Language, Gender and Leadership Network

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The Language, Gender and Leadership Network will enhance economic development and the welfare of women and girls in LMICs by identifying the key challenges facing them in order for them to become a successful generation of leaders in businesses and politics in Africa and beyond. The Network's creation will provide an innovative opportunity for academics, policy makers, NGOs, charities and other stakeholders to focus on the core communicative skills required to succeed as leaders in businesses and politics in LMICs, through a focus on the sociolinguistics of narrative life histories. A foundational principle of the Network is to place the voices and stories of women and girls at its core. The narratives that will be focused upon span adolescence, early adulthood and later adulthood and bring together stories told by women and girls about their gender identities to investigate emergent patterns, where key information regarding language, gender identity and leadership can be analysed. We aim to inform and influence policy makers of the gender-based inequality challenges currently being faced, alongside equipping communities of women and girls with the aspirations, role-models and beliefs required to succeed in future leadership positions. Our goals align with key criteria for bringing sustainable change in international development, identified by the UN's Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, the World Humanitarian Summit and UN Women's World Survey on the Role of Women in Development (WSRWiD 2014): if sustainable development and gender equality are ever to be achieved, research and interventions are required to embrace women's equal participation as leaders and decision-makers within their societies. Communication is a fundamental way in which legitimate participation in public domains is measured and achieved. Without maximizing the potential of its women and girls within businesses and politics, sustainable economic development will not result.The Network's initial focus is upon narratives from Uganda and Kenya, both in receipt of ODA, and where core members of the Network already have well-established links across both urban and rural communities, where narrative data capture already exists. We then shift our focus to a pan-African perspective. An interactive, globally accessible website will be developed, where participants from Africa and other global countries who receive ODA funding will be able to join and actively engage in online communities by uploading their own narratives to share experiences, act as peer supporters, role models, mentors and figures of inspiration for each other. The long-term legacy will be the production of a unique, sustainable digital research tool. Alongside this, to address those living in remote communities currently without electricity or Internet acccess, the network will co-create drama-based training interventions and a graphic narrative 'storybook' with women and girls themselves. These will then be used as empowerment and inspirational tools by our Project Partner, The Institute of Social Transformation and other charities, NGOs and professional organisations working on addressing gender inequalities in rural communities.The resultant website and resources will be a unique corpus of oral life-history narratives from women and girls ranging from those who have already succeeded in leadership positions and have strong leadership reputations, through to adolescent girls in schools who could be future leaders with the right levels of empowerment, education and training. This approach enables previously marginalized and silenced voices to be heard and placed at the centre of the Network. Our findings will also be used as a resource to influence and inform policy-making decisions, through the network's contacts at UN Women Africa and through our Project Consultant's role as policy maker and member of the pan-African Trade & Impact Group and the African Leadership Network.