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Women's Roles in Leadership Positions

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Women's Roles in Leadership Positions
The Dynamics of Women’s Roles in Leadership

Delora Murphy

Wingate University

Abstract

The roles of women have been evolving for the last 100 years. Many women have shattered the stereotype that a women’s role is to be in charge of the family and have become leaders in a walks of life. Women have proved that they can be effective as business and government leaders. Although there are still gender biases that can exist, it is much move covert then it was 40 years ago. Oddly enough, some of the characteristics that have been viewed as the most necessary for leadership in roles of men, those same traits were viewed as negative characteristics of women in leadership roles.

The role of the women has been evolving for many decades. In times, way before my own, a woman’s role was to be the caregiver for her family. Although women, many have sought out an education, their main lifetime focus to be to support her husband and raise her children. Many women still choose this role today, but the point is that now they are allowed to choose a specific pathway in life rather than being forced to carry out established roles. This change of women’s roles has been occurring in the United States for the last hundred years. Although this may seem like a long period of time, it is not. When roles are changed or reversed, this does not necessarily mean that everyone instantly converts to the new ideas and philosophies demonstrated by a group. Often times, there is a great deal of protest both within the changing group as well as those outside of the group. Despite the evolved roles of women in society, women still face many challenges in leadership positions. There are qualities that women possess that seem to help them rise to the top echelon of leadership positions, but there are still biases that exist that may inhibit women from reaching their goals.

Women



References: Deborah Morrehead (2007). 9 Qualities of Smart, Successful Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.debramoorhead.com/blog/index.php/9-qualities-of-smart-successful-women/. [Last Accessed 15 October 2012]. Denise Trauth (2002). The Changing Roles of Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.txstate.edu/news/news_releases/news_archive/2002/10/roleofwomen102102.html. [Last Accessed 8 October 2011]. Guest (2010). Five Characteristics of Successful Women. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.asuccessfulwoman.com/aswblog/five-characteristics-successful-women. [Last Accessed October 15 2012]. Katherine W Hawkins, (1995). Effects of Gender Communication Content on Leadership Emergence in Small Task-Oriented Groups. Small Group Research. 26 (2), pp.234-239 Leslie Bradshaw (2011). Why Women Having A Seat at the Table is not Enough. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/lesliebradshaw/2011/08/04/why-women-having-a-seat-at-the-table-is-not-enough/. [Last Accessed 15 October 2012]. Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, (2007). Women Don 't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation and Positive Strategies. 1st ed. New York: Bantam. Jossey Bass Publishers, (2007). Educational Leadership. 2nd ed. San Fransisco, California: Jossey Bass. Peter G Northhouse, (2013). Leadership Theory and Practice. 6th ed. Los Angeles: california: Houghton Mifflin.

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