Share:


Concepts of creative leadership of women leaders in 21st century

    Claude-Hélène Mayer   Affiliation
    ; Rudolf M. Oosthuizen   Affiliation

Abstract

This article presents the subjective perspectives of women leaders working in higher education institutions in the 21st century in South Africa. It focuses in particular on creativity as demonstrated by women leaders working in culturally and gender diverse post-apartheid settings. The aim is to contribute to the discourse on the creativity of women leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds within South Africa higher education institutions by examining how women leaders experience creativity and what creativity means to them from a qualitative perspective. The study reported on assessed the experiences of creativity of 23 women leaders and their views on creativity and creative leadership by means of a research paradigm based on Wilhelm Dilthey’s modern hermeneutics. It used qualitative research methods, such as semi-structured interviews, as well as observations within one selected higher education institution. Data was analysed by means of content analysis. Quality research criteria and ethical considerations were upheld. The findings highlight the creative skills and attitudes of women leaders underlying successful leadership and the types of creative leadership applied. They suggest that women leaders’ creativity manifests in facilitating creativity in higher education institutions by fostering the creativity of others rather than directing their own creative vision through or integrating it in the work of employees.

Article in English.


XXI amžiaus kūrybinės moterų lyderystės koncepcijos

Santrauka

Šiame straipsnyje pristatomos subjektyvios moterų lyderių, XXI a. dirbančių aukštojo mokslo institucijose, perspektyvos Pietų Afrikoje. Čia ypač daug dėmesio skiriama kūrybiškumui, kurį rodo moterys lyderės, dirbančios kultūros ir lyties požiūriu įvairioje postapartheido aplinkoje. Tikslas – prisidėti prie skirtingos kultūrinės kilmės moterų lyderių, dirbančių Pietų Afrikos aukštojo mokslo institucijose, kūrybiškumo diskurso, tiriant, kokia yra moterų lyderių kūrybiškumo patirtis ir tai, ką joms reiškia kūrybiškumas kokybiniu požiūriu. Tyrime pateiktas 23 moterų lyderių kūrybiškumo patirčių bei jų požiūrių į kūrybiškumą ir kūrybinę lyderystę įvertinimas, parengtas pasitelkiant tyrimų paradigmą, kurios pagrindą sudaro Wilhelmo Dilthey’aus modernioji hermeneutika. Buvo taikyti kokybiniai tyrimų metodai, tokie kaip pusiau struktūruotais interviu, taip pat stebėjimais vienoje pasirinktoje aukštojo mokslo institucijoje. Duomenys buvo nagrinėjami turinio analizės metodu. Buvo vadovaujamasi kokybinių tyrimų kriterijais ir laikomasi etinių nusistatymų. Rezultatai atskleidžia moterų lyderių kūrybinius gebėjimus ir nuostatas, pagrindžiančias sėkmės lydimą lyderystę ir vyraujančius kūrybinės lyderystės tipus. Jie parodo, kad moterų lyderių kūrybiškumas atsiskleidžia palankiomis kūrybiškumui sąlygomis aukštojo mokslo institucijose, puoselėjant kitų kūrybiškumą ar integruojant jį į darbuotojų atliekamą darbą, o ne kreipiant jų pačių kūrybinę viziją.

Reikšminiai žodžiai: darbo vieta XXI a., kūrybinės strategijos, kūrybiškumas, įvairovė, aukštasis mokslas, psichinė sveikata, moterys lyderės.

Keyword : 21st century workplace, creative strategies, creativity, diversity, higher education, mental health, women leaders

How to Cite
Mayer, C.-H., & Oosthuizen, R. M. (2020). Concepts of creative leadership of women leaders in 21st century. Creativity Studies, 13(1), 21-40. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2020.10267
Published in Issue
Jan 13, 2020
Abstract Views
3055
PDF Downloads
1719
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Acker, S. (2010). Gendered games in academic leadership. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 20(2), 129‒152. https://doi.org/10.1080/09620214.2010.503062

Baer, J., & Kaufman, J. C. (2006). Creativity research in English-speaking countries. In J. C. Kaufman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), The international handbook of creativity (pp. 10–38). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511818240.002

Blair, I. V., Ma, J. E., & Lenton, A. P. (2001). Imagining stereotypes away: the moderation of implicit stereotypes through mental imagery. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(5), 828–841. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.5.828

Cheung, F. M., & Halpern, D. F. (2010). Women at the top: powerful leaders define success as work + family in a culture of gender. American Psychologist, 65(3), 182–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017309

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). The systems model of creativity: the collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Dordrecht: Springer Science+Business Media.

