Abstract/Summary

The existing literature on middle management in UK higher education recognises that, due to institutional neglect, workload intensification and role unpredictability, educational identities have become fragmented and unstable. The leadership experience of middle managers has been problematised further by recent organisational changes, resulting in the transfer to Academic Education Pathway (AEP) contracts and the addition of scholarship to management and teaching responsibilities. Although intended as an opportunity for career progression, it has also caused identity stress and regulation for middle managers. With gender being the particular focus of this enquiry, the study gives voice to the lesser-heard female middle managers of Russian and Arabic origin within the under-researched field of the Institution-Wide Language Programme of UK Universities. The study explores the complexities of women’s leadership identity construction through the intersection of gender, culture and ethnicity. The thesis employs a combined multiple-case and narrative inquiry approach to explore the leadership journeys and identity constructions of ten women. It is informed by the theoretical framework, consisting of four interrelated concepts – educational leadership, leadership experience, institutional/organisational change and dilemmatic identity. It is foregrounded by feminist poststructuralist theory and draws on educational leadership theory, gendered leadership experience, social role theory, discourse and identity, critical race and organisational culture and change theories. To fully explore the nuances and ambiguities of the women’s stories, a four-stage analysis was employed, comprising thematic, positioning, and narrative components. The study helps advance feminist poststructuralist theory and narrative methodology by revealing the transformative power of narrative in women's identity shift from powerless to agentive. It reveals the nature of the dilemmatic identity resisting or submitting to the institutional and patriarchal gender discourses, intellectual power hegemony, cultural gender stereotyping, academic exclusion, financial insecurity and contractual limitations at the time of organisational change. The findings have implications for policymakers in higher education management, human resources and mentorship.