Despite the great strides women have made in the workplace over the past few decades, studies show that women are still not moving into the most influential leadership positions.\u00a0Kelly McKenzie,instructor of Academic Enrichment and Learning and the adviser to undeclared majors at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, spends a lot of her time engrossed in studies she has found on women\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
Directing her focus on women leaders in higher education, she co-authored a research article, \u201cWomen Leaders in Higher Education,\u201d that was recently published in the Pennsylvania Communication Annual.<\/em><\/p>\n The article describes how women leaders attain top leadership positions despite organizational barriers, and the strategies that women leaders have used to overcome these barriers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt focuses on the communication strategies that can be used in a context where there are attempts to silence women\u2019s voices,\u201d McKenzie said.<\/p>\n Her recent article followed a panel presentation McKenzie and her colleague, Tammy Halstead, director of alumni career services at Franklin and Marshall, hosted in 2012.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of the students in attendance were very surprised that women leaders face barriers and that these barriers are directly related to the fact that they are women,\u201d McKenzie said.<\/p>\n Realizing the impact the panel discussion had on attendees, McKenzie and her colleague decided to extend the study and submit their findings for publication. Their article was published in September 2014.<\/p>\n McKenzie will continue to conduct research on the barriers women leaders face and the steps they can take to overcome them. In fact, recently she traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico to interview 15 women leaders at Hewlett Packard for her research. McKenzie plans to write a research article based on those interviews. She is hopeful that her research will aid the general public in gaining a deeper understanding of the struggles many women leaders face<\/p>\n