Antioch University AUR - Antioch University Repository and Archive Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Teses Dissertations & Teses 2015 Grandmothers' Leadership Roles as Refected in the Lives of High-Achieving Women: A Qualitative Study of the Impact of Grandmothers on Granddaughters During Teir Formative Years Sylvia E.M. Asante Antioch University - PhD Program in Leadership and Change Follow this and additional works at: htp://aura.antioch.edu/etds Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Psychology Commons, and theWomen's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Asante, Sylvia E.M., "Grandmothers' Leadership Roles as Refected in the Lives of High-Achieving Women: A Qualitative Study of the Impact of Grandmothers on Granddaughters During Teir Formative Years" (2015). Dissertations & Teses. 210. htp://aura.antioch.edu/etds/210 Tis Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Student & Alumni Scholarship, including Dissertations & Teses at AUR - Antioch University Repository and Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations & Teses by an authorized administrator of AUR - Antioch University Repository and Archive. For more information, please contact GRANDMOTHERS’ LEADERSHIP ROLES AS REFLECTED IN THE LIVES OF HIGH-ACHIEVING WOMEN: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF GRANDMOTHERS ON GRANDDAUGHTERS DURING THEIR FORMATIVE YEARS SYLVIA E. M. ASANTE A DISSERTATION Submitted to the Ph.D. in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May, 2015 This is to certify that the Dissertation entitled: GRANDMOTHERS’ LEADERSHIP ROLES AS REFLECTED IN THE LIVES OF HIGH-ACHIEVING WOMEN: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF GRANDMOTHERS ON GRANDDAUGHTERS DURING THEIR FORMATIVE YEARS prepared by Sylvia E. M. Asante is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Leadership and Change. Approved by: ________________________________________________________________________ Jon Wergin, Ph.D., Dissertation Committee Chair date ________________________________________________________________________ Laurien Alexandre, Ph.D., Committee Member date ________________________________________________________________________ Janet Powers, Ph.D., Committee Member date ________________________________________________________________________ Gaynell Simpson, Ph.D., External Reader date Copyright 2015 Sylvia E. M. Asante All rights reserved Acknowledgments This dissertation and scholarly journey would not have been possible without the support and guidance of my dedicated advisor and dissertation committee chair, Dr. Jon Wergin. I am indebted to the women who shared their life stories, and to the grandmothers whose leadership inspired them. I owe my deepest gratitude to Dr. Janet M. Powers, my mentor. Special thanks to Dr. Kathleen Williams, Dr. Lisa Portmess, Dr. Charles Emmons, Ms. Rosalie Moore, and to my daughter, Racquel Codling. To my husband, Ted Brittingham, thank you for your inspiration and unfaltering support. Sylvia E. M. Asante May, 2015 Antioch University i Abstract The purpose of this study is to document and recognize the role of grandmothers as leaders, role models, and mentors who can positively influence the lives of their granddaughters. Grandmothers’ roles are not typically associated with leadership, and this phenomenon of presenting grandmothers as effective leaders will fill a void and add to the canon of leadership literature. The use of phenomenological study, which describes the lived experience (Husserl, 1970), as well as transformative leadership and feminist theory perspectives will be pivotal to this study. Due to the dearth of data on grandmothers’ leadership roles, this phenomenological study will “give voice” to grandmothers whose lives have positively impacted their granddaughters, but it will avoid revisionist ideals; will provide granddaughters with the opportunity to acknowledge “gifts” of leadership provided by their grandmothers as their role models and their mentors; will aid in understanding the importance of grandmothers in the transmission of culture and of family values; and, as an international study, will explore and provide further understanding within the global community. This dissertation is available in open-access at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd and AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ ii Table of Contents Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................ i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Overview of Context ....................................................................................................................... 1 The Problem and the Need for the Study ........................................................................................ 4 Statement of Purpose and Rationale for the Study ......................................................................... 8 Research Approach and Design ...................................................................................................... 9 Positioning: Researcher’s Perspective .......................................................................................... 12 Review of the Literature ............................................................................................................... 15 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 15 Formal Historical Leadership ....................................................................................................... 16 Leadership Trait Perspective......................................................................................................... 17 Women and Leadership ................................................................................................................ 19 Family Leadership ........................................................................................................................ 25 Transferable Family Leadership Skills ......................................................................................... 28 Grandmother-Granddaughter Influence ........................................................................................ 34 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 40 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 40 The Research Questions ................................................................................................................ 41 Rationale for Research Approach ................................................................................................. 41 iii Rationale for Phenomenological Inquiry ...................................................................................... 42 Case Study Methodology .............................................................................................................. 42 Methods and Procedures for Data Analysis and Synthesis ........................................................... 51 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 55 Analyzing Data and Reporting Findings....................................................................................... 56 Introduction and Overview ........................................................................................................... 56 The Descriptions of the Participants and Their Grandmothers ..................................................... 57 Presentation of Analysis and Emerging Themes .......................................................................... 83 The Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 85 Reflections on the Significance of Grandmothers in the Lives of Granddaughters ..................... 89 Thematic Details ........................................................................................................................... 91 Summary of Findings .................................................................................................................. 102 Credibility Analysis .................................................................................................................... 104 Response to Audit ....................................................................................................................... 108 Chapter Summary ....................................................................................................................... 108 Conclusions and Implications ..................................................................................................... 112 Revisiting the Assumptions in the Introduction.......................................................................... 112 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 117 Personal and Professional Views ................................................................................................ 118 Appendix ..................................................................................................................................... 121 iv Appendix A: Textural Description .............................................................................................. 122 References ................................................................................................................................... 128 v 1 Introduction Overview of Context The notion of grandmothers being identified or described as leaders is revolutionary. For the first time, unheralded grandmothers across the globe have created a movement that challenges political, economic, and social changes on behalf of their grandchildren. Grandmothers are challenging the status quo and redefining what leadership looks like. These women have assumed various leadership roles and are demonstrating leadership qualities as they negotiate for a better world. Grandmothers’ roles within the family and community are usually not synonymous with leadership (Francese, 2009). The Grandmother Movement, however, according to Gianturco (2012), is encouraging grandmothers all over the world to become activists and advocates as they bring their diverse leadership talents, skills, and many years of experience to the movement. They are influencing and teaching important lessons to their granddaughters. Based on a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2007 survey, there are over 70 million grandparents in the United States; of them, more than half are grandmothers, based on the natural male-to-female gender ratio. This population has emerged as a powerful, influential, yet underestimated force. Francese (2009) estimated that, as a group, grandparents spent 2 trillion dollars in the year 2007, of which 52 billion dollars were spent on grandchildren. Projections by the U.S. Census Bureau and 2004 Survey of Income and Program estimated that by the year 2015, 59% of grandparents in the United States will have birthdates between 1946 and 1964, the dates marking the cohort of the boomer generation. Baby boomers, the largest educated group to date, will continue to drive economic, educational, political, and social directives as their numbers grow, while influencing all aspects of the society. As grandparents, they head 37% of