Change it Up What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 23
About This Presentation
Title:

Change it Up What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership

Description:

What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership. Summary of Research Findings ... Only about 21% of girls and boys believe they currently have most of the key ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:132
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 24
Provided by: lnew
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Change it Up What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership


1
Change it Up! What Girls Say About Redefining
Leadership Summary of Research Findings Girl
Scout Research Institute Girl Scouts of the USA
March 18, 2008
2
Research Goal To explore and understand the att
itudes, perceptions, and experiences of girls
ages 8-17 towards leadership

3
Methodology
Qualitative -- 13 focus groups and 6 ethnographi
es in Hackensack, NJ Cincinnati, OH
Atlanta, GA San Diego, CA (165 girls, boys
and mothers) Quantitative -- Nationwide online
survey 2,475 girls and 1,514 boys between ages
8 to 17 -- Mall intercept interviews 640 Afric
an American and Hispanic pre-teen and teen
girls and boys at 15 locations
Expert Interviews -- In-depth interviews 15 ex
perts in leadership, youth development, and
girls Research Advisory Body Girl Scout Coun
cil Advisory Body -- Expert advisors from youth d
evelopment/leadership field and Girl Scout
Councils
4
Insight 1 Girls are Redefining Leadership in Mea
ningful Terms Most common definition Power
Control Least aspirational definition        
       Power Control Most aspirational defin
ition Personal Principles
Social Change
Values  
5
  • Change it Up!
  •  
  • 68 of girls say that they want to be a leader
    who stands up for
  • their beliefs and values in the future.
  • 59 say they want to be like someone who tries
    to change the
  • world for the better in the future.

6
Leadership Ingredients Setting the Bar High
  Girls highly idealize leadership qualities and
skills responsible, caring, honest,
hard-working, decision-maker, confident, good
listener, team player, organized, motivated
  Only about 21 of girls and boys believe they c
urrently have most of the key qualities required
to be a good leader. Leadership is so highly id
ealized in young peoples minds that most of them
do not believe they can attain this goal.

7
  • Leadership Aspirations
  • TODAY
  • 61 of girls currently think of themselves as
    leaders.
  • THE FUTURE
  • When asked if they want to be leaders, 39 of
    girls say yes.
  • The majority, 52, say they would not mind being
    a leader, but its
  • not that important to them.
  • 9 say no, they do not want to be leaders.

8
  • Insight 1 Girls are Redefining Leadership in
    Meaningful Terms
  • Insight 1 Implications
  • (1) Make clear which aspects of leadership are
    at the core of program


    activities.
  • (2) Define leadership in meaningful terms to
    girls.
  • Set reasonable and attainable leadership
    development goals so that
  • girls dont feel they have to
    possess every imaginable skill and
  • competency.

9
  • Insight 2
  • Self-Confidence Skills New Girl Leaders
  • The factor that most strongly influences a
    girls desire to actively pursue
  • leadership is confidence in her own skills and
    competencies.
  • The greatest single barrier to leadership is low
    self-regard around skills
  • and qualities.
  • Very simply put, youth who report high
    self-regard on a number of leadership skills and
    qualities are more likely to aspire to
    leadership.

10
  • Additional factors that influence a girls
    desire to actively pursue leadership
  • Organizational skills
  • Extraversion
  • Dominant profile/identity
  • Experience with leadership roles

11
  • African-American, Hispanic and Asian girls and
    boys as well as higher income youth are more
    likely to aspire to leadership.
  • This is because
  • They rate themselves higher on leadership skills
    dimensions.
  • They are more likely to report having a
    leadership experience.
  • They are more likely to think of themselves as
    leaders.

12
  • Age and gender have very little effect on youths
    desire to pursue leadership
  • The age effect is significant, but small.
    Self-perception as a
  • leader is highest at younger ages (grades
    2-4) drops in grades 7-10
  • and rises again slightly in grades 11-12.
  • Girls and boys have an equal likelihood of
    aspiring to and thinking of
  • themselves as leaders.

13

14
  • Insight 2 Self-Confidence Skills New Girl
    Leaders
  • Insight 2 Implications
  • Provide opportunities to develop leadership
    skills and experiment with leadership roles in
    supportive environments.
  • (2) Boost girls self-confidence and skill set.
    This in turn makes them more likely to be
    interested in leadership.

15
  • Insight 3 Leadership Experiences Support
    System
  • New Girl Leaders
  • Girls past leadership experience and
    extracurricular participation predicts leadership
    aspiration.
  • Most youth (67) have had a chance to be a
    leader, with non-white youth (75)
  • significantly more likely than white youth
    (64) to report having a chance to be a
  • leader.
  • Youth experience leadership mostly at school
    (75), home (24), and church
  • (22), with the most influential support and
    adult role modeling at home.

16
  • The Girl Scout Effect
  • 60 of current Girl Scouts report being
    encouraged to be a leader by Girl Scout
  • leaders.
  • Compared to girls who were never in Girl Scouts,
    a high representation of Girl
  • Scouts want to be leaders (49 vs. 36), think
    of themselves as leaders
  • (67vs. 58) and have had the opportunity and
    experience to be a leader
  • (71 vs. 50).

17
Youth identify family (especially mothers),
teachers, and friends as influencers.
18
  • Gender Differences
  • Girls are more driven by altruistic motives boys
    are more driven by
  • power and money.
  • Girls are more likely than boys to want to be
    leaders because they want
  • to help other people (67 vs. 53), share
    their knowledge and skills
  • with others (53 vs. 47), and change the
    world for the better (45 vs.
  • 31).
  • Boys are more likely than girls to be motivated
    by the desire to be their
  • own boss (38 vs. 33), make more money (33
    vs. 26), and have
  • more power (22 vs. 14).
  • Girls derive greater satisfaction from learning
    (31 vs. 22) in
  • leadership experiences boys derive great
    satisfaction from being in
  • charge (26 vs. 16).

19
  • Gender Differences
  • While the majority of respondents (82) agree
    that boys and girls are
  • equally good at being leaders, 56 of girls
    and boys say "in our society,
  • it is more difficult to become a leader for
    woman than a man.
  • More than half (52) of girls and boys agree
    that girls have to work
  • harder than boys in order to gain positions of
    leadership. More girls
  • (57) than boys (44) feel this way.

20
Insight 3 Leadership Experiences Support
System New Girl Leaders Insight 3 Implicatio
ns To be relevant and successful to girls, a lea
dership program must (1) Teach new skills releva
nt to leadership development. (2) Create mentorin
g relationships (peer-to-peer girl-to-adult).
(3) Provide safe environments for free
expression. (4) Create opportunities to effect ch
ange in communities. (5) Address the gender stere
otypes that boys and girls face.
21
  • Insight 4 Girls Have a Range of Leadership
    Identities
  • Girls cannot be approached as a homogenous group
    in relation to leadership aspiration.
  • (36) Vanguard Think of selves as
    leaders/Want to be leaders
  • (25) Ambivalent Think of selves as
    leaders/Wouldnt mind being leaders
  • (4) Hopefuls Dont think of selves
    as leaders/Want to be leaders
  • (26) Unmotivated Dont think of selves as
    leaders/Wouldnt mind being leaders
  • (8) Rejecters Dont think of selves
    as leaders/Dont want to be leaders

22
Insight 4 Girls Have a Range of Leadership
Identities Insight 4 Implications (1) Do
not treat girls like one homogenous block.
(2) Tailor programming, delivery, and activities
to their different identities.
23
The Girl Scout Research Institute
For more information contact the GSRI gsresea
rch_at_girlscouts.org Visit the GSRI web page
http//www.girlscouts.org/Research/
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com