Leadership Reimagined
Major Field of Study
Master of Liberal Arts
Start Date
19-6-2021 10:30 AM
End Date
19-6-2021 11:30 AM
Abstract
Despite a growing industry of literature and programs on leadership, few scholars have studied the leadership opinions and experience of girls and women. With interdisciplinary and case study research, this thesis seeks to address the scholarly gap and discover girls’ and women’s ideas about leadership, their experience with a leadership program, and their motivations for leadership. Based on research and findings from a girls’ school dedicated to educating women leaders, I argue that new conceptualizations are needed to motivate more women in leadership. Building on Professor Carol Dweck’s growth mindset theory, I developed the concept of growth leadership mindset, which holds that leadership can be understood as a set of competencies that can be taught and learned. By reimagining leadership as an activity that can be realized through effort and support, girls and young women can overcome stereotypes about leadership as a male role in society and envision themselves taking leadership initiative.
Leadership Reimagined
Despite a growing industry of literature and programs on leadership, few scholars have studied the leadership opinions and experience of girls and women. With interdisciplinary and case study research, this thesis seeks to address the scholarly gap and discover girls’ and women’s ideas about leadership, their experience with a leadership program, and their motivations for leadership. Based on research and findings from a girls’ school dedicated to educating women leaders, I argue that new conceptualizations are needed to motivate more women in leadership. Building on Professor Carol Dweck’s growth mindset theory, I developed the concept of growth leadership mindset, which holds that leadership can be understood as a set of competencies that can be taught and learned. By reimagining leadership as an activity that can be realized through effort and support, girls and young women can overcome stereotypes about leadership as a male role in society and envision themselves taking leadership initiative.
Presenter Biography
Stephanie has a master of science in psychology from University of Copenhagen in Denmark, where she also worked in the professional field of pediatric psychology. She graduated from Stanford University last summer 2020 with a master of liberal arts, and will begin a clinical psychology PhD program in the fall 2021 at Palo Alto University.