VOLUME 41, 2022 

ISSN 1093-7099 

 

 

 

EDITORS: BEVERLY J. IRBY,  NAHED ABDELRAHMAN, BRAD BIZZELL 

ASSISTANT EDITOR: JORDAN DONOP

  



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Advancing Women in Leadership Vol. 41, 112-127, 2022 

Available online at http://www.awlj.org/ 

ISSN 1093-7099 

 

Full Length Research Paper 

 

Women and Professional Generativity: Voices from the Field 
 

Precious Guramatunhu-Mudiwa & Roma Angel 
Precious Guramatunhu-Mudiwa: Precious Guramatunhu Mudiwa, Leadership and Educational studies, Appalachian State University, 

mudiwap@appstate.edu 

Roma Angel: Department of Leadership & Educational Studies, Appalachian State University  
 

Accepted December 19, 2022 

 

Aging brings with it a certain commitment to improving the lives of future generations and to giving back by engaging in 

productive pursuits that provide psychological well-being (Versey & Newton, 2013). Leaders and adults develop a heightened 

sense of communion with self and others and derive meaning and satisfaction through serving others (Slater, 2003). We present 

findings from a focus group comprised of nine college-educated women professionals from three countries, gathered for the 

purpose of discussing generativity in educational leadership. Purposeful sampling was employed to allow variation and 

representation of women in educational leadership. Positions held by focus group members ranged from principals, directors, 

professors to deans. The specific purpose was to obtain an in-depth understanding of experiences of women as they engaged with 

the concept of generativity in their personal and professional lives. The results suggested that commitments to generativity 

activities varied by experience, age, and race. Another important finding was the categorization of participant women into 

distinct identity markers of pathmakers, guardians, searchers and drifters (Josselson, 1996) as reflected by the focus and nature 

of their generativity activities. Further studies with women from different socioeconomic backgrounds and fields other than 

educational leadership need to be conducted to establish the universality of our findings. 

Keywords: women, educational leadership, generativity 

 

Aging brings a certain commitment to improve the lives of 

future generations, where adults give back and engage in 

productive pursuits that provide psychological well-being 

(Erikson, 1959; Versey & Newton, 2013). This stage of adult 

development is characterized by an ego shift from self-

centeredness to other-centeredness (Slater, 2003).  It is similar to 

a kind of parental responsibility where adults develop a strong 

interest in establishing and guiding the next generation. Adults 

will give guidance, ideas, skills, pass knowledge and remove 

barriers in order for the next generation to inherit a better world.  

Adults invest in the enrichment and development of the next 

generation as an acknowledgement of the mortality of life and 

the desire for a legacy of immortal symbolism in which the 

impact of one’s good work should continue even if one’s life 

ends. This concept of guiding and enriching the lives of future 

generations was coined as generativity by Erikson (1950).  

We adopted Erikson’s (1950) theory of stages of adult 

development as a conceptual framework to guide the study. 

Bradley (1997) acknowledged that most studies done on 

generativity have been based on the Ericksonian model and 

suggested the need for further research that provides 

comprehensive models of the generative-stagnation stage of 

adulthood. Although Erikson’s (1950) initial study was 

conducted using privileged white middle class men, we believe 

that the theory still carries relevancy on other populations 

because of its focus on adult development and lifespan and that 

generativity is performed by both men and women. In our case, 

we adopted it to interrogate the intersectionality of women’s 

identities and generative pursuits at the different stages of their 

life’s span and development. For example, did the generativity 

pursuits of the women in the study follow a sequential and linear 

pattern of the stages of adult development as espoused by 

Erikson (1950)?  How does the social milieu affect their 

generative work? What other aspects of women’s lives 

influenced their generative work? These questions cannot 

possibly be answered by one theory alone. 

Acknowledging the nuances of the complexities of women’s 

lives, Josselson (1996) concluded, “Psychology has no adequate 

theory for women’s development, particularly development in 

adulthood” (p. 9), and we acknowledge that the results of 

Erikson findings cannot be viewed as universal and adequate in 

explaining women’s identities and generative experiences.  We, 

therefore, adopted the heuristic model (Pringle & Dixon, 2003) 

that relies on prior research (e.g., Gilligan 1982, Helson & 

Srivastava, 2001; Josselson, 1996; Versey & Newton, 2013) to 

guide, explain, and critique our results. Contrary to Erickson’s 

model, Pringle and Dixon’s (2003) heuristic model offers the 

argument that women’s lives are complex, and they evolve in a 

non-linear and deterministic fashion. The model offers others 

lens of understanding women’s identities given ethnic, cultural 



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and socio-economic variabilities as women continually explore, 

focus, rebalance and revive their lives. We also critiqued Erikson 

theory in the literature review given the harsh criticisms from 

feminist scholars who questioned the universal application of the 

theory to women and other minoritized groups (Gilligan, 1982; 

Helson & Srivastava, 2001, Sorell & Montgomery, 2001).   

Literature Review 

The theory of human development, or life cycle, is the seminal 

work of Erik Erikson (1950) who posited eight stages of 

conflicts in life which are: (a) trust vs. mistrust; (b) autonomy vs. 

shame and doubt; (c) initiative vs. guilt; (d) industry vs. 

inferiority; (e) identity vs. identity diffusion; (f) intimacy vs. 

isolation; (g) generativity vs. stagnation; and finally, (h) integrity 

vs. despair. Erikson (1950) postulated, “At any stage of the life 

cycle, the solution of one more nuclear conflict adds a new ego 

quality, a new criterion of increasing strength” (Erikson, 1950, p. 

233).  This stage theory assumes the development criteria apply 

to everyone (Helson & Srivastava, 2001). 

Generativity is primarily the “interest in establishing and guiding 

the next generation” (Erikson 1959, p. 97) through one’s acts of 

care or selfless caring (Bradley, 1997; Erikson, 1950). 

Generativity begins at 40 (Erikson, 1980) and manifests in 

adulthood.  According to Sagaria and Johnsrud (1988), “The 

commitment is to invest oneself in others’ lives and to live out 

the values of caring and empowerment in the daily activities of 

one’s own professional and personal spheres” (p. 25).  It is 

demonstrated by fighting personal stagnation, a concern for 

guiding the next generation, and optimism about humanity 

(Slater, 2003, Versey & Newton, 2013).  It is based on extrinsic 

and intrinsic motivation, i.e., the desires to respond to cultural 

demands and for personal satisfaction and the desire to leave a 

legacy (Cheng, 2009).  The degree to which an adult is 

concerned with guiding the next generation is determined by the 

intensity of involvement and inclusivity (Bradley & Marcia, 

1998). Inclusivity refers to “caregiving activity in terms of who 

or what is excluded” (Bradley & Marcia, 1998, p. 41).  

Generativity is “the instinctual power behind various forms of 

selfless caring, potentially extends to whatever a man generates 

and leaves behind, creates and produces (or helps to produce)” 

(Erikson, 1974, p. 131). Generativity means that “one 

participates otherwise in the establishment, the guidance, and the 

enrichment of the living generation and the world it inherits” 

(Erickson, 1974, p. 123). It is about the generation of new things 

and “encompasses procreativity, productivity, and creativity” 

(Erikson, 1997, p. 67), i.e., the nurturance of what one produces.  

Generativity also implies two things: imparting wisdom, 

knowledge, and a better future for the next generation, and 

working with urgency towards virtuous things given that time is 

of the essence because of the mortality of human life (Erikson, 

1974). The hope is that “adults will learn to help each other, not 

to burden the next generation with the immaturities they 

themselves inherited from previous generations (Erikson, 1974, 

p. 125). At this stage adults must be ready to become role 

models or what Erikson (1997) called “a numinous model in the 

eyes of the next generation and to act as judge of evil and a 

transmitter of ideal values” (p. 70).   

Care is a critical element in generativity. According to Erikson 

(1964), “Care is the widening concern for what has been 

generated by love, necessity, or accident; it overcomes the 

ambivalence adhering to irreversible obligation” (p. 131).  

