You might well imagine the field of TESOL is adapting to big changes, now more than ever. As TESOL professionals, putting ourselves at the front of that change is the essence of leadership. But what additional dimensions do women in particular bring to that leadership role?
This is the question posed by UCSB’s Marie Webb and co-authors in a forthcoming chapter titled “Reimagining Women Leadership in TESOL: Advocating for Change, Harnessing Reflexivity, and Humanizing Practices,” to be included in included in Female Leadership Identity in English Language Teaching: Autoethnographies of Global Perspectives (published by Brill).
Women, the authors say, bring a heavier emphasis on building knowledge and expertise though dialog, co-mentorship, and inclusivity.
As Dr. Webb elaborates, “Women need to seek and create opportunities to become leaders to one another. Doing so allows them to step into a leadership role that offers a non-judgmental space to express their emotions in a feminine, loving, and caring way that is traditionally unacceptable in a masculine-dominated setting in higher education.”
The EMS Program congratulates our own Dr. Marie Webb on the upcoming publication of her book chapter. Keep up the good work and good leadership!