Creating Women Visionaries to Lead the Country’s Development Merely a Job of The State Universities? A Sri Lankan Case Study

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.