However, where generativity fails, “regression … or a pervading 

sense of individual stagnation” (Erikson, 1950, p. 231) follows. 

Stagnation can occur even in people who are productive and 

creative, and may also be overwhelming “to those who find 

themselves inactivated in generative matters “Erikson, 1997, p. 

67).  Of particular importance is the decline of generative 

activities as one gets older or if generative work is not valued 

and respected (Cheng, 2009).  

In advancing generational pursuits in adults there are three 

choices to make.  Erikson (1974) concluded, “In youth you find 

out what you care to do and who you care to be—even in 

changing roles. In young adulthood you learn whom you care to 

be with—at work and in private life….In adulthood, however, 

you learn to know what and whom you can take care of” (p. 

124). Learning whom you can take of involves “rejectivity, that 

is, the unwillingness to include specified persons or groups in 

one’s generative concern—one does not care to care for them” 

(Erikson, 1997, p. 68).  There is a selectivity/rejectivity binary, 

and an adult has the prerogative to select whom they can and 

cannot care for.  

Despite the choices an adult makes about whom to care for, the 

danger is negative perceptions about the value of generativity 

one generation pursues. Feedback about the worth of 

generativity is subjective and may be viewed as valueless or 

irrelevant, potentially causing regression or decline in one’s 

generative work. Chen (2009) warned that “it is important to 

consider the declining status of older persons in contemporary 

societies and the normative feedback that they receive from 

younger generations” (p. 46). This is an important reminder 

considering perception gaps that exist between baby boomers 

and millennials in the workplace. 

Slater (2003) suggested that “case studies of leaders could 

provide further knowledge about generativity as the intersection 

of society and the human life cycle” (p. 53). In particular, 

relative to women in leadership positions, generativity becomes 

an interesting topic to investigate amid challenges women face 

in the workplace, especially those in senior executive positions, 

be it in industry, politics, academia, or any other sectors. 

Sandberg (2014) in her book Lean In, urged women to have the 

gumption to put themselves forward, speak up, take risks, seek 

challenges and pursue their careers with zeal, passion, and gusto. 

This is critical because “implicit pro-social power motivation 

serves as a basis for generative concern, which, in turn, leads to 

conscious generative goals as well as life satisfaction” (Hofer et 

al., 2008, p. 21). In organizations, “leaders with a sense of 

generativity will be able to care about both the mission and the 

employees” (Slater, 2003, p. 57). 



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In generative work and psychosocial adjustment, individual 

identity plays a significant role. Maintenance of individuality in 

competing dynamics is anchored “in centrality, originality, 

choice and initiative,…attributes of what we call identity” 

(Erikson, 1964; p. 86). It is important to understand how women 

self-identify as they engage in generative activities. Marcia 

(1966) conducted research on how 86 male participants to 

determine ego identity achievement using self-reported measures 

based on semi-structured interview protocol. His study revealed 

four classifications of ego identity statuses: (a) identity 

achievement- someone has experienced a crisis and is committed 

to an occupation and ideology, (b) moratorium- someone is in a 

crisis and actively struggling to make commitments (c) 

foreclosure- someone has not experienced a crisis but has a 

commitment, and (d) identity diffusion- someone may or may 

not have experienced a crisis but lacks commitment to any 

occupation.  

Expanding on prior work conducted by Bradley (1997), Bradley 

and Marcia (1998) conducted an empirical study based on levels 

of involvement (active of concern for the growth of self and 

others) and inclusivity (scope of caregiving concern). They 

classified participants into five categories (generative, 

conventional, agentic, communal, and stagnant) of generative 

functions. Their results showed that generative individuals are 

high on involvement and inclusivity. Conventional individuals 

are high on involvement but low on inclusivity for self and 

others. The agentic are high on involvement and inclusivity for 

self, but low for others. Communal individuals are high on 

involvement and inclusivity for others but low for self. Stagnant 

individuals are low on both involvement and inclusivity.  

Studies that involved women participants also revealed similar 

categorization of women’s identities. Josselson (1996) provided 

a categorization of women experiences into distinct identity 

markers, i.e., pathmakers, guardians, searchers, and drifters in a 

study that involved college educated women from non-elite 

colleges. A later study by Helson and Srivastava (2001) 

comprising of 111 women from a private college in California 

identified four configurations of mental health: achievers, 

conservers, seekers, and depleted. These two female identities of 

Josselson (1996) and Helson and Srivastava (2001) have 

common characteristics. Pathmakers or achievers experienced a 

period of exploration/crisis and then made identity commitments 

on their own terms.  Guardians/Conservers have made identity 

commitments without a sense of choice, carrying forward the 

plans for their life mapped in childhood or designed by their 

parents. They absorbed values and attitudes of their families and 

were groomed to achieve according to Josselson (1996). 

Searchers or seekers were still in an active period of struggle or 

exploration, trying to make choices but not having done so. 

Drifters or depleted were without commitments. They avoided 

decision-making with values and standards shifting with each 

situation.  

Later studies show different dimensions of generativity.  

Beaumont and Pratt (2011), using self-reported measures of 

identity styles among youths and adults, reported that middle 

aged adults scored higher on generativity than youths.  A cross-

cultural study of adults in German, Cameroon, and Costa Rica 

suggested that “implicit pro-social power motivation serves as a 

basis for generative concern, which, in turn, leads to generative 

goals as well as life satisfaction, as revealed using a generative 

model involving nested comparison statistics (Hofer et al., 

2007), an observation concurring with Cheng (2009). A later 

study by Versey and Newton (2013) conducted among 

Caucasian and African American women investigated the 

relation between generativity and successful aging. The results 

confirmed a positive relationship between successful aging and 

generativity.  The study also revealed that spiritual commitment 

is associated with generativity and successful aging, and it is 

especially prevalent identified with African American women.  

However, viewing women’s work through using the Erikson 

Stage of generativity versus stagnation is problematic as several 

scholars suggested that studies that involve only men as 

participants cannot be universal for all people (Elderstein, 1997; 

Gilligan, 1982; Josselson, 1996; Pringle & Dixon, 2003; 

Schuiling & Low; 2006).  Gilligan (1982) argued that Erikson 

only studied men in his studies; therefore, the theory does not 

address women’s developmental experience. Evans (1985) 

argued that “[T]he life stage perspectives are based almost 

exclusively on the male experience and may not make sense for 

women” (p. 12). Pringle and Dixon (2003) opined that “the 

study of women’s development has been distorted, narrow, and 

is a logical derivative of men’s experience” (p. 293).  In fact, 

Gilligan (1982) stated, “The discovery now being celebrated by 

men in mid-life of the importance of intimacy, relationships, and 

care is something that women have known from the beginning” 

(p. 17). Other scholars concurred with Sagaria and Johnsrud 

(1988) noting that “the caring and nurturing of others and the 

enabling of others to grow and develop are values long 

recognized in women…They are tasks of mature adulthood, 

tasks that should influence how we lead” (p. 17). This has to do 

with socially “prescribed gender roles of femininity than with 

biologically differing pathways for development” (Schuiling & 

Low, 2006, p. 24).  

Similarly, Edelstein (1997) concurred noting women’s 

generative work started early in life and does not follow 

sequential stages as outlined by Erikson. Rather, women’s 

developmental stages are cyclical rather than linear, with women 

caring for both others and for themselves.  Edelstein (1997) 

outlined three flaws of Erikson theory in relation to women. 

These are: (a) identity formation for men and women is not 

identical; (b) silence on how sexual differences may be a result 

of cultural conditioning, influence generative pursuits; and (c) 

“generativity fails to address the midlife shift, and fails to 

appreciate that women have already devoted years to nurturing 

others and may be moving into a natural self-focused period” (p. 

6). That period focused on the self in midlife women was coined 

as interiority by Neugarten (1968). Women start nurturing others 

early on in life through raising families, caregiving to elderly 

parents, necessitating that women constantly balance coequal 



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responsibilities rather than choosing between this vs that 

according to Elderstein (1997). In midlife women take a pause 

and look into their inner selves, start discovering and creating 

their authentic self (Edelstein, 1997). 

