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The current global pandemic has both highlighted women 's leadership effectiveness in times of crisis while also shining a light on the challenges women professionals, particularly working mothers, face. Informed by research and practice, the aim of this manuscript is to offer a call to action-one that offers a more productive approach to advancing women academics in leadership post COVID-19.
HY ARE WOMEN-LED Nations Doing W Better with COVID-19?" (Taub, 2020), "In the COVID-19 Era, Female Leaders are Shining-Here's Why" (Zalis, 2020), and "Female Leadership During COVID-19: What Can We Learn?" (Garner, 2020) were a few of the headlines dominating the media. Also dominating the news were headlines including, "This Isn't Sustainable for Working Parents: The Pandemic has Already Taken a Toll on Those with Young Children-Particularly Mothers" (Pinsker, 2020), "The Pandemic's Setbacks for Working Mothers" (Goldberg, 2020), and "The Pandemic Didn't Create Working Moms' Struggle. But It Made It Impossible to Ignore" (Hesse, 2020). An important take-away from this juxtaposition-we need women leaders, especially during times of crisis, yet the glaring, continued inequalities for women in the workplace (and at home) require an overhaul.
The relationship between gender and leadership has been an issue of critical import for decades both in terms of skills and leadership effectiveness (Paustian-Underdahl, Walker, & Woehr, 2014; Zenger & Folkman, 2019). Despite women scoring higher than their male counterparts on most leadership skills and behaviors such as taking initiative, acting with resilience, driving results, and exhibiting integrity and honesty (Zenger & Folkman, 2019), women are still lagging behind their male peers in terms of occupying senior leadership positions, a global trend that transcends industries (Growe & Montgomery, 1999). Much less is known, however, about women leaders during times of crisis in higher education (see for example, Tevis, Pifer, & Baker, forthcoming).
As a result of the challenges that have surfaced from the global pandemic, the topic of women and their effectiveness as leaders has been elevated, particularly during times of crisis, which is a positive outcome. The aim of this manuscript is to build on this trend by initiating a complementary conversation and offering associated recommendations in the context of higher education. The literature and recommendations offered throughout are informed by the following question: Given women are more...