The power of women leaders to change the world.
“Women are the gentle forces that transform the world”
Jinan Liu, President, World Women University Presidents Forum
Last May, Patty Goodman Hayward, EdD Associate Teaching Professor and program lead for the College of Professional Studies’ Bachelors in Digital Media Communications and the Corporate and Organizational Communications Graduate Program, joined more than 200 invited leaders from around the world at the World Women University Presidents Forum (WWUPF) at Huanghe S&T University in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.
Goodman Hayward was invited to share the work she developed with her fellow researchers and former students, Zirui Yan, MS COC, Tsinghua University and Sahar Rehman, MS COC, Northeastern University, She presented findings from their Cultural Transformation Framework research.
Focused on the cultural values of women leaders and the connection between transformational leadership and cultural transformation, their research was based on the analysis of 60 cases across nearly 30 different cultures. They also collaborated with other women leaders in various fields, discussing topics such as higher education, community health, and global scientific collaborations.
The figure below provides the cultural values that bubbled up from the detailed data analysis of the 60 cases or chapters about the women leaders.
According to Rehman, “As an educator, I see myself living these values in all interactions with my students. We are role models for learners, they are our future. Our aim is to collaborate in creating pathways, inspiring, advocating, and building networks, along with developing the skills to be successful.”
At the closing ceremony, Goodman Hayward donates her book
to Communication University of China (CUC),
which includes the case, Jinan Liu: As a Woman,
about a Woman Leader in her role as Founder
of WWUPF and President of Communication
University of China (CUC).
In pursuing this work, Goodman Hayward and her colleagues have recognized that women should be more valued for their extra effort in making transformative changes. The WWUPF event represents women who lead major universities all over the world—from the United Kingdom, Egypt, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Cuba, Lebanon, Nepal, South Korea, Malawi and beyond. Transformational change is made possible, according to Goodman Hayward’s research, when the interwoven narrative of culture and purpose are aligned with intentional communication, and the women at this forum embody that movement.
For example, Lucia Campos Pellanda, President of the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre Brazil developed an experiential learning program following a flood that dramatically impacted her community. Supporting community health with direct experiential service Pellanda successfully took her students into the community to provide health care. This approach builds upon the idea of experiential learning as a means of creating a lasting impact on both the lives and careers of the students involved as well as the people in their communities their learning program serves.
Another leader at the conference, Loretta O’Donnell, the Vice Provost at Nazarbayev University, in the Republic of Kazakhstan shared her passion for transformational learning. She supported the impact of storytelling in bridging opportunities, particularly in addressing complex political challenges in the region.
A cultural transformational framework informs stories that can change lives. And women all over the world are centered in that framework.
Northeastern is one voice at that table, centering cultural transformation in its programs. As this work continues to build, more voices are encouraged to join in the conversation to share best practices to create a growing movement of women leaders around the world.