 While theorists, such as Kohlberg and Gilligan, have 

contributed immensely to the study of moral development, their 

studies were criticized as not universal, sexist, and representative 

only of Western cultures (Woods, 1996). They also are criticized 

because their participants are primarily privileged participants 

from elite colleges who may not represent the general population 

(Josselson 1996). According to Sherblom (2008), Gilligan was 

“critiqued for overgeneralizing from small sample qualitative 

studies to all women and for not adequately specifying sample 

selection and analytic techniques in her publications” (p. 83).  

Despite these criticisms, Bradley (1997) acknowledged that most 

studies done on generativity have been based on the Ericksonian 

model and suggested the need for further research that provides 

comprehensive models of the generative-stagnation stage of 

adulthood.  

Understanding women’s identities is critical in informing 

women’s generative work.  Gilligan (1982) stated that 

“women…define their identity through relationships of intimacy 

and care” (p.164). Several feminist scholars acknowledged the 

complexity of women’s identities and described it in 

metaphorical terms. McGuigan (1980) described woman identity 

as “a braid of threads in which colors appear, disappear and 

reappear (p. xii).  Josselson (1996) used the metaphor of a weave 

to describe the complexity of women’s lives. 

[T]he threads merge, sometimes tightly, sometimes not 

fitting well together. Sometimes a portion must be 

undone to make it for something lovelier to replace it, 

sometimes layers are crafted on top of other older 

patterns. The parts form a whole, but the whole is more 

than the sum of the parts…What women weave into 

their identities has been the major silences in 

psychological literature. A woman is how she weaves it 

all into a whole, articulating herself to the world with 

others and simultaneously making private sense of it. 

(p. 8)   

Josselson (1996) was of the view that “Psychology has no 

adequate theory for women’s development, particularly 

development in adulthood” (p. 9). In other words, psychology 

does not adequately capture the nuances of the complexities of 

women’s lives. 

Acknowledging the complexity of women’s identities, Pringle 

and Dixon (2003) used heuristic model which is not linear and 

age related and uses previous research to describe women’s 

career experiences. Their “model consists of four facets: explore, 

focus, rebalance and revive, each of which are interspersed by 

periods of reassessment.” (294). Explore refers to time of testing 

limits and potential often discovered through relationships, work 

or educational demands.  Focus involves devoting energy to one 

aspect of life, for example, raising children, or career 

advancement, but does not preclude other competing aspects of 

life. Rebalance refers to a conscious choice to alter life’s course 

triggered by a desire for congruence of values and activities 

where women “settle into themselves” (p. 297) marked by 

increased self-confidence and assertion. Rebalance can be 

precipitated by major events in life such as death of a loved one, 

divorce, job loss, retirement, etc. Revive refers to finding the 

freedom to consider other activities and interests after living a 

life of selfless giving to others. Borrowing from the heuristic 

model we will also use previous research to guide our results and 

discussion. 

In summary, it is important to identify how dimensions of 

Erikson’s seminal work are included in generative repertoires. 

The literature suggests that involvement in generational pursuits 

is motivated by the desire to give back and to leave an immortal 

legacy. Adults have a choice in generative activities and whom 

to care for. Understanding the generative work of women should 

be juxtaposed with how women self-identify in their life stages. 

Several scholars acknowledge the shortfalls of using Erikson’s 

work to understand the generative work of women due to 

exclusion of women in his study and failure to understand the 

nature of women as cyclical and not linear as suggested by the 

stages. Gilligan (1982) argued that the standards for morality 

and maturity used in psychological studies were tested based on 

the experiences of men, and therefore, did not hold true for 

women. Other scholars critiqued Gilligan (1982) as work that is 

elitist as participants were from rich and private colleges 

(Josselson, 1996) and as only including white privileged and 

middle-class women (Schuiling & Low,2006). Women’s lives 

are complicated, the essence which cannot be captured by 

psychology alone (Josselson, 1996); therefore, we will employ 

Pringle and Dixon’s (2003) heuristic model as our framework of 

informing our discussion on the generative work of participants 

in our study. Their approach uses previous research to describe 

women’s experiences. In this study we conducted interviews 

performed in a focus group setting, following the pattern 

established by previous studies to understand women’s identity 

(Gilligan, 1982; Josselson, 1996; Sagaria & Johnsrud, 1988). In 

the next section, we present our study. 

Methods 

Research Design  

To best obtain stories of generativity with women in leadership, 

we used qualitative methodology focused on narrative research 

with focus groups. Narrative research focuses on collecting 

stories from individuals or groups using interviews as the 

primary source of data collection to capture experiences about a 

certain phenomenon (Creswell, 2007; Doody, Slevin, & Taggart, 

2013a). We used purposeful sampling to identify women with a 

variety of leadership experiences and interviewed these women 

in a focus group.  Focus groups are group interviews led by a 

skilled moderator to solicit ideas, opinions, and experiences of 

others on a given phenomenon and occur in small groups of four 

to twelve people (Carlsen & Glenton, 2011). Focus groups use 

“interaction data resulting from discussion among participants to 



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increase the depth of the enquiry and reveal aspects of the 

phenomenon assumed to be otherwise less accessible” (Doody et 

al. 2013a, p. 16). The primary research question is: How do 

women in educational leadership engage generativity in their 

personal and professional lives?  

Population 

The targeted population was women in educational leadership 

who participated at a conference. The conference provides a 

platform where issues germane to women in educational 

leadership are discussed, and it included over 140 participants 

from eight states and 13 foreign countries. The conference was 

international and included women from the public and private 

sections of K-12 education, community colleges, higher 

education, and support agencies.  The list of attendees ranged 

from classroom teachers, principals, superintendents, professors, 

deans, presidents, vice presidents, and entrepreneurs.  

Participants/Sample 

The participants in this study were all college-educated women 

initially drawn from Australia, Kuwait, Uganda the United 

States. The participants represented K-12, community colleges 

and university levels. Of the 17 women invited to participate, 

nine women joined the focus group. Three participants were 

principals and were all from the United States (two elementary 

and one high school). Three participants representing the 

community college system were all from the United States. Two 

had recently retired where one had served as a vice president of 

academic affairs at a community college, and the other had 

served as a senior vice president and chief of technology at the 

state level. Another participant was serving as a Dean of Public 

Services and Academic Support at a community college. The 

university level was represented by three women: one participant 

was from Uganda and held the rank of professor; the second 

participant from the United States had served as Dean of 

Libraries and had had recently stepped down; and the third was 

from the gulf region of the Middle East and served at the rank of 

director. All of the participants’ ages ranged from 37 to 64.  Six 

(66, 7 %) of the women held doctorates. Two (22.2%) were in 

the process of finishing their doctorates, while one (11.1%) held 

a Master’s degree. Table 1 (following page) shows demographic 

data of participants; pseudonyms are used to protect their 

identities. 

Procedure 

After obtaining IRB approval, invitation letters to participate in 

the focus group were hand delivered by conference support staff 

to purposefully selected participants.  As directors of the 

conference, we felt that personal delivery of the letters could 

cause undue pressure for our participants. Invitational letters 

were delivered on the first day of the conference, and each 

participant had to sign a consent form before participating. The 

consent form, stating the purpose and length of the focus group, 

emphasized that participation was voluntary and members could 

withdraw at any point during the study, without penalty or 

consequence. The findings were coded to protect anonymity and 

confidentiality and were released as aggregate findings.  

Data Collection and Analysis 

At the beginning of the focus group, the directors as co-principal 

investigators of the study restated the purpose of the study and 

double checked if all participants had signed the consent form. 

They also restated issues of confidentiality and the focus group 

interview protocol. When this was all finalized, the video tape 

was rolled by a technology expert using Panopto on a university 

computer to allow for maximum security of data. The focus 

group discussions lasted for one and a half hours and were 

conducted in a secure room where there were no interruptions. 