Dasgupta, N., & Asgari, Sh. (2004). Seeing is believing: exposure to counterstereotypic women leaders and its effect on the malleability of automatic gender stereotyping. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40(5), 642–658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2004.02.003

Dasgupta, N., & Greenwald, A. G. (2001). On the malleability of automatic attitudes: combating automatic prejudice with images of admired and disliked individuals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(5), 800–814. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.5.800

Department of Labour, Republic of South Africa. (1998). Employment Equity Act, No. 55 of 1998. Retrieved from http://bee.b1sa.co.za/docs/The%20Employment%20Equity%20Act%201998.pdf

Dilthey, W. (2002). Selected works. Vol. III: The Formation of the Historical World in the Human Sciences. R. A. Makkreel & F. Rodi (Eds.). Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

Ellingson, L. L. (2013). Analysis and representation across the continuum. Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials, 4, 413–445.

Epitropaki, O., Mueller, J. S., & Lord, R. G. (2019). Unpacking the socio-cognitive foundations of creative leadership: bridging implicit leadership and implicit creativity theories. In Ch. Mainemelis, O. Epitropaki, & R. Kark (Eds.), Creative leadership: contexts and prospects (pp. 39–56). Series: Routledge Studies in Leadership Research. New York and London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203712214-3

Epitropaki, O., Sy, Th., Martin, R., Tram-Quon, S., & Topakas, A. (2013). Implicit leadership and followership theories “in the Wild”: taking stock of information-processing approaches to leadership and followership in organizational settings. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(6), 858–881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.10.005

Gallant, A. (2014). Symbolic interactions and the development of women leaders in higher education. Gender, Work and Organization, 21(3), 203‒216. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12030

Glăveanu, V. P. (2015). Creativity as a sociocultural act. Journal of Creative Behavior, 49(3), 165–180. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.94

Guilford, J. P. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5(9), 444–454. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0063487

Henriksen, D., Mishra, P., & Fisser, P. (2016). Infusing creativity and technology in 21st century education: a systemic view for change. Educational Technology and Society, 19(3), 27–37.

Hoever, I. J., Knippenberg, van D., Ginkel, van W. P., & Barkema, H. G. (2012). Fostering team creativity: perspective taking as key to unlocking diversity’s potential. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(5), 982–996. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029159

Kinnear, L. (2014). A critical analysis of the emerging models of power amongst South African women business leaders (PhD/Doctoral Thesis). University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, South Africa [unpublished source].

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park: SAGE Publications, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(85)90062-8

Lord, R. G., & Shondrick, S. J. (2011). Leadership and knowledge: symbolic, connectionist, and embodied perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(1), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.12.016

Mainemelis, Ch., Kark, R., & Epitropaki, O. (2015). Creative leadership: a multi-context conceptualization. The Academy of Management Annals, 9(1), 393–482. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2015.1024502

Mayer, C.-H., & Barnard, A. (2015). Balancing the scales of gender and culture in contemporary South Africa. In S. Safdar & N. Kosakowska-Berezecka (Eds.), Psychology of gender through the lens of culture: theories and applications (pp. 327-349). New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14005-6_16

Mayer, C.-H., & Maree, D. J. F. (2018). A writer’s creativity across the life span: Paulo Coelho in psychobiographical perspective. Journal of Genius and Eminence, 3(1), 85–98.

Mayer, C.-H., & Surtee, S. (2015). The leadership preferences of women leaders working in higher education. Géneros – Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies, 4(1), 612–636.

Mayer, C.-H., Surtee, S., & Barnard, A. (2015). Women leaders in higher education: a psycho-spiritual perspective. South African Journal of Psychology, 45(1), 102–115. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246314548869

Mayer, C.-H., Tonelli, L., Oosthuizen, R. M., & Surtee, S. (2018). “You Have to Keep your Head on Your Shoulders”: a systems psychodynamic perspective on women leaders. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology 44. Retrieved from https://sajip.co.za/index.php/sajip/article/view/1424/2206

Miggiani, M. (2015). What makes the creative, creative? A qualitative study about the creativity of creative directors (PhD/Doctoral Thesis). University of Malta. Msida, Malta [unpublished source].

