Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations May 2019 West Point Women: An Oral History of the West Point Experience and Leader Identity Development Leslie Ann Lewis Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Recommended Citation Lewis, Leslie Ann, "West Point Women: An Oral History of the West Point Experience and Leader Identity Development" (2019). All Dissertations. 2337. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/2337 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WEST POINT WOMEN: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE WEST POINT EXPERIENCE AND LEADER IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Educational Leadership by Leslie A. Lewis May 2019 Accepted by: Dr. Jane Clark Lindle, Committee Chair Dr. Robin Phelps-Ward Dr. Mindy Spearman Dr. Rachel Wagner ABSTRACT Although women have been at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point for over 40 years, they are an understudied group. This omission also encompasses studies about leader development and leader identity development. Over the years, West Point has focused its leadership research on identifying predictors of leadership performance and, with the integration of women cadets, merely added them into their studies to see if they had the same predictors as men. Other than this shift, the literature neglects how women’s experiences at West Point affected their leader identity development. To address this knowledge blind spot, this study employed feminist oral history to capture memories and stories of women from the Class of 1985, the sixth West Point class to include women. The artifact-elicitation interviews focused on how these alumnae interpreted the way their West Point experiences informed their leader identity development at the Academy, in the Army, in subsequent civilian careers, and today. The intense holistic West Point leadership experience was not the only factor that informed the women’s leader identities. Being members of a small, marginalized group at a male-dominated, hypermasculine institution also played a significant role. The effects of tokenism, sexism, misogyny, and sexual misconduct added extra layers of challenge to the women’s journeys. As junior officers in a Cold War Army where they were often even more underrepresented, the women drew on and adapted the lessons learned from West Point to be effective leaders. Lessons from West Point continued to inform the women’s leader identities in subsequent civilian careers and in raising families and/or caretaking. ii This study helped fill a gap in the understanding of women’s experiences at West Point, especially around leader identity development, and was the first study to take a longitudinal approach. Future studies on West Point women from subsequent decades would help increase overall understanding of the experiences of women at West Point, in the Army, and in other traditionally male-dominated institutions like STEM. In addition, a more qualitative approach to understanding the leader identity development of all cadets would help make the leadership research at West Point more in-depth and robust. iii DEDICATION This dissertation study is dedicated to all West Point women everywhere. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to my advisor and dissertation chair, Dr. Jane Clark Lindle, for her wisdom, time, and encouragement. Thanks also to my committee members: Drs. Robin Phelps-Ward, Mindy Spearman, and Rachel Wagner for great questions and feedback. I would like to acknowledge the women from the West Point Class of 1985 who participated in my study. Thank you for your courage. And thank you for trusting me with your stories. You are my heroes. I would like to thank all my West Point Class of 1985 sisters and brothers for being supportive of me during this journey. Special thanks to Vincent O’Neil for sharing West Point manuals he has kept since Cadet Basic Training, and Tucker Mansager, who entrusted me with his copy of our Leadership textbook. For Excellence We Strive! To all West Point women, those I have met and those I have yet to meet, thank you for your encouragement and support. Thank you to the 116 who participated in my pilot study on women and leadership at West Point. Your responses helped me design my dissertation study. I hope to hear more of your stories in the future. You are an amazing, inspiring group of women, and the rest of the world needs to hear your stories. My deepest gratitude and appreciation go to Michelle Boettcher. Her unwavering support, encouragement, faith, love, and unbridled sense of humor ensured that I made it through this very intense journey. I knew doing a dissertation would be challenging; I never anticipated what an emotional experience it would be. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE ............................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ ii DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I. OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY .................................................................. 1 Background of the Study ...................................................................... 2 Statement of the Problem ..................................................................... 5 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................ 9 Significance of the Study ...................................................................... 9 Conceptual Framework .......................................................................11 Definition of Terms .............................................................................15 Research Questions .............................................................................21 Limitations ..........................................................................................22 Delimitations .......................................................................................23 Assumptions........................................................................................24 Organization of the Dissertation ..........................................................24 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ....................................................................26 Leadership in the Military ...................................................................26 Women in the US Military ..................................................................56 Women and Leadership in the Military ................................................77 Leader Identity Development ..............................................................87 Conceptualization of the Study ............................................................95 Summary ........................................................................................... 106 III. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 107 Pilot Study and How It Affected My Dissertation Plan ...................... 108 vi Table of Contents (Continued) Page Study Design and Research Paradigm................................................ 110 Participant Selection .......................................................................... 116 Researcher’s Role and Assumptions .................................................. 119 Data Collection ................................................................................. 122 Data Analysis .................................................................................... 128 Trustworthiness ................................................................................. 133 Summary ........................................................................................... 133 IV. CONTEXT ............................................................................................. 135 Context: The United States Military Academy (USMA) ................... 135 West Point (1981-1985) and the Class of 1985 .................................. 144 US Army Context: 1981-1985 ........................................................... 148 The United States: 1981-1985 ........................................................... 150 The World Stage: Early 1980s – Mid 1990s ...................................... 151 The Women’s Rights Movement and Feminism ................................ 154 Context for the Artifacts .................................................................... 159 V. PROFILES .............................................................................................. 162 Ann ................................................................................................... 164 Beth .................................................................................................