The investigators used an interview protocol to guide the 

discussion. Immediately after tapping, the video was 

downloaded by the technology expert and converted to a CD. 

Each investigator was given a CD that is kept under lock and 

key in cabinets in the investigators’ offices. Data were 

transcribed by a staffer who was involved with the conference. 

The constant comparative method provided the method of 

analysis (Cresswell, 2013, Doody et al, 2013b; Rosenthal, 2016). 

We read data and re-read data until we identified themes that 

emerged. 

Results 

The nine women who participated in the focus group pursued 

activities that showed how each explored the concept of 

generativity. It was clear that the majority of participants six 

(66.7%) were influenced to become a leader in educational 

leadership by a previous school administrator, while the minority 

three (33.3%) were influenced by a parent. To better present the 

data, what follows are detailed profiles of participants grouped 

by the educational sector they represent. 

Principals 

Three principals participated in this study. One is a high school 

principal, while two are elementary principals in urban cities of 

the same state in the United States.  We provide a profile of each 

participant and the generative activities that they pursue in order 

to get a sense of the values they cherish and the commitments 

they make to improve the lives of the next generation.  

Lisa 

 The youngest of the participants at 37 years old stated, “I’m a 

Generation X-er/Millennial born in the middle of a generation 

shift. I'm a cusper.”  She is a mother to five, a preacher’s wife, 

and she is completing her doctoral studies. She was drawn to 

education by her five-year-old sister at the time. Her sister came 

home from school very excited about learning what a ‘patterin’ 

[sic] was. “I said, ‘What is a patterin?’ And she said, ‘a patterin-

bean-paper- bean-paper…a patterin.’ And I said, ‘Oh, a pattern.’ 

And, she said, ‘A patterin.’”  Lisa stated that this incident 

prompted her to apply for a teaching scholarship because this 

experience with her sister ignited her passion for teaching. Later 

in her career an e-mail from her superintendent encouraged her 

to go into educational leadership. 



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Gwen 

Aged 45, is self-described as African American, divorced, and a 

mother to one son. She decided she wanted to be in education 

while she was in elementary school. She stated, 

I had some great elementary teachers, and actually     

elementary school for me was a safe haven when 

everything at home was not the best. So, school was my 

safe place and [I] figured as I went through my years of 

schooling that there was something about me that 

wanted to help others that [sic] were like me to feel 

loved, to be respected, and to be told that you are going 

to be awesome, great, and amazing. And I want to give 

that back to other children…that help I received to help 

me to be who I am today. 

A phone call from a friend landed her a job as a third grade 

teacher. She enjoyed the experience of teaching for four years 

and realized that she had so many ideas about the direction of 

how the school could be going, though she hesitated to take 

leadership roles because of the politics. To her amazement, she 

ended up in leadership positions without ever applying for a 

single job. She has always been asked to take the leadership 

roles and interviews were private and just a formality.  

Laura 

Aged 48, is Caucasian, a mother of six children from two 

marriages and, like Lisa, she is completing her doctoral studies. 

She described herself as a very driven person. She went into 

teaching partly because her mother, a teacher, always 

encouraged her to obtain a teaching license with her degree. 

Laura’s desire was to be a lawyer, but after interning throughout 

high school, she got married and had to shelf the idea of law to 

look after her children; she later finished her degree in English. 

She did substitute teaching for a while and enjoyed the 

experience, but she still kept in her mind the goal of going to law 

school. When it was time to go to law school, she had an 

epiphany. 

The kids got older, they were in middle school, and I 

said okay, “Now is the time for me to go to law 

school,” and I thought about it. And, the more I thought 

about it I thought, “Why?” I realized that the depth of 

my knowledge about teaching in curriculum was deep 

enough that I didn’t want to let go of what I wanted—to 

build on that. It was like a crossroads for me. 

Laura ended up in education because she wanted to see what 

leadership looks like. She stated that as a teacher she realized 

she did not have much autonomy, and she applied to graduate 

school. She said of being a classroom teacher, “That was sort of 

a frustrating position for me to be in because you really couldn’t 

create things. You couldn’t be in charge of a vision. You were 

just kind of doing what needed to be done.” As a driven person, 

Laura started pursuing higher degrees and applying for school 

leadership positions.  

 

Community College  

Three participants from the community college system had all 

served in senior positions. Unlike school principals from the K-

12 sector whose goal was to become a school administrator, 

these participants followed very different and unconventional 

pathways to their senior positions. 

 Sydney 

Aged 53, is African American and recently retired, having 

served at the rank of Senior Vice President and Chief of 

Technology for a state system. She is married and a mother to 

one son. She started with a corporate job as an engineer, a job 

she really loved. She stated, “I taught my father, my dad, how to 

do fractions when I was in the fifth grade, and it literally 

changed our economic status because he was able to get a job at 

the railroad. So, I know when you learn something, your life will 

change and I remember that from the fifth grade.” She revealed 

that in her job as lead engineer she taught other smart engineers 

but wanted to learn how technical subject matter experts can 

learn to be good teachers. She decided to go back to school to 

earn a doctorate, and afterwards she decided to leave the 

corporate sector altogether to start a career in higher education.  

Ingrid. 

At 58, Ingrid is a mother to adult sons and, like Laura, she had 

always dreamed of becoming a lawyer, though her mother, early 

on had advised her that she needed to get a teaching certificate 

regardless of her degree. She is African American and she 

described herself this way,  

I grew up during a time when pretty much the only 

professional options for African Americans were 

teachers and preachers, and I was kind of pushing back 

against that. And, you know I was at the end of that 

point in time and wanted to do something different. So, 

my interest was in practicing law.   

She completed an undergraduate degree in criminal justice and 

soon realized that she was no longer interested in law school. 

Instead, she spent time working as a paralegal doing community 

education. She realized she enjoyed the teaching aspect of the 

job and enrolled in a master’s program with the local university 

to study adult education. She discusses this move 

I started to be just so enamoured by the whole teaching 

experience that I decided I would really like to get back 

on a college campus in some capacity. So, a position 

came up at my community college for a paralegal 

instructor. They really liked my resume, and …I got the 

position.  

She stayed on the job and after four years, she was promoted to 

the position of program coordinator, and now she serves as Dean 

of Public Services and Academic Support. She never dreamed of 

becoming a dean, but she was encouraged by colleagues to apply 

for that position. Ingrid just completed the doctorate at age 58. 



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Table 1 

Demographic Data of Participants 

Participant Age Race Country 

Represented 

Educational 

Level 

Job title Marital Status Number 

of Children 

Lisa 37 African 

American 

USA Completing 

Doctoral Studies 

Elementary Principal Married 5 

Gwen 45 African 

American 

USA Doctorate Elementary Principal Divorced 1 

Laura 48 Caucasian USA Completing 

Doctoral Studies 

High school Principal Married 6 

Sydney 53 African 

American 

USA Doctorate Retired as senior vice 

president and chief of 

technology 

Married 1 

Ingrid 58 African 

American 

USA Doctorate Dean of Public 

Services and 

Academic Support. 

Married 2 

Michelle 60 Caucasian USA Doctorate Retired as Vice 

president of academic 

affairs at a community 

college 

Divorced 2 

Olivia 60 Caucasian Kuwait Doctorate Director Married 2 

Natalie 61 Caucasian USA Master’s Stepped down as Dean 

of Libraries 

Married 0 

Heather 64 African Uganda Doctorate Professor Married 2 



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Michelle 

She is a 60-year-old Caucasian and a divorced mother of two. 

She is retired after serving as Vice President of Academic affairs 

at a community college. Unlike other participants, she started her 

career in nursing working in an intensive care unit (ICU). A 

nearby community college was starting a nursing program, but it 

did not have teachers for advanced programs. Michelle went on 

to obtain a Master’s degree in nursing and started teaching in a 

community college. She stated,  

Still to this day nursing excites me. …It was amazing to 

watch the transformation on the faces of students who 

are afraid to come into a room until the end of the 

rotation [when] they were actually caring for the 

patients.  I thought I like that. 

