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Articles

Vol. 12, No. 1 = No. 12 (2002 Fall)

Making It Work: Women's Ways of Leading

  • Charlotte Matthews Harris
  • Penny L Smith
  • Rosalind Pijeaux Hale
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21423/awlj-v12.a162
Submitted
June 19, 2017
Published
2017-06-12

Abstract

An examination of women in leadership from a feminine perspective or point of view reveals that a female organizational culture exists and that women exhibit ways of leading that are distinctively different from the ways men lead. Women’s ways of leading are consistent with recent trends in leadership research and theory and provide a model for education that could lead to “a more caring community and a safer world” (Noddings, 1991, p. 70). Yet, historically, society has been viewed as divided into two domains—the public sphere and the private sphere. Predominantly male, the public sphere “demands independence, rationality, and self-reliance,” whereas the private sphere, predominantly female, reflects “dependence, emotionality, and support” (Forisha, 1981, p. 10). That which is public is primary, and that which is private is secondary. Since women have been relegated to the private sphere, their values and experiences have not been considered until recently.