Broadening the umbrella of women’s leadership and public relations: an ethnographic case study of a women’s political leadership development program

ABSTRACT

This study offers a rare ethnographic lens into a political training program’s efforts to develop women’s leadership communication as a public relations process. Drawing from participant observation, interviews, and documents, findings indicate the importance of developing a leadership mind-set and authentic leadership communication rooted in intersecting identities, tensions surrounding authentic relational communication and the importance of building cohort-based supportive communities for women leaders. By broadening the umbrella of who counts as women leaders in public relations, the study opens additional contexts (political training programs) and concepts (vulnerability) for the field.

KEYWORDS:

• Women
• leadership development
• political public relations
• authenticity
• ethnography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The specific state chapter and cohort year will not be disclosed to maintain maximum confidentiality for participants.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication at the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at The Pennsylvania State University [Page Legacy Scholar Grant].