Always Loved but Never Entitled: Professor Intentions to Promote Leadership in Women

The roles of women in society, the workplace, the home, and even the classroom have changed significantly over the last century. According Chin (2011), social rules of etiquette and gender roles are now more flexible and equity within the marital relationship more common. Women are more able to navigate life in and outside the home easily and freely (Chin, 2011). With regards to the new role that women have, it has given women the opportunity to explore leadership roles. However, the question still remains as to what role do educators have in influencing women to become leaders? Does the curriculum at the elementary and secondary level of education influence girls to become class leaders? Does course content at higher education encourage women to seek leadership positions later in life? We examine how professor intentions to promote women as leaders plays out in their classrooms.Review of the LiteratureWomen have no doubt made significant gains in the roles of leadership; however, a gap still remains as to women taking on leadership roles with society. In many counties, religious, political and cultural barriers continue to prevent decision-makers from acknowledging women's potential, especially in leadership (as cited in Steyn & White, 2011). According to Sperandio (2011), in order to empower women these elements must be present: resources, agency, and achievement. The three elements resources, agency, and achievement are defined as the following, resources defined broadly to include not only access, but also future claims to both material and human and social resources, agency defined as decision-making, as well as less measurable manifestations of agency such as negotiation, deception manipulation, and achievements defined as well-being outcomes (Sperandio, 2011).Educators must then embrace these elements mentioned to empower women within their courses and classrooms. According to Weidenfeller (2012) themes emerge among women that are considered empowered and leaders in various aspects of life, whether in the home, work place, or community. These women aspire to the following: (1) driven by a desire to control their destiny, (2) aspire to leadership positions with impact, (3) achieve influence through a connect-and-collaborate style, (4) initiate culture change while staying focused on results, and (5) apply self-knowledge and resiliency to address challenges (Weidenfeller, 2012). If these themes are common elements among empowered women, then the question that evolves is, whether college professors foster these themes within their courses? The course material chosen by these professors may have an influence upon the way women in these courses are empowered.Women are still underrepresented in leadership roles in corporations, institutions of higher education, and the political sector especially in light of the changing population (Chin, 2011). Gender can in itself be considered as symbolic capital and in most cases it creates an order where female gender is negative and male gender is positive capital (Zuiderveld, 2011). Hence, there is underrepresentation of course material reflecting the female persona. If course professors underrepresent the female gender within the course material, they choose to embark knowledge upon their course participants, it may influence whether the female course participants are empowered to take on roles of leadership. Building on Moroye's (2009) description of complimentary curriculum, this study examines how teacher intentions to promote women as leaders plays out in the curriculum and classroom environment. Our overarching question is as follows: How do professor intentions to encourage women to see themselves as leaders play out in the classroom?Researchers' BackgroundsDuring the time of the study, we both served as full-time faculty in teacher education at the same university. In an effort to work collaboratively, we noticed intersections within our respective research agendas. …