To Know I Can Might Be Enough: Women's Self-Efficacy and Their Identified Leadership Values

Abstract

This three-year mixed-method study examined levels of self-efficacy and leadership values held for 32 women before and after participating in graduate coursework specifically focused on women's leadership issues. A 21-item, 5-dimension self-efficacy scale adapted for leadership from the work of Albert Bandura was used in addition to open-ended questions focused on leadership values and obstacles. Self-efficacy levels increased in each dimension, most notably in Encouraging a Productive Work Ethic and Creating a Positive Work Climate. Shifts occurred in the nature of values identified for effective leadership in terms of more traditional and outwardly-visible attributes to more postmodern and inwardly-experienced attributes. The nature of obstacles that participants identified as preventing them from being more effective leaders also revealed shifts from self-critical behaviors to proactive behaviors