Date of Award
12-2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Legacy Department
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Committee Chair/Advisor
Taylor, Mary Anne
Committee Member
Bisson, Jennifer B
Committee Member
Pury, Cindy
Committee Member
Rosopa, Patrick J
Abstract
Given that women are an underrepresented population in organizational leadership, the purpose of this dissertation was to understand the forces driving college-aged women’s leadership aspirations. Using a two-study design, the current research sought to understand the influence that internal (psychological) and external (social) factors can have on a young woman’s desire to lead. In Study One, which included 228 college-aged female participants, results indicated there was a significant, positive between Core Self Evaluations (CSE) and leadership aspirations and provided partial support for the mediating effects of leadership fit on the CSE-aspiration relationship. Results from Study One failed to support the hypothesized mediating effects of mentor presence on the CSE-leadership aspiration relationship. In addition, results of Study One failed to support CSE as a mediator of the relationship between role model status and leadership aspirations. Thus, Study One supported the importance of CSE in aspirations and suggests that the fit between self-perceived leader traits and stereotypes of a successful leader may also be important in understanding aspirations. Study Two, which only included those participants that indicated they had a mentor within the last 12-months, again supported the relationship between CSE and leadership aspirations, but failed to support the mediating effects of mentor quality on the CSE-aspirations relationship. Overall, results support the influence of internal factors on leadership aspirations, highlight the importance of a woman’s self-identification as a potential leader, and provide insight to help better understand how to best utilize mentoring to increase young women’s desires to reach leadership positions within their careers. A discussion of the results, limitations, and potential future directions for research are also provided.
Recommended Citation
Ellis, Lauren, "Tomorrow's Leading Ladies: How Core Self-Evaluations, Leadership Perceptions, and Social Support Influence Young Women's Leadership Aspirations" (2015). All Dissertations. 1601.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1601