Moodly, A. L. (2015). Gender equity in South African higher education leadership: where are we twenty years after democracy? Journal of Social Sciences, 42(3), 229‒238. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718923.2015.11893410

Moodly, A., & Toni, N. M. (2017). Accessing higher education leadership: towards a framework for women’s professional development. South African Journal of Higher Education, 31(3), 138‒153. https://doi.org/10.20853/31-3-917

Moodly, A. L., & Toni, N. (2015a). Women’s access to higher education leadership: where are the role models? Journal of Social Sciences, 45(1), 45‒52. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718923.2015.11893486

Moodly, A., & Toni, N. (2015b, 10‒11 October). Women’s voices of and on leadership in higher education. In 7th International Conference ICTEL on Teaching, Education and Learning. Pointe aux Piments, Mauritius [unpublished source].

Morley, L. (2013). The rules of the game: women and the leaderist turn in higher education. Gender and Education, 25(1), 116‒131. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2012.740888

Mostert, K. (2009). The balance between work and home: the relationship between work and home demands and Ill health of employed females. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 35(1), 145–152. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v35i1.743

O’Connor, P., Carvalho, T., & White, K. (2014). The experiences of senior positional leaders in Australian, Irish and Portuguese Universities: universal or contingent? Higher Education Research and Development, 33(1), 5–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.864608

PwC. (2018). Workforce of the future: the competing forces shaping 2030. Retrieved from https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/people-organisation/workforce-of-the-future/workforce-of-the-future-the-competing-forces-shaping-2030-pwc.pdf

Ragadu, S. C. (2008). Transformation in higher education: perceptions of female academics at a distance education institution of higher education (Master’s Thesis). Stellenbosch University. Stellenbosch, South Africa. Retrieved from https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/2809

Rey, de la Ch. M. (1999). Career narratives of women professors in South Africa. University of Cape Town. Cape Town, South Africa. Retrieved from https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/7859/the-sis_hum_1999_delarey_c.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Rojanapanich, P., & Pimpa, N. (2011). Creative education, globalization and social imaginary. Creative Education, 2(4), 327–332. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2011.24046

Runco, M. A. (2015). Meta-creativity: being creative about creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 27(3), 295–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2015.1065134

Sternberg, R. J. (2003a). Creative thinking in the classroom. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 47(3), 325–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313830308595

Sternberg, R. J. (2003b). Teaching for successful intelligence: principles, practices, and outcomes. Educational and Child Psychology, 20(2), 6–18.

Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (2000). Handbook of intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807947

Sternberg, R. J. (2005a). The theory of successful intelligence. Interamerican Journal of Psychology, 39(2), 189–202.

Sternberg, R. J. (2005b). The WICS model of organizational leadership. Center for Public Leadership Working Papers, 5–6, 96–115.

Sternberg, R. J. (2007). A systems model of leadership: WICS. American Psychologist, 62(1), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.62.1.34

Sternberg, R. J., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2007). Teaching for successful intelligence: to increase student learning and achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Sternberg, R. J., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2004). WICS: a model for selecting students for nationally competitive scholarships. In A. S. Ilchman, W. F. Ilchman, & M. Hale Tolar (Eds.), The lucky few and the worthy many: scholarship competitions and the world’s future leaders (pp. 32–61). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Sternberg, R. J., & Kaufman, J. C. (Eds.). (2018). The nature of human creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108185936

Sternberg, R. J., Kaufman, J. C., & Pretz, J. E. (2003). A propulsion model of creative leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 14(4–5), 455–473. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(03)00047-X

Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1995). Defying the crowd: cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity. New York, NY: The Free Press.

Sternberg, R. J., Rhee Bonney, Ch., Gabora, L., & Merrifield, M. (2012). WICS: a model for college and university admissions. Educational Psychologist, 47(1), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2011.638882

Surajlall, P. (2012). Career advancement of senior women through executive leadership development programmes (Master’s Thesis). University of Pretoria. Pretoria, South Africa. Retrieved from https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/22838/dissertation.pdf;sequence=1

Terre Blanche, M., Durrheim, K., & Kelly, K. (2006). First steps in qualitative data analysis. In M. Terre Blanche, K. Durrheim, & D. Painter (Eds.), Research in Practice: Applied Methods for the Social Sciences (pp. 320–344). Cape Town: University of Cape Town.

Tessens, L., White, K., & Web, C. (2011). Senior women in higher education institutions: perceived development needs and support. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33(6), 653‒665. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2011.621191

Vessey, W. B., Barrett, J. D., Mumford, M. D., Johnson, G., & Litwiller, B. (2014). Leadership of highly creative people in highly creative fields: a historiometric study of scientific leaders. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(4), 672‒691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2014.03.001

White, K., Riordan, S., Özkanli, Ö., & Neale, J. (2010). Cross cultural perspectives of gender and management in universities. South African Journal of Higher Education, 24(4), 646‒660.

Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: design and methods, 5. Series: Applied Social Research Methods Series. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.