The proposed project will lay the foundations for an international conference on women in leadership to be held in Fall 2007. This exploratory research project will examine what is known about women in leadership throughout various sectors and identify what further research is needed to improve our understanding and knowledge. This project will encompass A. Research Review: a thorough review of the research on women's leadership in different sectors. B. Development of Comprehensive Bibliography: from the research review, a bibliography will be developed and made widely available. C. Identification of Researchers: researchers working in the different sectors will be identified; a selected number will be invited to participate in the conference. D. Development of Conference Framework: the issues and questions to be addressed at the conference will be developed. E. Preparation of Grant Proposal: grant to support the conference will be developed and submitted. Intellectual Merit: The project and conference will provide insight into our understanding of STEM women in leadership and of women's leadership in STEM, across different sectors and disciplines, in an interdisciplinary way that has not been broached. Broader Impact: The interdisciplinary approach of this project will lead to a clearer understanding of women in leadership, and will yield strategies and approaches to crossfertilize successes across different sectors. The potential impact of knowledge transfer from one sector to another could lead to strategies for significantly increasing the advancement of women to leadership positions.
