the philosophy of science commonly known as positivism. We examine the opportunities provided by an alternative philosophy of science, that of critical realism. We explore how conducting grounded theory research informed by critical realism might strengthen researchers’ confidence to place emphasis on an understanding and explanation of contextualised leadership as a scientific goal, rather than the scientific goal of generalization through empirical replication. Two published accounts of grounded theory are critiqued candidly to help emphasise our arguments. We conclude by suggesting how critical realism can help shape and enhance grounded theory research into the phenomenon of leadership.

What can we learn from Shakespeare about “bad” leaders?

AbstractIn his article, “Educational Research: The Hardest Science of All,” policy scholar David Berliner (2002) asserts that “no unpoetic description of the human condition can ever be complete” (p. 20). Berliner's words echo the epistemological and methodological climate of late 1970s and early 1980s social science research, a phase often characterized as the “literary turn.” In this historical moment, social science scholars turned to interdisciplinary sources, most notably literary theory and the humanities, for new means of addressing the ineffable, aesthetic aspects of human activity. This work and emphasis remains a prominent, growing genre within several fields, exemplified by widespread recognition of Margaret Wheatley's poetic approach to leadership inquiry and pedagogy (2009), frequent inclusion of aesthetic works in leading research journals (such as Qualitative Inquiry), and recent creation of arts‐ and humanities‐based educational research criteria for submissions to the American Educational Research Association's annual conference and sponsored journals.No field of inquiry better illustrates the need to understand human activity as “poetic” than leadership, which is perhaps the quintessential marker of social existence. Accordingly, in this symposium we wish to explore how such interdisciplinary approaches, specifically those grounded in the humanities, have manifested in leadership inquiry and pedagogy. It is our hope that this collection of essays will illustrate the breadth and depth of the field of leadership studies, as well as offer our readers new perspectives and inspiration in their own research and practice.

Leadership, rhetoric, and formalist literary theory

AbstractIn his article, “Educational Research: The Hardest Science of All,” policy scholar David Berliner (2002) asserts that “no unpoetic description of the human condition can ever be complete” (p. 20). Berliner's words echo the epistemological and methodological climate of late 1970s and early 1980s social science research, a phase often characterized as the “literary turn.” In this historical moment, social science scholars turned to interdisciplinary sources, most notably literary theory and the humanities, for new means of addressing the ineffable, aesthetic aspects of human activity. This work and emphasis remains a prominent, growing genre within several fields, exemplified by widespread recognition of Margaret Wheatley's poetic approach to leadership inquiry and pedagogy (2009), frequent inclusion of aesthetic works in leading research journals (such as Qualitative Inquiry), and recent creation of arts‐ and humanities‐based educational research criteria for submissions to the American Educational Research Association's annual conference and sponsored journals.No field of inquiry better illustrates the need to understand human activity as “poetic” than leadership, which is perhaps the quintessential marker of social existence. Accordingly, in this symposium we wish to explore how such interdisciplinary approaches, specifically those grounded in the humanities, have manifested in leadership inquiry and pedagogy. It is our hope that this collection of essays will illustrate the breadth and depth of the field of leadership studies, as well as offer our readers new perspectives and inspiration in their own research and practice.