The Fabric Of Success: A Narrative Inquiry Into Issues Of Gender Equity For American And South African Women Educational Leaders

My research compared the paths of women educational leaders in the Southern United States and South Africa. This study, which utilized narrative inquiry framed by a quilting metaphor, took swatches of the stories of women educators to create one quilt or cohesive theory of the path of women toward leadership. The premise for the adoption of a quilting metaphor was to describe this particular form of narrative presentation. A quilt is composed of various squares of fabric, which may represent special family memories or occasions. In the same fashion, a quilted narrative brings the memories of women together to create meaning from conversations and interviews woven together to support the existence of multiple realities for the intertwining of personal perceptions. This study explored the meanings behind the individual experiences to fashion a cohesive design from the patterns of women in leadership.