Indian female gurus in contemporary in Hinduism : a study of central aspects and expressions of their religious leadership

Den rikt utformade och komplexa hinduiska traditionen har hittills huvudsakligen tecknats av manliga forskare och det är främst manliga religiösa strävanden som har dokumenterats. Detta förhållande och de patriarkala synsätt som styr många auktoritativa heliga texter har bidragit till att skapa intrycket att hinduiska kvinnors religiösa erfarenheter antingen saknas eller är avsevärt begränsade. Denna studie lyfter fram det faktum att ett ökande antal indiska kvinnor inom dagens hinduism axlar publika roller som religiösa ledare. Med sitt framträdande utmanar många av dessa rådande sociala uppfattningar om kvinnors underordnade ställning och främjar därmed en förnyad medvetenhet av urgamla föreställningar om Gud som kvinna. Avhandlingen utforskar fenomenet kvinnliga guruer genom att belysa sjuttio guruers andliga karriär, med särskild fokus på fyra av dem. Några av de frågor som behandlas är följande: På vilket sätt är kvinnliga guruer del av den hinduiska traditionen? Vilka förväntningar ställs på dem? Hur legitimeras deras auktoritet som guruer? Hur handskas guruerna med sina dubbla roller som kvinnor och andliga ledare? Hur återspeglas gudinnans ställning, som i indisk religiositet ofta är central, i kvinnors faktiska verklighet? Bidrar kvinnliga guruer med sitt religiösa engagemang till att nyskapa och förändra den indiska religiösa diskursen och utövningen av religion?

Race, Gender, & Leadership: Perspectives of Female Secondary Leaders

Female secondary principals not only have to deal with internal and external pressures to lead successfully but are scrutinized because of their gender (Shakeshaft, 1993; Skrla & Young, 2003; Thurman, 2004). The purpose of this study was to investigate how female secondary principals from one southwestern state teased out complex views of leadership, gender, and race.

Women in leadership: Three essays

GENDER EMPOWERMENT: EFFECTS OF GODS, GEOGRAPHY, AND GDP¦Fenley, M., & Antonakis, J.¦ABSTRACT¦We examined the determinants of women's empowerment in the economy and political leadership in 178 countries. Given the androcentric nature of most religions, we hypothesized that high degrees of country-level theistic belief create social conditions that impede the progression of women to power. The dependent variable was the Gender Empowerment index of the United Nations Development Program, which captures the participation of women in political leadership, management, and their share of national income. Controlling for GDP per capita as well as the fixed-effects of the dominant type of religion and legal origin and instrumenting all endogenous variables with geographic or historical variables, our results show that atheism has a significant positive effect on gender empowerment. These results are driven by the rule of law, which in addition to being a catalyst for economic development, appears to crowd-out the informal regulation of behavior due to religious norms.¦DEVELOPING WOMEN LEADERS: COMPARING A TRANSFORMATIONAL AND A CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP INTERVENTION¦Fenley, M., Jacquart, P., & Antonakis, J.¦ABSTRACT¦Along with a gender imbalance in leadership role occupancy, most leadership interventions have been conducted with samples of men. We conducted an experiment wherein we assigned female participants (n = 38, mean age = 35 years) to one of two conditions: Transformational (i.e., "standard") leadership training or charismatic leadership training. The two interventions were essentially equivalent, except that we also focused on developing the "charismatic leadership tactics" (e.g., rhetorical skills) of participants in the charismatic condition. After the interventions, we randomly assigned participants into problem-solving teams that required extensive interaction. Each team had an equal number of participants having received transformational training or charismatic training. At the end of the team exercises, participants rated each of their team members on a leadership prototypicality measure. Results indicated that those who received charismatic training scored higher (a) on prototypicality (standardized  = .42) and (b) on a test of declarative knowledge of charismatic rhetorical strategies (i.e., a manipulation check, standardized  = .76). Furthermore, the score on the test fully mediated the effect of the treatment on prototypicality (standardized indirect  = .32). We discuss the importance and practical implications of these results.¦CHANGING ATTITUDES TOWARDS WOMEN IN A MALE SEX-TYPE WORK ENVIRONMENT: EVIDENCE FROM A FIELD EXPERIMENT IN EUROPEAN ATHLETICS¦Fenley, M.¦ABSTRACT¦Most sports organizations have a similar gender gap in leadership as do the majority of non-sport organizations. Women's careers sputter somewhere at coaching level positions and few women obtain top leadership positions. Greater awareness of gender inequalities in general, and in leadership in particular, could decrease gender discrimination and increase women's presence at upper levels. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of an intervention using an online gender awareness exercise. Participants (n = 1,001 participants, n = 32 countries) were randomly assigned to one of eight conditions in a 2 (a discriminating perspective-taking story or a non-discriminating perspective-taking story) by 2 (gender quiz or no gender quiz) by 2 (diversity quiz or no diversity quiz) factorial design. The results show that the online perspective taking exercise changed initial sexist attitudes. Participants having taken a diversity quiz had less sexist attitudes (as measured by the Modern- and Old-fashioned sexism scale) than did participants who did not take the diversity quiz (irrespective of perspective-taking story). The combination of having taken a diversity quiz with a gender quiz had the biggest impact on attitudes for the non-discriminating story.

