Document Type
Article
Disciplines
5.3 EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
Abstract
Positioned within the field of Educational Leadership, this paper asserts the value of adopting Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), as a qualitative methodological approach to explore and unravel the lived experience of women mentees (academics, professional, management and support services staff) in leadership mentoring relationships in an Irish Higher Education context.
The research context focuses on the intersection of leadership mentoring and gender in Irish academia, prompted by the under-representation of women in senior positions, coupled with IPA as an under-utilised methodology in educational leadership research. Women’s’ voices are an important part of the process of consciousness-raising in discourses within Educational Leadership, of making what is invisible, visible; more especially in terms of enablers and barriers to women’s career advancement. Giving time and space to hear these voices, through the utility of IPA, allows their stories to unfold, by attending to their experiences, understanding, perceptions and views, of being in a leadership mentoring relationship. This paper showcases five distinctive features of IPA: (a) epistemological grounding, (b) amplifying individual voice, (c) inductive deepening of insights, (d) versatility and flexibility, and (e) co-creation between researcher and women mentees, to reveal what it is like for these women. In the process of this unveiling, IPA can make an iridescent contribution to the discourse on gender equality, leadership development, policy practice and action within an Irish higher education context.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21427/06sb-ra37
Recommended Citation
In Re-imagining higher education through equity, inclusion and sustainability (RISE). Proceedings of the 2nd. EUt+ International Conference on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Technical University of Sofia, Sozopol, Bulgaria, 1-3 September. doi: 10.21427/06sb-ra37
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Publication Details
In Re-imagining higher education through equity, inclusion and sustainability (RISE). Proceedings of the 2nd. EUt+ International Conference on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Technical University of Sofia, Sozopol, Bulgaria, 1-3 September.