Self-perceived leadership roles of women in speech-language pathology

This study investigated the lived experiences of women leaders in the profession of speech-language pathology. This study employed a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to interview eight women leaders representing leadership in the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The nature of the research questions lent itself to a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology and provided the framework for the personal interviews with the research participants. Each interview depicting the women's role self-perceptions and lived experiences was digitally recorded and later transcribed for analysis. A review of the literature provided the theoretical frameworks and lenses to view the women's experiences as leaders in the nation's leading organization supporting the professions of speech-language pathology, audiology, and communication disorder sciences.;The findings from this study suggest that the women leaders in speech-language pathology practice several aspects of transactional, transformational, and servant leadership; with their leadership originating from a deep desire serve others. Additional pieces of these three leadership practices as evidenced by the women's experiences include vision, communication, and motivation. The findings also imply that the women in this study did not experience any gender marginalization in their leadership pursuits. Finally, the results from this research indicated that mentoring was critical in the women's leadership formation and that mentoring is vital for developing future leaders.;This dissertation offers a foundation for discussion regarding leadership theory as linked to the profession of speech-language pathology and also provides a venue for deepening research on gender in the profession, particularly for men. The findings from this research point to the need for further inquiry into the role of mentoring at the collegiate and professional levels in relation to not only potential leaders, but also in the context of gender as well as inquiry into deepening understandings of leadership theories espoused in the profession in its entirety.