Women and Leadership: Journey Toward Equity

Recipient of a 2022 Most Promising New Textbook Award from the Textbook&Academic Authors Association (TAA) While women in the United States account for nearly half the workforce, they continue to encounter unique personal, social, and structural dynamics as leaders. Authors Lisa DeFrank Cole and Sherylle J. Tan explore these dynamics and more in Women and Leadership: Journey Towards Equity. Grounded in leadership theory and research, this text delves into the barriers and challenges women face on their leadership journeys, including stereotypes, bias, inequality, discrimination, and domestic responsibilities. The text includes several chapters devoted to strategies and tools for overcoming obstacles, creating structural change, and moving towards greater equity.

About the Author

Dr. Lisa DeFrank-Cole is Professor and Director of Leadership Studies at West Virginia University (WVU).  Her research agenda is focused on women and leadership as well as followership.  She is an inaugural member of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at WVU where she serves on the steering committee.  DeFrank-Cole was recognized as the 2017 Mary Catherine Buswell award recipient at WVU and a 2019 West Virginia Wonder Woman for excellence and women’s advocacy.  She currently holds the Harriet E. Lyon Endowed Professorship in Women’s and Gender Studies.

Studying and writing about women and leadership for 20 years, she was a Fulbright Specialist Scholar in the Kingdom of Bahrain where she taught leadership classes to women.  She has led multiple leadership workshops for women in the Middle East, most recently in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  She is an active member of the International Leadership Association and the Women and Leadership Member Community, of which she was chair in 2015, and remains an emerita member of the executive team.  Author of numerous articles, chapters, and case studies, her recent co-edited book with Sherylle Tan, Women’s Leadership Journeys: Stories, Research, and Novel Perspectives, was published in 2019.

Avid about exercise and a healthy lifestyle, she resides in Morgantown, West Virginia with her husband and their two orange tabby cats.

Sherylle J. Tan, Ph.D. is a developmental psychologist and Director of Internships and KLI Research at the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College.  Dr. Tan’s research and publications focus on women and leadership, leadership education and development, and work-family issues.  In addition to authoring numerous articles and chapters, Dr. Tan has been co-editor of SAGE Business Cases:Women and Leadership Series and co-edited Women’s Leadership Journeys: Stories, Research, and Novel Perspectives (2019), with Lisa DeFrank-Cole.  Other co-edited books include Leader Interpersonal and Influence Skills: The Soft Skills of Leadership (with Ron Riggio, 2014) and The Changing Realities of Work and Family: A Multidisciplinary Approach (with Amy Marcus-Newhall and Diane Halpern, 2008).

Dr. Tan was elected 2016 chair of the Women and Leadership Member Community in the International Leadership Association, where she first met Lisa DeFrank-Cole, and continues to serve as an emerita member of the Executive Leadership Team.  Dr. Tan also has over 15 years of experience as an evaluator and evaluation consultant for non-profit agencies providing services for children and families in Southern California.  She completed her BA in psychology at the University of California, Irvine.  She earned an MA and Ph.D. in psychology, with an emphasis in applied developmental psychology, at Claremont Graduate University.  She has a certificate in Leadership Coaching through LeAD Labs at Claremont Graduate University and is certified with the Connective Leadership Institute.

In addition to her professional work, Dr. Tan is a Registered Yoga Teacher (200-RYT) through the Yoga Alliance and teaches vinyasa and restorative yoga at Pitzer College and The Yoga Unit in Claremont, CA.  She lives in Southern California with her husband, daughter, and Australian Shepard.