Researcher Lynette Washington Visits the IPM
Dr. Lynette Washington visited the IPM last week to present a seminar which was the result of the conclusion of a collaborative five-year research project which examined place leadership in the context of the transition away from the car industry in South Australia. These place’s had a strong identity tied to the traditional industries and were also heavily impacted due to Covid. In this context, the research focused upon the challenges that woman face as place leaders in the transformation of regions.
The key question centred around stereotypes. These are cognitive shortcuts and there are intuitive and preconceived notions of what it means to be a leader. (Hoyt and Murphy, 2016, 388). In three regions, and a context of crisis, research was done with 33 participants 14 women, 19 men. Findings saw that women used four channels to dismantle the stereotypes; whilst men did not see stereotypes. In essence, this gender-blindness is an issue, as the denial of these stereotypes is one reason why a woman’s climb to the top is ‘rocky’ as you can’t change what you can’t see.
This research is incredibly important as currently, only 3 countries have 50/50 representation in local government and currently it will take 130 years to reach gender equality in government. Stereotypes bind us to ideas about women being less effective leaders, despite the evidence. The problem has been is that there has been a ‘lack of curiosity and an absence of interrogation of gender and place leadership.’ This research is a step in the right direction in addressing this absence.
About the author
Formed in 2006, the Institute of Place Management is the international professional body that supports people committed to developing, managing and making places better.