WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

This research analyzes the women in leadership chapter of Megatrends 2000 by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene (1989, pp. 216240). The chapter ("The 1990's: Decade of Women in Leadership") is analyzed within the contexts of (1) purpose, (2) ideas developed, (3) applicability to nursing, and (4) personal reactions.

The authors' purpose in this chapter was to describe an environment of economic and organizational change in which competition will be greater, opportunities will be greater, and in which new forms of leadership will be required to assure organizational success. The emphasis by the authors is on forprofit corporate organizations.

Three central ideas were developed in this chapter. The first idea developed is that the concept and application of leadership in organizations will change from a military model to a sort of nurturing, cheer leader model. The second idea developed is that women are better positioned to provide the new type of leadership than are men. The third idea developed (to a lesser extent than the first two) is that it is United Statesbased organizations that will lead this transition in the 1990s, as opposed to those based in Europe or Asia.

One of the reasons cited by the authors to support their contention that women are better positioned than are men to

provide the type of leadership required in the 1

. . .
arge scale, the field of professional nursing would be confronted with the task of competing for the best available women, as opposed to just waiting for them to appear on nursing's doorstep. Further, if such competition become sufficiently intense, professional nursing may be required to also seek qualified male recruits, albeit, of course, nurturing males. Personal Reactions Aside from the fact that this chapter appears to have little direct relevance to the nursing profession, the authors appear to have glossed over some highly relevant characteristics of the contemporary socioeconomic environment in the United States to the extent that the validity of their contentions becomes questionable. A casual comparison of the position of women in the American workplace in the 1970s with that of the 1990s would lead to a conclusion that, indeed, great strides have been made. In fact, much of the apparent change is superficial, and most of the prejudices and discriminatory practices have simply been disguised or driven underground. Women in the 1990s continue, by and large, to be shunted into lowpay, dull, and deadend jobs. The largest employment category for women remains clerical, while men are much more likely to hold higher
. . .

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Approximate Word count = 1489
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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