{"id":{"repo_id":"buffalo","oai_identifier":"oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/86478"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/buffalo/oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/86478","repository":{"repo_id":"buffalo","name":"Buffalo","base_url":"https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Women Leaders in STEM Disciplines: A Comparative Case Study on Leadership and Disciplinary Culture","abstract":"Ph.D.","abstract_html":"Ph.D.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Borowski, Rebecca; 0000-0001-6169-7532"],"institution":"State University of New York at Buffalo","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sallee, Margaret","Educational Leadership and Policy"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-02-21T17:22:49Z","date_published":"2025-02-21T17:22:49Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:32Z","subjects":["higher education administration","gender studies","educational leadership"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86478","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sallee, Margaret","Educational Leadership and Policy"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Borowski, Rebecca; 0000-0001-6169-7532"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-02-21T17:22:49Z","2020"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["State University of New York at Buffalo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["higher education administration","gender studies","educational leadership"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86478"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ph.D.","Women represent only 24.5% of positional leaders in academia (Lennon, 2013). The experiences of women in men-dominated domains vary by discipline (Becher & Trowler, 2001; Bystydzienski & Bird, 2006), and it is not known how women in STEM define leadership in their discipline and whether they understand these leadership expectations to be gendered. Understanding how women in STEM perceive leadership expectations can illuminate how women position themselves to attain and persist in leadership positions. This qualitative study used a single embedded case study to compare the experiences of women leaders in biology, a discipline that is dominated by women students, and reaching gender parity on the faculty level, with those in engineering, a discipline dominated by men students and faculty, with both groups of women leaders embedded within the larger context of academia. Individual interviews and document analysis were used to construct case studies. This study investigated the influence of a masculinist culture on the leadership of women in STEM in academia. The purpose of this study was to compare gendered leadership expectations between two disciplines: biology and engineering. Specifically, this study focused on the experiences of women leaders in mechanical engineering and computer science engineering, sub-disciplines with similar disciplinary cultures (Becher & Trowler, 2001; Gibbons, 2009; Yoder, 2016). In doing so, it addressed how gendered experiences in a masculinist culture shape women's leadership styles in different ways. The theory of gendered organizations was used to analyze and discuss results. This theory states that organizations are framed in the advantage and disadvantage of men and women, and that gender is reproduced and maintained in organizations through five processes (Acker, 1990). These processes include the maintenance of gendered divisions, the construction of symbols and images that represent those divisions, the presence of interactions between men and women that produce gendered social structures, the formation of individual identity through gendered processes and the creation of organizational logic, the underlying assumptions that are present in work organizations (Acker, 1990). Using this framework, three themes emerged from the case studies. Women in both disciplines experienced a masculinist culture, and adopted gendered leadership styles and gender-neutral narratives of leadership. However, more women in biology than engineering adopted the gendered leadership styles of empathetic leadership and collaborative and empowering leadership in a discipline with an increasing number of women and a disciplinary culture moving toward collaboration. The number of women in the discipline influenced how unencumbered women were to adopt gendered leadership styles and acknowledge and share gendered experiences. Women in biology were more able to use their gendered experiences in shaping their leadership style to empower and empathize with others. Women in engineering were required to demonstrate strength, toughness and a lack of emotion and felt more restricted by a masculinist culture, from adopting traits such as empathy in their leadership. Additionally, more women in engineering than biology adopted gender-neutral narratives of leadership, that were data driven, impersonal and the valued the scientist identity. Women in engineering sought to distance themselves from gender disparities in their leadership experiences in order to preserve gender-neutral narratives which emphasized a future in which both men and women needed the same skills and traits to succeed as leaders. These gender-neutral narratives conflicted with current realities of gendered interactions. In applying Acker’s theory of gendered organizations, the element of gendered organizational logic was evident as both women leaders who embraced gendered leadership traits and gender-neutral leadership traits faced limitations. Women who adopted gendered leadership that was empathetic, confident, empowering and collaborative faced the limitation of being perceived negatively by their peers, forcing them to manage the impressions of others so as not to be perceived as weak, indecisive or overly confident. Women who adopted gender-neutral leadership traits to maintain solidarity with their men peers, faced the limitation of being expected to be better communicators than men and to not surpass men in strength or decisiveness. Whether women adopted gendered leadership or gender-neutral leadership they faced gendered leadership expectations and modified their behavior and identity to navigate those expectations.