9
HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
MLD-324M: WOMEN AND LEADERSHIP
Fall 2013
Faculty: Professor Barbara Kellerman
Office Location: Taubman #158
Phone: 617-495-7570
Email:
Office Hours: By appointment.
Faculty Assistant: Mike Leveriza
Office Location: Center for Public Leadership, Taubman #141G
Phone: 617-495-1386
E-mail:
Schedule of Classes: Tuesdays and Thursdays; 11:40 to 1:00 PM
Classroom: L382
Class Dates: Tuesday, October 22 through Thursday, December 5
Continued…
Course Description:
This course is designed to provide students with a general interest in leadership with ideas, information, and insights that pertain to women and leadership in particular. It does not intend, directly, to train women to become leaders, or even, depending on the circumstance, to become better leaders than they already are. Rather it is based on the assumption that knowing about women and leadership will impact on how wisely and well power, authority, and influence are exercised - by women and by men.
In recent decades, women in America and in many places elsewhere in the world as well, have made great strides. But in spite of the fact that women now outpace men in educational achievement, so far as women and leadership is concerned, progress has been slow to nearly nonexistent. Of the 195 countries in the world only 17 are led by women; similarly women hold only about 20 percent of parliamentary seats. Further, in the U. S. they head only about 3 percent of Fortune 500 companies, hold only about 17 percent of board seats, and constitute only about 18 percent of elected congressional officials. For women of color the gap is worse. They hold only 3 percent of board seats, and 5 percent of congressional seats.
These then are the assumptions on which this course is based: that women have had and still do have far less access to leadership roles than men; that the reasons for this diminished access are numerous and complex; that as a simple matter of equity women should have greater access to positions of leadership in the future than they did in the past; and that so far as leadership is concerned, women have challenges that uniquely are theirs. I might note that though the subject of women and leadership has been part of the collective conversation for the last ten to twenty years, it persists in its power to impassion. As we will see, the recent debate on this subject between Anne- Marie Slaughter on the one hand and Sheryl Sandberg on the other, was a reminder of how unsettled still the situation.
The module will be divided into three parts. To begin we will place the subject of women and leadership in historical context. Issues pertaining to women/leadership seem somehow singularly current – and in some ways they are. But at the same time they are embedded in a pertinent past, with which it is important to be at least somewhat familiar. The second part of the course will consider women in the different spheres within which power, authority, and influence are exercised. They include the different sectors (business, government, etc.), as well as different groups and organizations, and different cultures, nations, and other reference groups. While we cannot in six weeks do justice to the complexity of context, we can sensitize ourselves to the importance of contextual intelligence and expertise. Finally the course will be experiential. It will draw on your personal/professional experiences, as they reflect present challenges and future opportunities.
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Three concluding notes: First, while most of the available materials on women and leadership are based on the American experience, the course will be multicultural in its orientation. Students from countries other than the United States are encouraged to bring to this class the benefit of their own background and experiences. Second, all students who enroll in the class should recall that our focus is on women and leadership particularly, rather than on women generally. While all gender issues relate to all other gender issues, the constraints of time require that we stay specific. Finally, my own interests are in leadership, followership, and context writ broad. So students should be aware that this more general orientation provides the basis for my own contributions.
Course format:
I like a lively classroom, so the course will be conducted seminar style. Our time together will consist of lectures, questions and answers, debates and discussions, presentations and problem solving. I anticipate a fortuitous mix of information and invention, each of the participants learning not only from the experts but from the experiences of each other.
Course Requirements:
First, it is expected that each student participate actively in the class discussion, at least in so far as class size will allow. In general, to “participate” is to contribute, in class, to the collective conversation. All students will be asked to form small groups; in turn, each group will be asked to lead one half of one class session. Some students will also be invited to give a presentation, based on their case study.
Second, students will be asked to submit on Thursday, November 14 a four to six page paper (typed, double-spaced) that addresses a single question raised by the class readings and/or class discussions. A handout on short papers will be provided; it will clarify the parameters of the assignment, and indicate in general terms what a good short paper for this particular class should look like.