Michelle rose to the rank of Dean of Health Sciences in the 

community college system, and she had thought she had reached 

the pinnacle of her career until the day a senior administrator 

asked her if she had the doctorate. She started pursing the 

doctorate at age 50, but retired at 58, two years after obtaining a 

doctorate in educational leadership.  Michelle wanted to focus 

on herself. 

Higher Education 

Olivia 

Working in Kuwait, Olivia, a Caucasian, and a mother to two 

adult children serves as the director of the Foundations Program 

at a university. She did not plan to work in education; it 

happened by accident. A phone call from a friend changed her 

career trajectory. She stated, “After teaching third grade for four 

years, I realized I had lots of ideas of how I thought the school 

could be going. And when the elementary principal left, I 

decided to apply for the job.” She accepted the job despite her 

limited experience with third grade teaching and zero experience 

in school administration.  The job provided her with the needed 

experience and confidence, and she has never looked back. 

Natalie 

A Caucasian woman at 61, Natalie is married with no children 

and is a career librarian who rose to the position of Dean of 

Libraries and worked at several prestigious universities in the 

United States. She started working in libraries at age 17 while 

she was still in high school. In college she tried music 

performance and anthropology but was drawn to libraries. She 

enrolled for a Master’s degree in Library Science. She said: 

If there is [sic] any librarian at my age that tells you 

they did not do it for the love of books, they are lying to 

you. But it’s a fascination with learning and, uh, 

discovering and watching people change…. We believe 

librarians are very transformational also in that 

experience, and [we are] partners with teaching if not 

teaching ourselves.   

She attributed her love for learning to her father who was a 

bridge engineer during day time and who taught evening classes 

in astronomy. She was fascinated by watching him teach, and 

she always enjoyed playing school. Natalie recently stepped 

down as dean of libraries. 

Heather 

She is the oldest participant at age 64. She is an African from 

Uganda, is a married mother to two adult children, and works at 

the rank of a professor. Like Olivia, Heather joined education by 

accident at the time her country was going through political 

turmoil. She outlined her journey: 

I finished high school when my country was going 

through being ruled by a military man, Idi Amin and 

many foreigners were kicked out of the country, and 

there was a shortage of teachers. So, all the students 

entering the university that year were forced to do 

education. So, although I was not able to do a Bachelor 

of Commerce, I was forced to do education. 

 She became a deputy head teacher in a large urban school. She 

ended up teaching at university. While at university she applied 

to pursue a Ph.D. in Canada. Upon her return she continued 

teaching at the university and rose to the rank of Deputy Dean 

Academics. She was the only deputy dean with a Ph.D. She has 

been appointed to many positions such as member of the faculty 

senate and department chair. She attributed her success to her 

strong drive and hard work. She stated, “[For] me I am proud of 

being what I am, no man can claim.  I am one of the first few 

people in the university to become a professor … I feel proud 

that I did it myself. I read my books…I have been ahead of the 

men in the faculty”  

Generative Activities of Participants 

When asked about how they perceived their roles in generative 

pursuits, participants revealed a wide array of activities. Themes 

that emerged were consistent with literature of women’s distinct 

identity markers of pathmakers, guardians, searchers and drifters 

(Josselson 1996) and Helson and Srivastava (2001) 

categorization of women identities as achievers, conservers, 

seekers, depleted. We used these to classify the generative work 

of the women. 

Guardians/Conservers 

Women who feel obligated and committed to helping others 

improve their lives are classified as guardians (Josselson, 1996). 

They have a sense of urgency about it and carry the values and 

standards set by their families. Several women engaged in these 

generative pursuits in several spaces that included the home, 

work and community. For women managing young families, a 

full-time job, and obligations to other communities, they 

expressed that they had no choice but to commit to those 

activities. Lisa, a mother of five children ranging in age from 

four to 16, looked after her younger family, had a full-time job, 

and was involved at her church in her role as the pastor’s wife. 

In addition, she spent countless hours with children at her church 

mentoring and providing guidance.  



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I saw a need to kind of support guidance counselors 

who are not able to give students that access as much as 

they would like to because of different barriers in their 

field. So, I work as a scholarship coach externally to 

high school students, so I can help them get access to 

funding. 

She feels uniquely enabled to do the work as she fondly stated, 

“But I thoroughly enjoy all children, um, and I have been called 

a ‘child whisperer.’ [I] listen to children and hear what they're 

saying no matter how old they are.” To balance work family life, 

Lisa has regular dates with her husband and also what she called 

mandatory family time (MFT). Each child is at liberty to call an 

MFT that could be in the form of activities that include ball 

games, day road trips, etc. 

 While Laura had similar work family life like Lisa, she 

did not emphasize on her family life but expressed how 

exhausted she was about her job. She expressed how she 

constantly battles balancing her roles of wife and principal.  

[My husband and I] both have really demanding jobs, 

and I have to renegotiate what my role as a wife looks 

like now that I have this role [at work]. It’s like you're 

constantly renegotiating how to make things successful 

as you move throughout your life. I mean it's all good, 

but you have to say, “Ok now, how am I gonna make 

this work because not working is not an option? So how 

are we gonna make this work”’ 

Both Lisa and Laura expressed how hard their jobs were but 

recognized that somebody had to do it. Laura expressed how 

gender affected her job but felt obligated to march forward:  

I will be honest right now; I am really tired and what is 

getting through right now is, “I'm just too dang 

stubborn,” because I started, and I don't want to stop. 

And I feel like if I do...we have limited gender scripts 

as females. We can talk about it all day, but until more 

of us do it we are not expanding those options. 

Lisa added another layer of the complexity of leadership as a 

black woman, and supervising white teachers who grew up in 

times when it was unheard of for blacks to supervise white 

people. She summarized her experience this way: 

It's hard being a female, and then when you add your 

race on top of that...it's hard being a black female 

school administrator, period. Because we have a whole 

different set of barriers…and then youth is also an issue 

that I struggle with just age, especially with white 

female older teachers who look at me like... “First of 

all, you could be my daughter. I have children older 

than you.  What do you know? Who do you think you 

are?” I did not have a black woman or a black man, no 

black person—not even a half-black person was my 

boss … so that is a huge barrier for me. 

Lisa and Laura demonstrate resilience and commitment despite 

the less than optimal conditions they face in their generative 

pursuits. Olivia felt the burden to apply for a leadership position 

in school administration because she felt the school was going in 

the wrong direction. She believed she had the ideas to turn 

around this school despite having no experience in educational 

leadership. She wanted to change that school by being the 

opposite of the then current administrator.  Olivia also invests 

her generative activities in the youth. She stated:  

For me, it started with my own children who are now 

31, 29 and 25. And so as they were growing up, I felt it 

was very important for them to feel they had someone 

they could come to and ask questions and find out 

more. And I sometimes did that for their friends also, 

and as time went by people would come to me. She also 

coaches and mentors the youth. In fact, people are 

referred to her for advice.  

Natalie a long time career librarian feels the impetus to give 

back because she believes the future is important and feels 

obligated to pass on the knowledge and wisdom. 

I am pretty far along in my career, and so if I feel that I 

need to pass it along as well. And there a number of 

ways to do it in higher education. You can provide 

opportunities for people, so I advise people on how to 

get on committees for their professional service. I 

nominate them, advocate for them for being a leader or 

chair. If I have the power over a taskforce, I make sure 

they are involved with that…. I will always talk to 

anyone who calls me for a survey or advice or how do I 

become a librarian or anything because that future is so 

important that they are successful and engaged with 

what they are trying to do. 

Natalie was also involved in coaching and mentoring and 

believes that every new recruit on the job needs to have a mentor 

and a sounding board. She takes those roles seriously as she 

shapes and influences the careers of others. She summed up her 

work: “I tell them I am always there for you, and I have been 

there for a lot of librarians just as people have taken care of me 

throughout the years whether I work with them any longer or not 

or don't work with them or see them much.” It is clear Natalie 

maintains the traditions and is a gatekeeper in her field. On the 

other hand, Gwen simply tells her story about how she landed in 

school administration without applying for positions. She said 

women find her story compelling, and she realizes the power in 

her story and how she has seen other women transformed 

because of it. 

