Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Female Leaders: Paths To Leadership In The Florida State Legislature, Heather Conaway Roberson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The issues women face and the policies that benefit women can be neglected by policy makers without women serving in the state legislature, yet little is understood about how influencing factors, characteristics and experiences shape political aspirations among women at the state level. Using feminist identity theory and feminist standpoint theory as the foundation, the purpose of this ethnographic study was to explore how female leaders develop their nascent political ambition and engage in the path to public office. Data were collected through interviews with 8 women who held office in a state legislature from 2012 through 2017. Interview data …