Journal of Management Education Special Issue
Call for Papers
WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS: LESSONS LEARNED AND
NEW FRONTIERS
Guest Editors:
Gelaye Debebe, The George Washington University (gdebebe@gwu.edu)
Diana Bilimoria, Case Western Reserve University (diana.bilimoria@case.edu)
Susan Vinnicombe, Cranfield University and Simmons College (s.m.vinnicombe@cranfield.ac.uk)
Deirdre Anderson, Cranfield University (deirdre.anderson@cranfield.ac.uk)
This special issue specifically addresses women’s leadership development programs, which have grown considerably in recent years. These programs can range from one-off events to strategic activities embedded within larger system-wide change efforts. A growing body of work explores various issues such as program impact (Vinnicombe and Singh, 2003), theory and design of women’s leadership programs (Hopkins et al, 2008; Ely et al., 2011), embedding women’s leadership development within systemic gender equity change initiatives (Bilimoria and Liang, 2012), single-sex program designs (Vinnicombe and Singh, 2002, 2003; Anderson, Vinnicombe & Singh, 2008; Debebe 2011), and methodological issues in impact evaluation (Jarvis, et al., 2013). Two additional emerging areas include multiple identities (Debebe and Reinert, 2014) and the supporting role of men (Simmons, 1996; Burke & Major, 2014). We invite submissions that consider a variety of issues related to women’s leadership programs from a scholarship of teaching and learning perspective.
Leadership and management development refer to learning and growth over the course of a person’s career, contributing to increasing role effectiveness (Wexley and Baldwin, 1986; Velsor et al., 1998). Our conception of leadership development is rooted in the notion of transformational learning (Mezirow, 1991). Put simply, transformational learning is a process resulting in deep and significant change in habitual patterns of thinking and doing, resulting in new approaches to role enactment. A transformational learning perspective shifts the focus from course content, assessment and feedback to the process, nature and context of deep learning and change at individual and systemic levels.
Possible Topics for Submission
Below is a list of possible research questions, issues and topics that could be addressed in submissions. Prospective authors and potential reviewers are invited to email any of the guest editors about this special issue to discuss their ideas, and we would also be pleased to respond to proposals.
1. How do management education activities in the university classroom (undergraduate, graduate and executive education) or in corporations (training events, on-the-job learning assignments) foster women’s leadership development over the course of their careers?
2. Empirical cases that describe, explore, and explain the nature, process and outcomes of women’s leadership development programs aimed at organizational-level change. What can we learn from these cases regarding successful strategies and pitfalls for organizational transformation?
3. How do multiple identities come into play in women’s leadership experiences and how might women’s leadership programs account for this?
4. How can women’s leadership development be best supported in the classroom by men?
5. How should women’s leadership development programs be evaluated? What are the limitations of current practices and how might these be addressed?
6. What are successful curricular examples of women’s leadership development in undergraduate, graduate, and executive business/management education programs? What are extant challenges?
7. Description and analysis of teaching resources and innovations, such as films, exercises, mentoring and coaching for women’s leadership development. Particular focus should be given to the potential of pedagogical tools to catalyze transformational learning.
8. Reviews that specifically address women’s leadership development. For example, how have women’s leadership programs (of all types) evolved? What are the implications of this evolution for the future of women’s leadership development theory and practice?
We seek submissions across the Journal of Management Education’s individual sections: research/conceptual articles, essays, teaching innovations, and resource reviews. Submissions should be original, not submitted to or published in any other sources, and conform to word count limits as noted at the manuscript submission site. Full guidelines for manuscript submission are available online at: http://www.sagepub.com/journals/Journal200931#tabview=manuscriptSubmission. The paper submission deadline is December 15, 2014.
References
Anderson, D., Vinnicombe, S., & Singh, V. (2008). Women only leadership development: A conundrum. In K.T. James, & J. Collins (Eds.), Leadership learning: Knowledge into action (pp. 147-161). London, Palgrave Macmillan.
Bilimoria, D., & Liang, X. (2012). Gender equity in science and engineering: Advancing change in higher education. New York, NY: Routledge.
Burke, R. J. & Major, D. A. (2014). Gender in organizations: Are men allies or adversaries to women’s career advancement? Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
Debebe, G. (2011). Creating a safe environment for women's leadership transformation. Journal of Management Education, 35, 679-712. doi: 10.1177/1052562910397501
Debebe. G., & Reinert, K.A. (2014). Leading with our whole selves: A multiple identity approach to leadership development. In M. Miville & A. Ferguson (Eds.), Handbook on race-ethnicity and gender in psychology (pp 271-293). New York, NY: Springer.
Ely, R. J., Ibarra, H., & Kolb, D.M. (2011). Taking gender into account: Theory and design for women’s leadership programs. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10, 474-493. Retrieved from: http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amle.2010.0046
Hopkins, M.M., O’Neil, D., Passarelli, A., & Bilimoria, D. (2008). Women’s leadership development: Strategic practices for women in organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 60, 348-365. doi: 10.1037/a0014093
Jarvis, C. Gulati, A., Mcririck, V., & Simpson, P. (2013). Leadership matters: Tensions in evaluating leadership development. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 15, 27-45. doi: 10.1177/1523422312467138
Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Simmons, M. (1996). New leadership for women and men: Building an inclusive organization. London: Gower Publishing Ltd.
Velsor, E.V., McCauley, C.D., & Moxley, R.S. (1998). Introduction: Our view of leadership development. In. C.D. McCauley, R.S. Moxley, & E.V. Velsor (Eds.), The Center for Creative Leadership Handbook of Leadership Development (pp 271-293). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Vinnicombe, S. & Singh, V. (2002). Developing tomorrow’s women business leaders. In R. J. Burke & D. L. Nelson (Eds.), Advancing women’s careers: Research and practice (pp. 206-219). Malden: Blackwell.
Vinnicombe, S., & Singh, V. (2003). Women-only management programs: An essential part of women’s leadership development. Journal of Change Management, 3, 294-306.
Wexley, K., & Baldwin, T.T. (1986). Management development. Journal of Management, 12, 277-294. doi: 10.1177/014920638601200209