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Women Leaders in STEM Disciplines: A Comparative Case Study on Leadership and Disciplinary Culture"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sallee, Margaret","Educational Leadership and Policy"],"dc:creator":["Borowski, Rebecca; 0000-0001-6169-7532"],"dc:date":["2025-02-21T17:22:49Z","2020"],"dc:description":["Ph.D.","Women represent only 24.5% of positional leaders in academia (Lennon, 2013). The experiences of women in men-dominated domains vary by discipline (Becher & Trowler, 2001; Bystydzienski & Bird, 2006), and it is not known how women in STEM define leadership in their discipline and whether they understand these leadership expectations to be gendered. Understanding how women in STEM perceive leadership expectations can illuminate how women position themselves to attain and persist in leadership positions. This qualitative study used a single embedded case study to compare the experiences of women leaders in biology, a discipline that is dominated by women students, and reaching gender parity on the faculty level, with those in engineering, a discipline dominated by men students and faculty, with both groups of women leaders embedded within the larger context of academia. Individual interviews and document analysis were used to construct case studies. This study investigated the influence of a masculinist culture on the leadership of women in STEM in academia. The purpose of this study was to compare gendered leadership expectations between two disciplines: biology and engineering. Specifically, this study focused on the experiences of women leaders in mechanical engineering and computer science engineering, sub-disciplines with similar disciplinary cultures (Becher & Trowler, 2001; Gibbons, 2009; Yoder, 2016). In doing so, it addressed how gendered experiences in a masculinist culture shape women's leadership styles in different ways. The theory of gendered organizations was used to analyze and discuss results. This theory states that organizations are framed in the advantage and disadvantage of men and women, and that gender is reproduced and maintained in organizations through five processes (Acker, 1990). These processes include the maintenance of gendered divisions, the construction of symbols and images that represent those divisions, the presence of interactions between men and women that produce gendered social structures, the formation of individual identity through gendered processes and the creation of organizational logic, the underlying assumptions that are present in work organizations (Acker, 1990). Using this framework, three themes emerged from the case studies. Women in both disciplines experienced a masculinist culture, and adopted gendered leadership styles and gender-neutral narratives of leadership. However, more women in biology than engineering adopted the gendered leadership styles of empathetic leadership and collaborative and empowering leadership in a discipline with an increasing number of women and a disciplinary culture moving toward collaboration. The number of women in the discipline influenced how unencumbered women were to adopt gendered leadership styles and acknowledge and share gendered experiences. Women in biology were more able to use their gendered experiences in shaping their leadership style to empower and empathize with others. Women in engineering were required to demonstrate strength, toughness and a lack of emotion and felt more restricted by a masculinist culture, from adopting traits such as empathy in their leadership. Additionally, more women in engineering than biology adopted gender-neutral narratives of leadership, that were data driven, impersonal and the valued the scientist identity. Women in engineering sought to distance themselves from gender disparities in their leadership experiences in order to preserve gender-neutral narratives which emphasized a future in which both men and women needed the same skills and traits to succeed as leaders. These gender-neutral narratives conflicted with current realities of gendered interactions. In applying Acker’s theory of gendered organizations, the element of gendered organizational logic was evident as both women leaders who embraced gendered leadership traits and gender-neutral leadership traits faced limitations. Women who adopted gendered leadership that was empathetic, confident, empowering and collaborative faced the limitation of being perceived negatively by their peers, forcing them to manage the impressions of others so as not to be perceived as weak, indecisive or overly confident. Women who adopted gender-neutral leadership traits to maintain solidarity with their men peers, faced the limitation of being expected to be better communicators than men and to not surpass men in strength or decisiveness. Whether women adopted gendered leadership or gender-neutral leadership they faced gendered leadership expectations and modified their behavior and identity to navigate those expectations.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/86478"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["State University of New York at Buffalo"],"dc:rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"dc:subject":["higher education administration","gender studies","educational leadership"],"dc:title":["Women Leaders in STEM Disciplines: A Comparative Case Study on Leadership and Disciplinary Culture"],"dc:type":["Text","Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:32Z"}