Pathmakers/Achievers 

These are women who have gone through crises in life and make 

commitments to improve the lives of others based on their own 

terms (Josselson, 1996). In other words, for pathmakers, 

commitment to help, unlike guardians, is a choice and not an 

obligation. Achievers made sacrifices in their family lives for 

their careers (Helson & Srivastava, 2001). In the current study, 

the women worked hard to pave the way for others and to 



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remove obstacles in the profession. Ingrid best described her 

pathfinder role this way.  

I always tell the folks in my division that I consider one 

of my biggest jobs to be to plow a road. I want to come 

in and try to remove as many obstacles as possible to 

facilitate them in doing their jobs, which is educating 

students. I also have the goal to leave whatever I enter 

somehow better than it was when I came in. 

Yet others saw their role as that of doing trailblazing. For 

example, Michelle saw her role as somebody who inspired other 

women to work towards their career and educational goals 

despite her challenges of single parenthood and being a primary 

caregiver to aging parents. In addition, her roles initially as dean 

and, subsequently, as Vice President of Academic Affairs, 

normally would have stopped other women from pursuing 

doctoral studies, but Michelle was undeterred.  She stated: 

I think now … I have gotten older and, in retirement-

type-age talk, go back and see folks that have told me, 

“Michelle, you are a single mom, and you are able to 

juggle working part time as well.” I guess I was the 

silent mentor. I guess I did not realize at the time and 

growing your profession, serving professional 

organizations and then go back and work on a doctorate 

at 50 because you had to wait until the kids were in 

college. They said that is why I did it because they saw 

that I could do it, and there was no reason I couldn't do 

it.  So, I guess sometimes we don't know. But I think 

encouraging others to break those barriers, to go and 

do.  

Another perspective of being a pathmaker was offered by 

Sydney, an engineer who ended with an executive position of 

Vice President in Educational Leadership. Because of the under-

representation of women in her field, she often finds herself 

being the only female in the boardroom and how lonely it is at 

the top. Her approach to generational pursuits is rooted in self-

identify, role of religion and skills set she brings to the table. She 

believes a balance of these attributes draws other women to her 

work. She described herself this way, 

If you see me in the boardroom, I have to be who I am 

wherever I am because I tried switching. I tried being 

what you wanted and what you wanted and what you 

wanted....and it wore me out and I didn't know who I 

was. Now I am at a point where you know what, I am 

an African American female, a brilliant, not just smart, 

I am a brilliant African American female who can 

mentor others, who loves the Lord. Who says you know 

what - this is me. Now do I go out and do all in the love 

the Lord… my faith is who I am, and I have found that 

women are drawn to that and they want to know how 

can they do that without being overbearing in the 

boardroom. I have to admit it is a skill.   

Sydney also stated that she is very frank and candid about the 

advice she gives. She warns that if people do not like her advice, 

they shouldn’t waste her time: “I am very intentional, and I tell 

people, ‘Don’t ask me to mentor you if you cannot take the 

mentoring I am going to give you because I don't want to waste 

your time and I choose not to waste mine.’” Clearly these three 

participants exemplify that pathmakers have the role of paving 

the way for others by either removing obstacles, inspiring others 

vicariously, and projecting the skills needed to survive in the 

field. They are unaware that they are silent mentors as stated by 

Michelle.  

Searchers/Seekers 

These are women who are in an active period of searching 

(Josselson, 1996; Helson & Srivastava, 2001). In our study, only 

one participant, Lisa, still appeared to be searching. She was the 

youngest in the focus group and identifies as a “cusper,” partly 

Generation X-er/Millennial. She supervised teachers who were 

old enough to be her mother and has experienced generational 

differences that leave her searching for answers. She said she 

exudes confidence that she perceives annoys her mentors who 

are of an older generation. Lisa expressed her frustration when 

she said:  

The confidence that I might exude that is just who I am. 

I am not trying to be anything different. I am just trying 

to be ‘confident Lisa,’ trying to be a confident person.  

But at the same time, I need the mentorship of others, 

and I have put it out there, that, that is what I need. But 

I have learned to put it out there. Originally the 

confidence was a turn off, so older people would say, 

‘She has got it; she doesn't need it.’  What I'm trying to 

tell you, ‘I am not gonna be weak looking and not 

encourage you that I want you to mentor me. I'm gonna 

be strong, but I also want you to mentor me. Can you 

mentor a strong young woman?’ That is really the 

question that I'm gonna ask, ‘If you can’t mentor a 

strong young woman, then let's negotiate how we are 

going to make this relationship work.’ I have had lots of 

mentors; I still do keep in contact with them. But I think 

that is a huge barrier, older women say, ‘No, not even 

gonna try.’ And I, I am like, ‘What? Why do I 

intimidate you? I am just trying to learn? Please do not 

be turned off by my confidence or by whatever you 

think I have because in my head. I need a lot and what 

you see and what you think I need are not matching, 

and we repel each other.’ 

It is clear that Lisa is frustrated by this generational difference 

and may not be getting the mentoring she needs because 

perceives that the older generation is repelled by her confidence. 

She still needs to learn the art of portraying her confidence so 

that she does not come across as aloof. She suggested that the 

communication styles of the older generation are not direct, and 

this leaves room for one to come up with unintended results that 

stifle progress. For example, Lisa pointed out that when older 

adults use language, such as “...we really should, need to, we 

would love for you to,” in a vertical professional learning 

community with generation X and Y, this could give the younger 



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generation options and work does not get done. She suggested 

language that is direct, such as “We should definitely collaborate 

on this math lesson and work together. What do you think?” And 

they always say, “Yes I agree.” She believes this is the kind of 

language Generation X and Y understand because “they spoke 

their mind when their parents raised them to be like that.” Lisa is 

still searching about the best way to navigate that 

intergenerational challenge in the workplace.   

Drifters/Depleted 

These are women who were without commitments. They 

avoided decision making, and their values and standards shifted 

with each situation (Josselson, 1996; Helson & Srivastava, 

2001). At 60, Michelle decided to scale down her involvement. 

She had inspired and mentored other women as she progressed 

in her career. After getting her doctorate she decided to retire 

much to the disappointment of her friends and colleagues. They 

would have wanted her to go on and use her doctorate to reach 

higher career goals, such as becoming a president of a 

community college. Michelle justified her decision to retire by 

saying:  

I lost 2 parents in 7 years, traveling down East every 

weekend, and then had finished the doctoral 

program…then children finished college and married. 

And then I had the opportunity. I was retirement age 

and decided to retire.  I got a lot of backlash, “How can 

you waste what you have done?” And it was a 

courageous step because part of me was going I know I 

could be president. I know I could have done it, but you 

know what, I found bigger gifts. In two years, I had to 

take that pause that we were talking about. I got 

healthy. I lost 76 pounds. But it was finding health 

again to re-establish, um, a healthy lifestyle, to start 

part-time teaching again in educational leadership 

where you have to get back in there, do research, and 

then have a personal life that I haven't had in 19 years. I 

hadn't dated, and now I am getting married. To say that 

sometimes we have to be courageous, to close doors for 

you at that moment. I had to breathe. I had been a single 

mom, run[ning] up that ladder like I was supposed to be 

a good girl.  I was exhausted. So [it was time to] 

breathe. 

After giving so much to her career and family, Michelle 

deliberately decided to reduce her generative pursuits and 

concentrated on improving her life which she had neglected for a 

long time due to caregiving roles, such as being a single mom 

raising two children. Then she was an empty nester and was at a 

stage where she was negotiating new meaning and direction 

about her life. She was “taking the pause” or slowing down 

despite the backlash she received, and, in her own words, “had 

found bigger gifts” that she wanted to enjoy. Michelle also refers 

to her ego identity, i.e., her physical psychological and 

emotional attributes (Helson, Stewart & Ostrove, 1995) when 

she referenced her weight, lifestyle and enjoying an empty nest 

as aspects that needed her attention.  

