Abstract:
Twenty-eight young women who were members of the Girl
Guides of Canada as Rangers and Cadets from a convenience
sample chose to participate in this case study. They were
from four separate locations in Southern Ontario. The
interviews and observations at unit meetings allowed an indepth
look into the perceptions of leadership of these young
women. The amount of time observing and interacting with
each participant provided a snapshot of what they thought
and how they responded to the questions asked at that
particular time. Each girl responded to the question, "Are
you a leader?" They then gave examples of their own
leadership and described leaders they knew. Their responses
are reported in relation to their definitions. Their
identifications of effective and ineffective leaders were
examined, as well as their views of the best and worst
things a leader can do. This information is reported by
unit, as some patterns in their responses emerged which were
unique to each group. The responses of all of the girls to
the leadership of Guiders, Rangers and Cadets and the
hypothetical effect of male leaders and male Rangers in
Guiding are reported. For these, the participants' views
were sorted based on the common themes/ and regardless of
their group affiliation, since many of the same themes
emerged when examining these questions. The information collected was extensive and allowed for trends and parallels
to become evident 0 All of the participants identified
themselves as leaders. A diversity of views exists in their
perceptions of leadership. For many, age makes a difference
in leadership. The majority identified the single-sex
aspect of the organization as comfortable and stated that it
should remain so. Gender profoundly affects who is listened
to and what opportunities are available.
