Spring 2022, CairoThematic Course
Is she tough enough?
Womanizing leadership, #bossladies
Course details
- Cycle
- Spring 2022, Cairo
- Length
- 8 weeks
- Format
- In person / Online
- Taught in
- English
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About the course
Frowning eyebrows. “Is she tough enough for the job?” What do Margaret Thatcher, Beyoncé and Sheryl Sandberg have in common?
Gender mainstreaming policies, parity requirements in boards and women in entrepreneurship programs have significantly increased over the past few years, with a consensus on the fact that women should have more opportunities to actually lead. Nonetheless, women do remain a minority in leadership positions across both private and public organizations around the globe. How do gender, labor, independence and hierarchies interplay?
Looking at a global phenomenon with a focus on Egypt, I offer an exploration of the figure of the “womanized” leader, drawing from coaches programs, international organizations’ literature as well as academic writings from Arlie Hochschild, Judith Baxter and others. How about us starting with trying to define labor and leadership? Let us Lean in !
Who teaches it
Maïa Bouatouch-Legrand is an independent researcher who enjoys observing, brainstorming, teaching, learning and discovering. Trained as a qualified lawyer, she has a hybrid background in law and political science as well as in sociology. She has specific interests in gender studies, migrations, labor and globalization. Her work experiences in international cooperation took her around the world and eventually to Egypt, where she stayed longer than expected. She recently became addicted to bird watching, which she recommends warmly.
Course flow
Sessions without a date
-Towards some definition of labor -Exploring the gendered division of labor
-Whats is leadership about -What features for what leader
-Why and how such a ceiling -Looking at ‘glass breaking’ strategies and policies
-Horizontality, humanity, otherness... : new foundations for new leaderships ? -Comparing leadership in different contexts
From assisting to empowering -Gender, labor and globalization -Tracing the roots of women empowerment, from DAWN to the ILO
From supporting local community leaders to training global bossladies -Women empowerment programs in action -Tracking some recipe for global bossladies
-Findings after encounters with bossladies -Feedback from students’ investigations
-Take aways and ways forward
In class
- DiscussionConcluding brainstorming : on some insight to improve relevant policies
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