Adolescent leadership: the female voice

This research investigated the female adolescent view of leadership by giving voice to student leaders through focus group discussions. The questions: What is leadership? Where/how was leadership taught?, and How was leadership practised? were explored within the context of girls' schools located in Australia, with one school located in South Africa. The findings of this research indicated that girls not only had an understanding of leadership, they also actively performed it. Students viewed leadership as the active process of working with others in a positive way. Leadership was mostly taught through specific programmes and activities and practised both formally and informally by students. It was also acknowledged that leadership was often learnt through experience. Further exploration of this concept is needed in order to ascertain the ways in which these understandings of leadership can be better utilized in order to develop the leadership potential of girls when they enter adulthood.