This study described in the narrative how women trained in a political leadership setting can create an environment where women's development is enhanced in terms of a woman's voice, her networking abilities, as well as her expectations of herself and of the program. This is the first study of its kind to study women trained in a political leadership setting.
The population of this research study consisted of the Executive Director for the state of Pennsylvania in the Excellence in Public Service Series, the researcher, and the women that were participants in the 2005-2006 class in Pennsylvania. Various methods were used to gather data. The Executive Director was interviewed. The researcher provided the background on the program and her personal experiences as a participant. Finally, the participants of the 2005-2006 class answered an open-ended questionnaire that focused on three main elements: the voice, expectation levels, and networking.
An analysis of the research reveals leadership skills of a woman can be enhanced by participating in a leadership training program of "all-woman" where women are exposed through knowledge, experiences, and practice. The building of trusting relationships, the increased knowledge base, and the networking helped the women to have more confidence, the ability to engage in meaningful dialogue, and to envision higher levels of expectations of themselves necessary for professional development than what was previously considered prior to entering the program. Further, for many, the program exceeded their expectations or the program was a valuable learning experience that no woman would want to miss.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-05142007-184221 |
| Date | 27 June 2007 |
| Creators | Kerle, Maria Battista |
| Contributors | Charlene Trovato, Richared Seckinger, Charles Gorman |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-05142007-184221/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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