Women in Leadership Roles in Japanese Universities : Eliciting Intersectional Identities

This article presents interim findings from a collaborative research project into leadership roles in Japanese universities.Our focal research concept is intersectional identity.We synthesize from established models of intersectional identity as a contribution to leadership research and practice in Japanese universities.Our primary research method is semi-structured interviews, the design of which we are currently piloting.We focus initially on women because one premise for our research is the observation that women who aspire to leadership roles in Japanese universities are frequently overlooked.We argue that this apparently institutionalized propensity in current employment policies and practices generates a continuing series of missed opportunities for universities in Japan to improve their competitive performance and their respective reputations as equitable and ethical employers.