Discussion  

All the nine women in this study were well-accomplished 

professionals, authority figures, and respected women who 

engaged in some form of generativity work; hence, they were, as 

Erikson (1997) pointed out, adults ready to be a numinous figure 

in the eyes of the next generation. As generative leaders, the 

women felt obligated to empower others (Sagaria & Johnsrud, 

1988) and also felt motivated to keep the same tradition by 

passing it on to others, be it their children or colleagues, in order 

to make a difference and improve the lives of others. They 

wanted others to avoid the same mistakes and traps they had 

made. Each participant was productive, creative, and nurtured 

their work. Generative functions were carried out in spaces that 

included the family, workplace and the community as a 

“balancing act of this and this, an attitude that shows coequal 

responsibilities and not conflicting choices of this vs. that” 

(Elderstein, 1997, p. 11) as suggested in Erikson stage theory. 

The tenets of generativity as expounded by Erikson (1950. 1964, 

1974, 1997), such as meaning making, teaching, and keeping the 

meaning, held true for women in our study 

However, in light of the criticisms levelled against Erikson’s 

theory of adult development as linearly ordered and claiming 

universality (Edelstein, 1997; Helson & Srivastava, 200; 

Gilligan, 1982; Josselson, 1996, Pringle & Dixon, 2003), we 

employed Pringle and Dixon (2003) that relies on prior research 

on women’s identities to guide our discussion. Pringle and 

Dixon’s (2003) heuristic model offers the argument that 

women’s lives are complex, and they evolve in a non-linear and 

deterministic fashion. In this model they postulate four evolving 

facets where women continually explore, focus, rebalance and 

revive their lives. The points at which women explore, focus, 

rebalance and revive vary from woman to woman as these 

aspects are largely influenced by events in life (Pringle & Dixon, 

2003), family life cycle, and not necessarily by chronological 

age alone (Harris, Elliot & Holmes, 1986). This does not mean 

exclusion and ignoring events ordered by biology, such a 

menopause. 

Participants in our study started generative work early in life 

through building relationships, caring for families, and building 

careers, or engaged in resolving problems in their communities, 

contradicting the age 40-65 as years of the generativity-

stagnation stage (Erikson, 1950). For example, Sydney was 

already retired at 53 and Michelle at 60, while some older 

participants did not discuss any retirement plans. At age 37, Lisa 

was focusing on doctoral studies while Michelle at 58, and 

Ingrid at 60) had just finished their doctoral studies. Heather 

showed no signs of scaling down in her career. She showed 

assertiveness and independence. She had inner strength, was 

uninhibited and courageous, and she was a paragon at her work 

despite working in a poorly resourced institution in comparison 

to other participants. She exhibited pride for becoming the first 

woman to attain positions that had been historically held by men 

at her institution. She had earned a Ph.D. and become a full 

professor, and served in the Faculty Senate, just to name a few 



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of her achievements. She stated, “[For] me I am proud of being 

what I am, no man can claim. I am one of the first few people in 

the university to become a [full] professor … I feel proud that I 

did it myself. She commands respect, and helps other faculty 

publish and attend conferences. She also showed moral courage 

by investing in the youth by securing scholarships for 

disadvantaged young girls to pursue their education. This 

highlights the continuous assessment that goes with women’s 

lives, and that this assessment is not universal but rather unique 

for each woman. 

The balancing of life (Pringle & Dixon, 2003) is best illustrated 

by Lisa, the youngest of the participants. As a mother of with 

five young children, she had to balance being a mom, student, 

principal, pastor’s wife, mentor, and a host of other 

responsibilities at her church and community, yet she scheduled 

mandatory family time (MFT) and regular dates with her pastor 

husband. Laura’s experience also illustrates the balance and 

reassessment of life (Pringle & Dixon, 2003) where she 

constantly negotiated her multiple roles as wife, principal, and 

mother.  

For professionals such as Gwen and Michelle, who were also 

single parents in our sample, they had to sacrifice their careers 

for their families. Gwen, a pathmaker (Josselson, 1996) worked 

hard to create a better life for herself having experienced a 

difficult childhood and, later, a divorce. She always told her 

story about how she rose to be an educational leader and shared 

how her story inspired others. Michelle postponed getting her 

doctorate until the children had finished college while also being 

a caregiver to her elderly parents.  

Several women in the study had high levels of involvement and 

an uninhibited sense of purpose. Laura’s best experience about 

her job was hiring because she realized there are not many 

women in her position and wanted to contribute to building a 

future pool. She also invested in offering quality coaching and 

professional development to new hires to increase productivity. 

Natalie, a former college dean enjoyed hiring and working with 

new hires, and she provided them with the resources they 

needed. She emphasized to each new hire that she was always 

ready to give assistance whenever they needed it when she said:  

I have talked to all of them and said, I am still here for 

you. I still have your back, come talk to me if you need 

to know the process you need to go through or if you 

need someone to talk to, I am always there for you. 

A statement from Ingrid, another dean, illustrated the high level 

of commitment and her identity of a pathmaker (Josselson, 

1996), “I always tell the folks in my division that I consider one 

of my biggest jobs to be, to plow a road”.  

Cheng (2009) stated that generative work is motivated by a 

cultural demand to address the needs of society and the 

satisfaction and well-being derived from the meaning of one’s 

work, i.e., generative work has to address the needs of the 

community. Olivia stated “I feel like I'm making a difference, 

that is what keeps me going.” Not only did participants in the 

study attended to personal and workplace generative pursuits, 

but they also served the broader communities. Their work 

reflected social generativity exemplified by each participant 

identifying a need in the community and taking steps to address 

it (Morselli & Passini, 2015). The investment in others, 

particularly in youth as demonstrated by participants like Lisa, 

Olivia, Ingrid, and Heather was an effort to build a legacy and to 

ensure barriers and obstacles are removed for future generations. 

Like Lisa, Ingrid counselled and mentored youth at her church 

and Olivia had youth referred to her from friends and the 

community. Although Ingrid did not pursue her childhood dream 

of becoming a lawyer, she is a board member of paralegals for 

her state. Heather created a scholarship fund targeted for the 

education of young girls in her country. 

Each participant was intentional about the focus of the 

generative work they chose and the people they served. They 

each birthed an idea involving programs affecting their families, 

work, or community and labored hard to sustain these, 

demonstrating the critical components of generativity: 

“procreativity, productivity, and creativity” (Erikson, 1997, p. 

67). This clarity about the parameters of generativity is 

consistent with Erikson’s (1974) statement, “In adulthood, 

however, you learn to know what and whom you can take care 

of” (p. 124).  The statement from Sydney illustrated whom you 

can take care of:  

I am very intentional and I tell people, “Don’t ask me to 

mentor you if you cannot take the mentoring I am going 

to give you because I don't want to waste your time and 

I choose not to waste mine.” 

This means there is an element of selectivity and exclusivity 

(Erikson, 1997). Therein also lies the danger that one’s 

generative work may not be valued and respected, and this 

causes a decline or regression in one’s generative pursuits 

consistent with a clash of values between the younger and older 

generations (Cheng, 2009). In this study, the clash was evident 

between Lisa, a searcher (Josselson, 1996 or seeker (Helson & 

Srivastava, 2001), who described herself as a “Generation X-

er/Millennial born in the middle of a generation shift,” and two 

older participants. Lisa revealed issues with her confident 

demeanor, thus: “Originally the confidence was a turn of, so 

older people would say, ‘She has got it; she doesn’t need it.’”  

Older participants, such as Sydney, advised that from 

experience, such over confidence caused younger people to be 

resented because of the way they communicated with the older 

generation. Younger people needed to get enculturated in the 

mores of the workplace. That kind of confidence can alter power 

relationships, and, usually, this is not tolerated in the workplace. 

