Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Education
First Advisor
Sarah Young
Second Advisor
Nicole Kaszubinski
Abstract
Women leaders in higher education navigate complex institutional environments in which ethical decisions are made under conditions of uncertainty, urgency, and competing responsibilities (Gigliotti, 2020; Riggio & Newstead, 2023). The problem addressed in this study was to explore how women leaders navigated ethical complexities, balanced competing responsibilities, and made meaning of crisis leadership experiences within higher education contexts. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to explore how women leaders in higher education describe their experiences with ethical decision-making during crisis situations. Guided by the ethic of care described by Noddings (1984, 2013), the study examined participants’ ethical reasoning, their understanding of crisis, and factors that influenced their leadership decisions. Literature identified relationships, care, collaboration, and responsiveness as dimensions of ethical and crisis leadership (Drinkwater & Waghid, 2025; Gigliotti, 2020; Riggio & Newstead, 2023). Five women in higher education leadership roles participated in semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were restoried, member-checked, and analyzed using first- and second-cycle coding. Four themes emerged: Becoming an ethical leader; grounding ethical decision-making in care, relationships, and context; crisis defined by disruption, uncertainty, and urgency; and sustaining ethical leadership through collaboration, reflection, and adaptation. Findings characterized ethical leadership as relational, contextual, and developmental, shaped by experience, relationships, competing responsibilities, and institutional contexts.
Comment
Ed.D. Dissertation
Recommended Citation
Hawkins, Jacqueline, "Women Leaders In Higher Education Amidst Crisis: A Narrative Inquiry Exploring Ethical Decision-Making" (2026). Doctor of Education Program Dissertations. 72.
https://dune.une.edu/edu_diss/72