Date of Paper/Work

12-2021

Type of Paper/Work

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership

Department

Organizational Leadership

First Advisor

Sharon I. Radd, Ed.D.

Department/School

Organizational Leadership, Ethics and Leadership

Abstract

Abstract

Tibetan women as household leaders are not a new notion; however, in the public form, Tibetan women leaders are a recent concept. This study explores Tibetan American women leaders and how they navigate and experience their held leadership positions. The significance of the findings lies in Tibetan American women leaders' passion for leadership, which in this study was described as serving the Tibetan communities where they live. There is solid evidence that Tibetan cultural gender expectations and stereotypical views about Tibetan women have tremendously impeded and will impede those still climbing to the top. What is apparent is Tibetan American women leaders are creating new social constructs and identities. They construct their identities at the intersection of leadership, American culture, and Tibetan cultural gender roles/expectations. Though this construction is not yet fully formed in a collective way, the experiences and leadership of the participants in this study are working to create this construction through their individual efforts. I interviewed six Tibetan American women from California, Massachusetts, Washington DC, and Minnesota who self-identified as leaders and held formal leadership positions. Organically, many study subjects focused their leadership experience leading within the Tibetan American community through various vantage points. The study identified participants navigating between two dominant cultures, Tibetan and American, and how socially constructed institutions impacted their identity as Tibetan American women leaders.

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