Third, students are asked to submit on the last day of class, Thursday, December 5, a second paper, eight to ten pages in length. This second paper will be a case study based on a single personal/professional experience, as it relates to and reflects the themes of this course. A handout on case studies will be also provided; it will indicate what is to be included in, and excluded from, the case study, and also how more generally the case should be approached.
Continued . . .
I recommend that you include in your papers a brief list of endnotes and a similarly brief biography. Both papers are to be submitted to the instructor in hard copy.
Course Grading:
Students will be evaluated on the basis of:
· The vigor and competence of their oral participation
· The ambition and competence of their written submission
Grades will be determined in approximate accord with the following percentages:
· Participation – 40%
· Papers – 60% (first paper 25%; second paper 35%)
Final Notes:
First, the use of personal computers and all other devices is prohibited during class. Second, in the event that you arrive to class late or must leave early, please inform me in advance of the session. Third, on the remote chance that you have to miss more than one class, please explain your situation to me. Fourth, the syllabus that follows should be considered final. However, small adjustments might still be made during the semester, either at my initiative or yours. Fifth, the syllabus is only a starting point; feel free to conduct your own research, introduce your own materials. Finally, feel similarly free to contact me at any point with any questions or concerns. I am always available by e mail either promptly to reply and, or, to set up an appointment to meet.
Course Readings:
· The Course Reading Packets can be purchased at the KSG Course Materials Office (Belfer, G-6).
· The following books are available for purchase at the Harvard COOP:
o Barbara Kellerman and Deborah Rhode, Women and Leadership: State of Play and Strategies for Change (Jossey-Bass, 2008). Recommended but not Required.
o Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli, Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders (Harvard Business School Press, 2007). Recommended but not Required.
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o Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (Knopf, 2013). Recommended but not Required.
o Estelle B. Freedman, ed., The Essential Feminist Reader (Modern Library, 2007). Paper, Optional for those with an Interest in the Feminist Literature.
· All readings are also on reserve in the Kennedy School Library and/or available online. Readings that are online have been hyperlinked for your convenience.
· The following web sites should be perused from time to time:
www.catalyst.org;www.cawp.rutgers.edu; http://www.familiesandwork.org; http://www.womenscampaigninternational.org; and http://www.emilyslist.org/
· The following articles (all hyperlinked) are either recommend or, if specifically indicated, required.
o Anne Applebaum, “How to Succeed in Business,” New York Review of Books, June 6, 2013.
o Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Yes, You Can,” New York Times Book Review, March 10, 2013
o Sumath Reddy, “More Doctors Broach Delicate Topic of Women’s Age and Fertility Rate,” Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2013.
o Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Women in a Man’s World,” New York Times, April 3, 2013.
o Mark Scott, “To Meet Norway’s Goals, A Crash Course in Serving on Boards, New York Times, April 3, 2013.
o Dev Patel, “Law School Coalition Aims To Mitigate Campus Gender Disparities,” Harvard Crimson, March 28, 2013.
o Katie Koch, “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pantsuit,” Harvard Gazette, April 5, 2013.
o Tara Siegal Bernard, “In Paid Family Leave, U.S. Trails Most of the Globe,” New York Times. February 22, 2013
o Dina Medland, “Women and the Workplace -Fundamental Change Could Take ‘at Least a Generation,” Financial Times. February 20, 2013.
o Jody Greenstone Miller, “The Real Women’s Issue: Time,” Wall Street Journal, March 9-10, 2013.
o Peggy Drexler, “The Tyranny of the Queen Bee,” Wall Street Journal, March 2-3, 2013.
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o Jennifer Steinhauer, “Once Few: Women Hold More Power in the Senate,” New York Times, March 22, 2013,
o Rupert Wingfiield-Hayes, “Japan: The Worst Developed Country for Working Mothers?”, BBC New Magazine, March 21, 2013.
o Catherine Rampell, “Coveting Not a Corner Office, but Time at Home,” New York Times, July 8, 2013.
Syllabus
Tuesday, October 22: WHY WOMEN AND LEADERSHIP – AND FOLLOWERSHIP?
What does leadership look like in the second decade of the 21st century? What is followership and why do we need to study it along with leadership? Why study women and leadership in particular?