Younger people need to learn from those who have the wisdom 

and experience. Sydney summed it all when she stated: 

I teach my son all the time, ‘Hey, you ‘the man,’ but 

when they take that confidence and they don't learn at 

the same time from people who have been there who 

are much wiser notice, I didn't say smarter, but wiser in 



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certain areas. And they don't take that and don't use 

that, then, it is to their disadvantage, especially coming 

out of college and get[ting] in these jobs. 

Besides intergenerational perception gaps about workplace 

etiquette, there were also notable racial differences about 

generative work. African Americans made reference to their 

spiritual work and to God as they engaged in their generative 

work. Besides her professional role and family responsibilities, 

Lisa stated “Christ sustains me. I am a regular church attendee. 

Adding to the spiritual dimension, Sydney categorically stated, 

“My steps are ordered by the Lord.” She shared that she was 

well known for praying while in a meeting in the boardroom.  

There are times I would be in a meeting, nothing would 

happen and I would go (bowed her head). Oh God she 

is praying again! [Laughter] but then again I had to 

learn to be my authentic me… and I am 53 years it took 

years to get there.  

These generative experiences of Lisa and Sydney are consistent 

with Versey and Newton (2013) who associated spiritual 

commitment with generativity and successful aging, and, more 

so in African American women. Interestingly, Caucasian women 

in this study never alluded to spirituality in their generative 

work, perhaps suggesting a cultural difference.  

Another important finding was the role played by gender and 

race. All the women had risen to positions that were historically 

occupied by men. They alluded to challenges including feelings 

of loneliness, role incongruence, and issues balancing family-

work life. Laura stated:  

I will be honest right now I am really tired and what is 

getting through right now is I'm just too dang 

stubborn....We have limited gender scripts as females 

and we can talk about it all day but until more of us do 

it, we are not expanding those options. And you know 

right now, the smart thing to do is give up something.  

But I’m just not going to do it. You know, right now it's 

just stubbornness… it's just hard being a female leader.  

Corroborating on this complex dynamic, Natalie stated,  

Being a woman leader and things like this are 

wonderful, and the results you achieve as a leader is 

[sic] often what sustains me and to see other people 

achieve is what sustains me.  It is a hard road. I have 

been through it in a number of places, and I am 

different enough, um, in my thinking and my leadership 

that some people don't get it. And then they, for some 

reason,… make it even harder…[It] is lonely at the top 

and everyone has got their story of why. You have to 

accept that loneliness and often, if you are a woman of 

any kind of makeup in leadership, you will be lonely 

and you won't have other women to speak up for you 

around the table. You have got to put yourself out there 

and be willing to be shot down. 

Lisa added the complexity of race to the gender issue when she 

shared that the situation was worse for African American women 

in leadership who supervise white people who grew up in an era 

when white, and even black, people were not supervised by 

black people. She pointed to her youth and race as challenges 

that potentially devaluate her leadership. When she stated, 

It's hard being a black female school administrator, 

period, because we have a whole different set of 

barriers that we have to fight and mitigate every single 

day. There are some days where I think if I was just 

female this might be a little easier 

Notable, was also how African American participants referred to 

their identity markers of race, professional contributions, and 

intelligence as premium assets. According to Pringle and Dixon 

(2003), “Identity has the double function of articulating the place 

of individuals in society and affording them a sense of their 

uniqueness” (p. 998). Sydney was proud of her achievements 

and the quality of her work as the only black woman in the 

boardroom. She stated.  

I have to be who I am wherever I am because [I] tried 

switching, I tried being what you wanted and what you 

wanted and what you wanted....and it wore me out and I 

didn't know who I was.  And now I am at a point where 

you know what, I am an African American female, a 

brilliant, not just smart, I am a brilliant African 

American female, who can mentor others, who loves 

the lord - who says you know what - this is me.  

Lisa described herself as confident and strong. This is important 

because it addresses negative stereotypes that have been 

associated with African Americans, especially the myth of the 

inferiority of black women’s intelligence. These women have 

achieved identity statuses that help them to function and live 

uninhibited and showing inner liberation. Another important 

finding is that there were cross cultural differences in the 

motivations for generational pursuits. Heather and Lisa worked 

hard at improving access to education for students coming from 

economically depressed communities they served. 

The revive facet of life (Pringle & Dixon, 2003) is best 

illustrated by Michelle, aged 60. Having spent her adult life 

taking care of her family and elderly parents as well as her job 

responsibilities and arriving at the pinnacle of her career as dean, 

she decided to retire and focus on herself, much to the surprise 

of her friends and family. She decided to focus on herself by 

concentrating on weight loss which resulted in renewing her 

dating life-something she had not done for 19 years. She stated 

she was going to be getting married soon at the time of our 

interview. Based on Erikson’s stages she would fall into the 

category of stagnant as she was devoting her time for self-care, 

but this is where gender makes a difference. This is perfectly 

normal for women after 50 who would have spent most of their 

adult life caring for others. Neugarten (1968) called this process 

“interiority” p. 140), i.e. where adults in the second half of life 

refocus on self needs instead of others’ needs. In fact, Edelstein 



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(1997) summed it all when she stated, “For many women, 

middle adulthood is a time to pause and consider a personal 

definition of accomplishment, whether it be work, children, 

relationships, integrity, authenticity, health, survival, or another 

value” (p. 9). Josselson (1996) and Schuiling and Low (2006) 

concurred that women can go back to things deferred in youth or 

to take care of things that were neglected. Michelle, in the study, 

said she had to take a pause despite the backlash. Michelle’s 

example demonstrates Pringle and Dixon’s (2003) heuristic 

model about the evolving nature of women identities, which 

Josselson (1996) as previously mentioned warned “Psychology 

has no adequate theory for women’s development, particularly 

development in adulthood” (p. 9). 

Conclusion 

The participants in this study held senior positions in educational 

leadership involving K-12 education, community colleges and 

four-year colleges/universities. Most women in the study saw a 

need and used their professionalism, knowledge and talents to 

address identified needs in their communities. The women were 

motivated by making a difference in the lives of others.  Each 

woman played the role of mentor and provided guidance and 

enrichment to others. The women worked hard in their 

generative pursuits in their families, workplace, and community. 

They exhibited high levels of involvement and selfless giving of 

their talents and expertise, capturing the essence of generativity- 

procreativity, productivity, and creativity” (Erikson, 1997, p. 67) 

and care Erikson (1950, Gilligan, 1982; Josselson, 1996). The 

women’s generative pursuits placed participants into the distinct 

identity markers of pathmakers, guardians, searchers and drifters 

(Josselson, 1996), sometimes with women finding similarities 

and differences in each other. Women who had professional 

parents were influenced by family values to pursue an education 

and a career, while those who came from difficult backgrounds 

carved their own careers and became paragons in their own 

right. As professionals, all women gave back to their 

communities and professions, became functionalists by 

empowering others and making sure skills and knowledge were 

passed on to the next generation. African American participants 

added the role of spiritualism and participated in church 

activities in their generative work, a sentiment not shared by 

Caucasian participants. Absent from the participants was any 

mention of sustainability and looking after our planet as a 

generative role because Erikson defined generativity as the 

“establishment, the guidance and the enrichment of the living 

generation and the world it inherits” (Erickson, 1974, p. 123).  

Although our study used a small sample employing a focus 

group model, the contribution of this study is important not only 

because it explores the role gender plays in generativity but also 

because there are no studies known that have investigated 

generativity among women in educational leadership with a 

racially diverse sample such as ours. This study adds to closing 

the literature gap and charts possibilities of new lines of research 

that involve other variables in educational leadership. Further 

studies with women from different socioeconomic backgrounds 

and fields other than educational leadership need to be 

conducted to establish the universality of our findings. Because 

of our small sample size involving one focus group of highly 

educated women, there are limitations to the generalizability of 

this study. However, this study provides a sampling of the 

richness with which women participate in generative knowing 

and leadership, both personally and professionally, and it shows 

how they pay forward their generative knowledge to the 

generations that follow in the field of educational leadership. 

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