An exploration of female administrators' perceptions of their role: do the differences make a difference?

Recent Ontario legislation by the Ministry of Education has targeted a goal of 50 percent as the minimum objective for representation by women in positions of responsibility by the year 2000. As a result,those few women currently in the field of Educational Administration have become a focus for researchers. The intent of this research is to contribute to the current knowledge and understanding of women principals in the leadership role. In-depth interviews with four experienced female principals were conducted centering on their perceptions and experiences on a wide range of issues that included: gender characteristics and impact on role, perceived differences as a result of gender characteristics, decision making, curriculum leadership, communication, the perception of others, and the advantages and disadvantages of being a woman in the role. Narrative profiles were constructed for each participant and analyzed. A description for each woman emerged by an analysis of common patterns and themes in the participants' narratives. Results revealed that the participants were able to identify and to describe particular gender traits that they perceived had impact on their role. Moreover the participants regarded their gender characteristics as facilitating and enhancing the performance of their role. Common patterns for all the participants emerged from the data that conveyed a strong feminine imagery of mother and espoused the idea of school as home, and staff and students as family. Leadership ii styles demonstrated an emphasis on collaborative decision making, open communication, and apparent difficulty and ambiguity arising from the role of Curriculum leader. The results of this study also indicate that personal metaphors ascribed and embedded in the narratives are significant in conceptualizing and interpreting the administrative role.

Exploring authentic leadership : a narrative case study

The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth, life history examination of the leadership qualities of the President of a for-profit sport organization and explore this individual's leadership development within the framework of the Authentic Leadership Development Model (ALDM). A series of semi-structured interviews was conducted, including interviews with the President, three employees within the organization, and three individuals as selected by the President who attested to her authenticity and lifehistory. As well, observations for a period of three months were used to create a lifehistory of the President and determine if she was aligned with the ALDM. Creating a lifehistory of the President allowed the researcher to outline the story of her life up until the conclusion of the study. The narrative case study of the female President of a for-profit sport organization provided a glimpse into the life of a person whose values, beliefs, and actions aligned. The major findings of this study suggested that the President displayed characteristics similar to those identified as outcomes of the ALDM model.

The impact of mayor leadership on education: evidence from Brazil

What are the impacts of female mayors on education? It is well known that in Brazil, like in many other countries around the globe, women are underrepresented in political posts. Understanding the impacts of this discrepancy on policy choice and redistribution across many areas of inquiry is, therefore, an important research endeavor. Extant literature shows a strong link between women and the economic development of the areas they govern, specifically that they provide public goods relevant to the needs of women constituents. However, despite the efforts to explore the impacts of gender political leaders, we still do not know what is the consequence of gender on policy outcomes. Exploring a rich dataset on Brazilian municipalities, I intend to enrich the literature on the role of female politicians on politics. I employ a regression discontinuity design using Brazilian elections and indicators on education based on the basic education development index (IDEB), education expenditures and local policies. I find that municipalities where a woman enters into power do not perform better on education and do not present more investments or policies to improve education.