Over the past two years, Drs. Susan R. Madsen and Julia Storberg-Walker (with others) have designed and delivered a series of events focused on developing women and leadership theory. Women from all over the world have participated, and the outcomes to date include an edited book volume (coming out in 2016), workshops building theorizing capacity in Asia, Europe, and the United States, and several conference presentations and publications.
The catalyst for this effort was the Asilomar Declaration and Call to Action, a globally-distributed report generated at the first Women and Leadership Affinity Group conference in the summer of 2013. This report called for specific research and practice actions to address the significant and continuing inequality of women and girls. One of the key recommendations in the report was to call for a renewed focus on the scholarship surrounding women and leadership.
The Theory Think Tank attends to this need, and is one strategy to scale-up our capacity to enhance women and leadership theory. At this event in July, senior scholars from multiple disciplines will be engaged in purposive dialogue and debate. The Think Tank offers a space for these scholars—who represent different paradigms, cultures, values, and beliefs— to have deep and meaningful conversations about their work and how they collectively want to impact the future direction of women and leadership theory. The outcome will be a white paper that reports the key findings, issues, and lessons learned.
The event is designed around three organizing questions:
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What is the current status of women and leadership theory?
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Given the multiplicity of contexts, cultures, and social norms relating to leadership, how should leadership theories for women be developed?
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What are the gaps and research priorities for advancing women and leadership theory?
We believe that the combined knowledge and experience of 30 senior women scholars has the potential to generate a powerful agenda for social change. Theorizing is no longer an ivory-tower intellectual exercise; we believe theorizing is one way to actively engage with a new future. The future we seek to facilitate through the Think Tank and other related events is one of equality, safety, and empowerment for women and girls.
Please feel free to review the Participant Directory as well as the other resources provided above. We appreciate your interest in the event, and will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
Think Tank Chairs,
Welcome
