Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Dissertation

Department

Education

First Advisor

Laurie Stevahn

Second Advisor

Jill Perry

Third Advisor

Colette Taylor

Abstract

Your perspective as a Mom changes the way you lead in every aspect.

— Liuba Grechen Shirley, VoteMama Founder

Throughout the history of the United States, there has never been such a substantial rise in the number of Mothers in the paid workforce as in the last 3 decades. Yet, despite this growth they remain underrepresented in leadership positions. This underscores why we, as both researchers and Mothers, believe it is critical to apply a Mother's lens to conversations about workplace leadership. Our research begins by examining contemporary leadership theories, focusing on parallels between Motherhood and four of the popular leadership frameworks: Trait Approach, Skills Approach, Transformational Leadership, and Adaptive Leadership. With these frameworks in mind, we conducted a mixed-methods study to explore connections between Motherhood and leadership qualities. A total of 964 Mothers responded to a survey, and the data show links between leadership skills perceived to be cultivated in Motherhood and those recognized in the paid workplace. In addition, interviews with 10 accomplished Mother-Leaders were conducted. Their narratives revealed capabilities typically not reflected in established leadership theories, such as Mothers’ intuition and resilience, sharing how these capabilities influence their leadership in both formal and informal settings. Grounded in these findings, we consider implications for theory and practice, proposing a new foundational concept that reflects the lived experience that Mothers bring to the leadership conversation: Mother-Leader Intuitionship.

Download

Share

COinS