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10 - Women and Leadership

Building Community

from Part III - Community Psychology in Action

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2021

By
Donna Baptiste  and
Kesha Burch
Edited by
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers
Affiliation:
Long Island University, New York
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Summary

This chapter explores the importance of women’s leadership with a focus on community-building activities. The term leadership is examined in relation to sex/gender, feminism, the qualities and styles that align with women’s gendered socialization, gender scripts and worldviews. Using a case example, we illustrate how feminist community leaders might select among six approaches to build trust and optimism in their followership. These frameworks include Transformational leadership, Servant leadership, Collaborative leadership, Innovation leadership, Diversity and Inclusion leadership, and Emotionally Intelligent leadership. Each leadership approach is synergistic with a feminist framework. The chapter discusses how women leaders can draw on these frameworks to maximize their effectiveness. We also discuss strategies to develop women as community leaders with consideration of the unique circumstances and needs of women underprivileged backgrounds.

Keywords

Womenfeministleadershipcommunity-building
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Community Psychology
Interdisciplinary and Contextual Perspectives
 , pp. 199 - 222
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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