Readings:
· Barbara Kellerman and Deborah L. Rhode, Women & Leadership: The State of Play and Strategies for Change (Jossey-Bass, 2007), pp. 1-35 (notes optional).
· Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli, Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders (Harvard Business Press 2007), pp. 1-27.
· Barbara Kellerman, Followership: How Followers are Creating Change and Changing Leaders (Harvard Business Press, 2008), pp. xv-xxii, 25-47.
· Barbara Kellerman, “The Abiding Tyranny of the Male Leadership Model — A Manifesto” HBR Blog, April 27, 2010.
Thursday, October 24: THE PAST
What is the (primarily Anglo-American) historical context within which the issue of women and leadership is embedded? What are some of the other contexts – historical and/or contemporaneous - that are relevant to members of this class?
Readings:
· Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (W.W. Norton, 1988), pp. 7-11. (Originally published in 1792.)
· Toni Bentley, “A ‘Hyena in Petticoats,’” in New York Times Book Review, May 29, 2005.
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· Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Declaration of Sentiments” in Estelle B. Freedman, ed., The Essential Feminist Reader (Modern Library, 2007), pp. 58-62. (Originally published in 1848.)
· Sojourner Truth, Two Speeches in Freedman, op. cit., pp. 63-66.
· Lynne Olson, Freedom's Daughters The Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement From 1830 to 1970, Preface and Chapter 1, pp. 13-32.
· Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (Norton, 2001), pp. 15-32. (And also passim, as inclined.)
· Gail Collins, When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present (Little Brown, 2009), pp. 3-8, 11-24.
Tuesday, October 29: THE PRESENT
What are some of the more notable recent or relatively recent contributions to the conversation on women and equity, and women and leadership?
Readings:
· Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Beyond the Double Bind: Women and Leadership (Oxford, 1995), pp. 3-21.
· United Nations Fourth Conference on Women (1995), Four Speeches in Freedman, op cit., pp. 402-414.
· Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, “Statement on International Women’s Day” (2004), in Freedman, op cit.
· Deborah Rhode and Amanda Packel, Leadership: Law, Policy, and Management (Aspen Elective Series, 2011), pp. 371-404 and 418-425.
· Hanna Rosin, The End of Men – and the Rise of Women (Riverhead, 2012), pp. 112-143 and 231-259.
· Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (Knopf, 2013), pp. 3-11.
Thursday, October 31: THE DIFFERENCE “DIFFERENCE” MAKES
Are men and women different? Do women and men lead differently? Follow differently?
Readings:
· Nannerl Keohane, “Crossing the Bridge: Reflections on Women and Leadership” in Kellerman and Rhode, op cit, pp.65-88 (notes optional).
Continued . . .
· Anita Hill, “What Difference Will Women Judges Make? Looking Once More at the ‘Woman Question’” in Kellerman and Rhode, op cit., pp. 175-190 (notes optional);
· Neil A. Lewis, “Debate on Whether Female Judges Decide Differently Arises Anew,” New York Times, June 3, 2009.
· Eagly and Carli, op. cit., pp. 29-48 and 119-135.
· Rose McDermott et al, “Testosterone and Aggression in a Simulated Crisis Game”, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, November 2007vol. 614no. 115-33.
· Daniel R. Ames and Francis J. Flynn, “What Breaks a Leader: The Curvilinear Relation Between Assertiveness and Leadership,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007, Vol. 92, No. 2, 307–324.
· Herminia Ibarra et al, “Why Men Still Get More Promotions than Women” in Harvard Business Review, September, 2010, pp. 80-85.
· Anne Koenig, Alice Eagly, et al, “Are Leader Stereotypes Masculine? A Meta-Analysis of Three Research Paradigms, Psychological Bulletin, 2011, Vol. 137., No. 4., PERUSE ONLY.
· Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Women in a Man’s World,” New York Times, April 3, 2013.
Tuesday, November 5: LOOKING IN: WHAT DO WOMEN WANT?
Do women have propensities and/or preferences that are different from those of men? If no, why do women lag so far behind men in accessing leadership roles? If yes, how do these differences impact their advancement to leadership roles?