Dr Valerie Stead

Research Overview

Stimulated by the persistent global challenge of women's under-representation in positions of power my research interests lie at the intersection of leadership studies, leadership learning and gender studies. Adopting critical approaches I draw on ideas of gender and power to examine multi-level interrelational dynamics between the individual, the organisation and the social that shape leadership practice and learning of leadership. My current research on gender, media and leadership includes examining the mobilisation of textual and visual representations of women's leadership in the media following on from the successful ESRC funded seminar series Challenging Gendered Media Mis(s)representations of Women Professionals and Leaders with Roehampton and Bradford Universities.

I established and am Director of the research forum, the Academy for Gender, Work and Leadership.