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Meletiadou, Eleni (2022) Female educational leaders in higher education institutions in the UK: insights into their Covid-19 crisis management skills and their reliance on inclusive leadership [Presentation]. In: CRI Symposium 2022, 2022.
Research in the inclusive leadership (IL), female leadership and crisis management (CM) literatures has explored these concepts in depth but there is little integration of findings. To integrate findings from these literatures and contribute to theory on these topics, the current study explores the concepts and enactment of leadership and CM from the female leaders’ perspective. Very few studies, if any, have explored women’s leadership styles in terms of their efforts to help Higher Education Institutions (HEI) face unprecedented challenges during crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Through assisted thematic content analyses of 40 female educational leaders’ interviews, the current study investigates whether they relied on IL to help their educational institutions exit this crisis. Drawing on social information processing theory, inclusive leaders tend to promote the significance of inclusion in learning organisations through inclusive leader role modelling. They foster psychological safety enhancing employees’ engagement and overall performance especially amidst crises. Consistent with the findings of prior research, sub-themes emerged from the interviews related to employee empowerment, shared leadership, and collaboration stressing the free exchange of ideas, active listening, and genuine interest in employees. The study revealed that its participants exercised IL and provided considerable support to their followers during the Covid-19 crisis. Based on these insights we consider our limitations and offer suggestions for theory, research, and practice. We also suggest a new theoretical framework that could inform the design of training programmes which provide guidance to leaders for future crises. In this article, we argue that cultivating and harnessing the advancements of female leadership internationally and implementing a gender inclusive lens in pandemic preparedness responses by taking into consideration the experiences and voices of female leaders is necessary.
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