Abstract:
The predominant demographic of the Sri Lankan population and state university enrolment comprises
women. This shows that they are a potential group to be included in the country’s development process.
In contrast to this, women becoming visionary leaders in the country’s development process is lacking,
due to various practical reasons rather than policy implications or official procedures of state universities.
The research problem of this study was: What is the contribution of state universities in creating women
visionaries to lead the country’s development process? The research objective was: To examine the role
state universities play in creating women visionaries to lead the country’s development process. This
research was exploratory, qualitative, and field-based. A purposive non-probability sample was used, and
primary data were collected through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Discourse analysis
was used to analyze the data. Since this study was conducted by selecting a state university and ten key
ministries of the country, it is a case study limited to those main research fields. Being a visionary leader
goes beyond being a charismatic leader; a visionary leader is formed through passion and a long-term
plan, along with the confidence to make a real positive change. The state university curriculum does not
specifically mention how women graduates would become visionaries to lead the country’s development
process, nor is this solely the responsibility of state universities. However, the country’s state universities
have taken considerable measures to ensure gender equality through their curricula and official
procedures. Women are often limited to the private sphere based on the gendered division of labour,
largely due to various socio-cultural gender prejudices. Sometimes, women internalize these prejudices
through long-term socialization and unconsciously or voluntarily accept such restrictions. As the
perception of a country’s development process and its leadership is seen as occurring in the public sphere,
women are further excluded from these roles. State universities cannot change these gendered prejudices
within just three or four years of academic training. The promotion of women’s visionary leadership must
begin at the family and school levels and continue through university education.
