Playing a Patriarchal Game

What does it mean to be an authentic leader as a
woman and an athletic administrator? In this
qualitative research study, I analyzed the lived
leadership experiences of women high school athletic
administrators in a Midwest State through the lenses
of interactionist, feminist, social, and critical
theory. Primarily through in-depth interviews, I
found that women athletic administrators navigated a
professional environment marked by a patriarchal
ideology. These women demonstrated that, to
exercise authentic leadership, they had to
challenge ideology counter hegemony unmask power
and overcome alienation to pursue liberation
(Brookfield, 2005, p. 39). The stories of the twelve
participants revealed that women must play by the
rules of what I call a patriarchal game. And, to
be successful as authentic leaders, they must
practice strategies to establish and ensure their
credibility. The women in this study demonstrated
that they were marginalized. However, the study
revealed that the women, in order to move from
margin to center, adapted to the rules of the
patriarchal game.

Autorentext
Dr. Steven J. Emerson has been an educator in Minnesota schools since 1986. For five years, he was a high school athletic director. Currently, he is Principal of Inver Grove Heights Middle School in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Dr. Emerson completed his Doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of St.Thomas, in St.Paul, MN.

Klappentext
What does it mean to be an authentic leader as a woman and an athletic administrator? In this qualitative research study, I analyzed the lived leadership experiences of women high school athletic administrators in a Midwest State through the lenses of interactionist, feminist, social, and critical theory. Primarily through in-depth interviews, I found that women athletic administrators navigated a professional environment marked by a patriarchal ideology. These women demonstrated that, to exercise authentic leadership, they had to "... challenge ideology... counter hegemony... unmask power... and overcome alienation... to pursue liberation" (Brookfield, 2005, p. 39). The stories of the twelve participants revealed that women must play by the rules of what I call "a patriarchal game." And, to be successful as authentic leaders, they must practice strategies to establish and ensure their credibility. The women in this study demonstrated that they were marginalized. However, the study revealed that the women, in order to move from margin to center, adapted to the rules of the patriarchal game.